Backstage at Peter Som. Images by Cara Stricker.

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Peter Som

Pamela Love

Erickson Beamon

Backstage at Gretchen Jones. Images by Bailey Roberts.

She embodied darkness outside of Milk Studios, as if Hades himself had sent her here to reign black upon us. Her greased wet hair with fingered curls was fresh from Cushine et Ochs. She scampered across 15th Street, as if she were running from a crime scene, headed to her next show. For this week, she is nothing more than a soulless mobile mannequin. -Ryley Tice

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Gretchen Jones

Kaelen

Backstage at Rachel Comey. Images by Cara Stricker.

The listless attention to color is what makes New York Fashion Week a black holiday. Cowering from a winter that never happened, the men stroll past in leather jackets, black knee-length skirts and steel toed boots, while the women flash lacquered black denim, baggy sweaters and platform boots as they nonchalantly mosey. Their eyes wander momentarily from their cellphones and are met with classic looks for the upcoming fall. While some rich tones debut, the dominating hue is, of course, black. -Ryley Tice

The A.F. Vandevorst party

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Rachel Comey

Costello Tagliapietra

The A.F. Vandevorst Party

Tim Coppens. Images by Alex Singh

Backstage at Katie Gallagher.

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Katie Gallagher

Tim Coppens

Tadashi Shoji

Jeremy Laing backstage at his Spring 2012 show. Images and text by Stefania Yarhi.

Toronto-based womenswear designer Jeremy Laing is known for somewhat conceptual, draped organic designs, with a geometric touch, that still fall into the realm of “wearable.” Using remarkable tailoring and patternmaking skills, acutely attuned to the body, he crafts statement-making garments, which for Spring 2012 included culottes and apron dresses, all inspired by a stirring trip to Joshua Tree.

Stefania Yarhi: When did you fall in love with fashion?
Jeremy Laing: I’ve always loved clothes and always will, but I haven’t loved fashion in a long time.

Stefania: What is your favorite part of the design process?
Jeremy: I love fabric—finding it, developing it, playing with it…

Stefania: How do you perceive or feel the reception of Canadians in the international fashion world?
Jeremy: Being Canadian is a bit of a moot point. It doesn’t come with much baggage, so it is neither a pro nor a con. Working in Canada can be a challenge though. The market and industry here are relatively small and there is a serious lack of institutional support for fashion businesses, which is why most people leave to seek brighter lights and a more established scene.

Stefania: Travel seems to be a recurring theme with your collections: the trekker, lunar travel, etc… What do you love about moving between and crossing over borders?
Jeremy: Travel itself isn’t a theme I’ve explored, but other places have had an influence on my work.

Stefania: Your home base is Toronto, Canada; explain why you stay in the Great White North.
Jeremy: I like it! Toronto is a livable and cool city. The circumstances here allow for the existence of a cultural community that is relatively independent of a market. People can do things just because. It’s a big city: the largest in Canada and fifth largest in North America, I think. So it’s a magnet for people escaping smaller towns, even other countries. I like that it’s a city still developing its identity and place in the world, and I like playing my small part in that.

Stefania: Writers complain of writers block—have you ever experienced severe creative blockage?
Jeremy: Sure, but deadlines are such that you just have to get over it.

Stefania: How do you fête the end of a collection?
Jeremy: By moving on to the next one. Love it and leave it! Also, we usually have an aftershow dinner with our team at The Grand Sichuan in New York.

Stefania: If you could do—workwise—anything else, what would it be?
Jeremy: I would make paintings, though that seems an even harder road than making dresses—or I would have a vintage design shop.

Stefania: Anything else you’re just dying to tell us?
Jeremy: The Musée Gustave Moreau in Paris is worth a visit.

Image by Samantha Casolari

Next stop: London.

Image by Seana Cavanagh

Karen Walker. Images by Cara Stricker. Text by Jayme Cyk, Ryley Tice and Stefania Yarhi.

