When New York fashion seems like it’s in the doldrums, there’s always Michael Kors to come along and whistle a happy Broadway tune.
“When the world is upside down, more than ever, it’s my job to make people feel more confident,” the designer said during a preview, forever a believer in the old adage that if you look good, you’ll feel good.
A relentless cheerleader for the city, the designer took over the old Barneys New York in Chelsea for his Tuesday afternoon runway show. “It’s a New York reinvention story,” he said of the former department store space, where he first sold his collection back in 1985.
“It’s empty now but it’s going to become condos. Of course it is,” he smiled before going down memory lane some more. “I participated in an AIDS fundraiser on that staircase, where we all designed Levi’s denim jackets to be auctioned off. Madonna was in the show. Fran Lebowitz modeled. Mine was covered in gold leaf, which came off all over the model. But you know…anything for charity.”
On the runway for fall 2024, Kors sent out a greatest hits parade of curvy tailoring; “demonstrative outerwear,” as he called it, and bias-cut dresses and skirts inspired by his grandmother’s ’30s wedding gown that he found recently in his late mother Joan’s house.
It got him thinking about the ’30s as the origin of power glamour and power tailoring as seen on the silver screen on Katharine Hepburn and Jean Harlow, through Hollywood history to Elizabeth Taylor in her slip in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and Rene Russo swathed in camel and cashmere from Kors’ 1997 Celine collection in “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a film that’s celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Kors is not alone. Power shoulders, sleeves and tailoring, diva coats, bias-cut dresses, slips and lingerie looks have been big trends in New York this week, seen at Carolina Herrera, Altuzarra, Gabriela Hearst and more.
On the Kors runway, sculptural tailoring took the form of tweed jackets with defined waists and slit pencil skirts worn with high heels, as well as tougher-looking double-belted trouser skirts worn with flat men’s lace-ups. Stretch cashmere tanks and hoodie bodysuits layered underneath brought the look into the now. Other concessions to the casual revolution? A gray sequin cashmere hoodie dress, for one, and flared jeans that looked cool with an ivory cashmere turtleneck sweater, belted black blazer and chunky eyeglasses.
Outerwear was designed to make an entrance, from a lavender Mongolian shearling puffball of a coat to a more subtly sophisticated charcoal gray cashmere topper with faux fur collar, part of a tonal look with a charcoal gray ankle-length bias-cut dress and black Oxford shoes. “It depends on the woman whether it’s day or night,” said Kors.
Also on the menu: slips, crushed satin and second-skin sequin dresses, plus a pretty black double-breasted lady coat with black flower-embroidered power sleeves.
On the accessories front, Kors introduced a brand new top-handle bag named the “Manhatta,” appropriately enough, which is shaped like an “M” (also for Michael).
“How many celebrities have a name with an ‘M?’” Kors said with stars in his eyes. “For every one they have to have that bag.”