Show: Karen Walker
Date: September 13, 2011
Time: 12noon
Venue: Exit Art
Inspiration: Taxi Driver: Betsy’s elegant aloofness and Iris’ childish toughness
Favorite Look: Mustard-and-navy blouse and pants in contrasting prints.
Quote: “We were referencing the Betsy character, it allowed us to sort of play with that aloof elegance that she had that was kind of otherworldly, above-it-all beauty. So it really allowed us to kind of take that idea and do our own thing with it.” -Karen Walker
-RT

Show: A Détacher
Date: September 13, 2011
Time: 7pm
Venue: Pier 59 Studios
Inspiration: Grandma’s House
Favorite Look: The sparkle smock harness
Quote: “This collection is about Grandma’s house, layering, nostalgia—things through the ages.”
Additional Notes: With A Détacher, it’s always all about the shoes. – SY

Show: Y-3
Date: September 11, 2011
Time: 5pm
Venue: 82 Mercer Street
Inspiration: 2012 London Olympics
Music: Pop
Favorite Look: A sheer tartan cover-up
Additional Notes: Union Jacks, kilts, Vivienne Westwood tartans, Carnaby checks, lace-up boots and tantalizing flashes of skin…all the hallmarks of British style were cued and filtered through Yohji’s cerebral, sporty lens. -SY

Show: Anndra Neen
Date: September 11, 2011
Time: 8pm
Venue: Milk Studios
Inspiration: An interpretation of antique European jewelry, Egyptian and Bedouin motifs, Japanese design elements and French medieval armor.
Favorite Look: A golden metal necklace with a large reverse triangle hanging by a golden chain.
Additional Notes: Designers and sisters Phoebe and Annette Stephens handcraft all their pieces, which this season ranged from grid-like clutches and chunky chokers to mixed-metal cuffs. -JC

A Détacher

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Karen Walker

A Détacher

Y-3

threeASFOUR. Images by Samantha Casolari. Text by Erin Dixon and Dana Varon.

Show: threeASFOUR
Time: 12noon `
Venue: St. Patrick’s Cathedral Youth Center
Inspiration: InSHALLOm, a multicultural homage to Middle Eastern cultures, incorporating Keffiyeh scarf patterns, the hamsa, six-pointed Israeli stars, evil eyes and more.
Music: Raz Mesinai, mixed by Ben Brunnemer
Favorite Look: The evil-eye halter breast shield worn over a diaphanous white long-sleeved gown, or the monochrome star-print dress worn over a keffiyeh-patterned bodysuits.
Additional Notes: threeASFOUR succeeds season after season by adhering to the oldest adage in the creative lexicon: staying true to yourself. Touching upon their multicultural backgrounds and speaking to a year of revolution in the Middle East, the collective created a collection that showcased the best that fashion can be: a mirror and barometer of the current cultural moment. – ED

Show: Nomia
Time: 1:30pm `
Venue: Lincoln Center
Inspiration: The Southwestern desert à la Georgia O’Keeffe
Music: Ben Brunnemer
Favorite Look: A silk sleeveless shirt in desert sand and shocking vermillion red, paired with wide-leg silk trousers of the truest turquoise.
Additional Notes: Starting out creating advanced basics, Yara Flynn continues to evolve her high-fashion interpretation of sportswear using signature silk chiffon. This year, she went even further, debuting additional tailored pieces, bold colors and an original print reminiscent of some of O’Keeffe’s more intricate paintings—an apt choice for the always strong Nomia woman. -ED

Show: Cushnie et Ochs
Date: September 8, 2011
Time: 12noon
Venue: Milk Studios
Inspiration: Nostalgia, the idea of playing house—or rather, what it would be like to be playing house as a grown-up.
Music: Biggie and En Vogue’s Back to Life
Favorite Look: A black satin cutout dress with spiked center strip.
Quote: ” [It’s about] Miss versus Mrs. and owning your sexuality.” – Designer Michelle Ochs
Additional Notes: The show started with tailored white looks and moved through a rainbow of fluid bubblegum pink dresses, electric yellow shirts and tan dresses before ending in ornate black corseted, strappy creations. -DV

Show: Tadashi Shoji
Date: September 8, 2011
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: The Stage at Lincoln Center
Inspiration: An homage to the enchanting splendor and beauty of the tulip as conveyed by photographer Ron Van Dongen. Rich in color yet delicate in form, this admired bloom is full of life, incessantly evolving and changing shape.
Music: Kevin Edwards
Favorite Look: Flowing sheer ivory-and-nude gowns with embroidered lace and hand-cut appliqués.
Quote: “So, in the tulip, we have a flower of beauty and grace of charm, refinement and distinction. It is a powerful flower and it knows it” -The Tulip Anthology
Additional Notes: A vibrant palette of flora in shades of fern, magnolia, rosebud and willow were infused in the exquisite fabrics of silk linen, embroidered lace and draped tulle. Hand-painted brush strokes mirrored the tulip’s unique petal markings; beading was sprinkled like dewdrops on a spring morning. -DV

Nomia

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Nomia

3 as 4

Cushne et Ochs

Slow & Steady Wins the Race. Images by Bradford Gregory. Text by Liz Doupnik, Ryley Tice and Stefania Yarhi.

Show: Slow and Steady Wins The Race
Date: September 15, 2011
Time: 12pm
Venue: Paul Rudolph House
Inspiration: The Clear Collection
Music: Classical
Favorite Look: Clear loafers or the beaded pearl t-shirt.
Quote: “It’s anonymous! No photos.” said anonymous designer.
Additional Notes: The presentation was like a hide-and-seek game of fashion in a beautiful, historic apartment. -SY

Show: Thom Brown
Date: September 12, 2011
Time: 3pm
Venue: New York Public Library
Inspiration: ’20s Parisian salon
Music: Cole Porter and Josephine Baker
Favorite Look: The rubber ducky necklace, the exaggerated shoulders, the dropped skirts held by garters…all of it!
Additional Notes:Thom’s eclectic mise-en-scène was a divine way of seeing the garments. -SY

Show: Zac Posen
Date: September 11, 2011
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Balcony of Avery Hall at Lincoln Center
Inspiration: A return to Zac’s signature modern glamour
Music: The Misshapes dj’d a playlist, which began with classical piano and gradually shifted to an instrumental number by Air.
Favorite Look: In having a collection compiled of powerful looks, it’s hard to choose a favorite. But, the final look, which had a stand-out train composed of small tulle circles was particularly special.
Additional Notes: The refined show was constructed of a range of masterfully built gowns and dresses that celebrated the female form. There were romantic and wistful ’40s lingerie references and watercolor-print dresses with sheer sleeves and sweetheart necklines. Red carpet gowns were updated with structural details such a tubular train and architectural drop-waist skirts composed of lightweight vertical layers of fabric. -LD

Show: Bibhu Mohapatra
Date: September 13, 2011
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: The Box at Lincoln Center
Inspiration: Helmut Newton
Favorite Look: A slim cut black suit worn over a sheer chiffon chemise, think Betty Catroux in the ’70s. -RT

Thom Brown

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Slow & Steady Wins the Race

Thom Brown

Oscar de la Renta. Images by Samantha Casolari. Text by Dana Varon, Erin Dixon and Stefania Yarhi.

Show: Oscar de la Renta
Date: September 13, 2011
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: 11 West 42nd Street
Inspiration: Oscar’s signature Latin-inspired elegance, with a strong infusion or youth and a touch of rock’n’roll rawness.
Music: Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd
Favorite Look: A red strapless, asymmetrical gown topped with a white lace cropped t-shirt.
Additional Notes: Wild hair with bejeweled bands, raucous music, socks with booties instead of heels and shocking jewel tones—citrine, sapphire and vermillion, instead of emerald and ruby—demonstrated the storied American house’s commitment to embracing the now and loving life, as embodied in the new Oscar fragrance Live in Love. – ED

Show: Diesel Black Gold
Date: September 13, 2011
Time: 1pm
Venue: Pier 94
Inspiration: “It’s time to reflect.”
Music: House tunes
Favorite Look: A pink blazer worn with silver leather pants and a tonal striped shirt.
Additional Notes: Teva sandals are making a comeback. -SY

Show: Loden Dager
Date: September 10, 2011
Time: 1pm
Venue: The Hudson Hotel
Inspiration: “Early 80′s skater, lazy, Cali, hot weather and relaxed.” -Paul Marlow, one part of the design team
Music: Upbeat and swift by Kris Bones
Favorite Look: A dusty blue-grey collared shirt with pumpkin paisley print and blue sweater tied around the hips.
Additional Notes: Playing up the skater style, one leg on each pant was rolled, and orange ankle bands were worn with stark white, grey and neon Nikes -DV

Diesel Black Gold

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Oscar de la Renta

Diesel 55

Ohne Title

Prabal Gurung