NYFW: Wednesday & Thursday

10/3/2016

By: Elizabeth McLaughlin, Selima Smith-Dell, & Mikael Amore

Can't Stop, Wont Stop

welcome to my NYFW recap! I had the most insane fashion week yet. I was invited to events hosted by Jason Derulo and Lady Gaga, as well as been in the company of Jessica Alba and Christina Milian. Which BTW Jessica Alba is way taller in person than she appears in film. Wednesday was a nice ease into NYFW with presentations and drinks with my friends. Thursday was a HUGE day for me. Thursday is the official start of NYFW. I got the "golden ticket" to the 29 Rooms VIP Party (Hosted by Refinery 29) as well as the private dinner before hand with editors and key industry players. Earlier that day I was sitting second row at Michael Costello where Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, and famous makeup artist/fashionista Carli Bybel sat front row. Scroll down for more. ;)

W E D N E S D A Y

Claudia Li

There are an abundant amount of things that I loved about Claudia Li’s NYFW SS17 collection but two in particular really set her apart from all of the other shows I attended. Claudia’s collection featured a plethora of oversized, boxy trenches and two-piece sets that were a beautiful mix of masculine and feminine. If you’re anything like me and you don’t quite like conforming to the confines of what society deems appropriate for what a woman should wear versus what a man should wear you will absolutely adore this perfectly androgynous collection. Let’s be honest, androgyny is the new black and I am it’s biggest fan. In addition to her theme of androgyny, Claudia’s collection introduced to fashion the remarkable new ways to drape denim. She used a variety of color and embroidery techniques to create pieces made out of denim the likes of which have never quite been seen before. The denim seemed to come alive. Claudia opened me up and I am sure she opened the eyes of many others to the vast possibilities of what you can do with a piece of denim fabric.

Written by: Selima Smith-Dell

Mulhier

I’m not sure I have fallen so head over heels for a designer's collection quite like I did for Mulhier’s NYFW SS17 collection. I swear to you that I would wear and let’s be frank, plan to own most of, or all of the pieces in her collection. Her collection was made up of bandeau tops, culotte pants, leotards, and one piece jumpsuits featuring sharp cuts and sexy, feminine splits. The color palette of the collection was perfect for your modern New York socialite. Her collection consisted of mainly neutral and black and white that you could mix and match with one another. She did slip in a small pop of mauve and a very pale pink that could almost pass for nude. The careful combination of stunning, strong models, Beyonce’s “Freedom” playing loudly in the foreground, and the quote, “She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.” sent a very clear message of the strength of the modern woman. This collection had me believing in love at first sight again.

Written by: Selima Smith-Dell

T H U R S D A Y

Photo by: Street Walker NYC

Photo by: Grant Friedman

Supima Design Competition

The annual Supima Design Competition is held in the fall on the first day on NYFW. This year was full of talented students from schools such as FIT, RISD and FIDM. The winner is awarded a $10,000 cash prize. This year was hosted by Olivia Culpo, former Miss Universe. My favorite designer was Dustin Jasso from FIDM (top photos). He created decorative feathers out of cotton fabric. Truly amazing. Another collection I found intriguing was by designer Jiyeon Lee from FIT(middle photos). I adore the multi dimensional pieces and textures, one looking like a flower. Jeffrey Taylor from SCAD was announced the winner of the winner of the Supima Design Competition was Jeffery Taylor from SCAD (last photos). His collection is inspired by music which is seen in his use of volume and color. The reception party was celebrated in Paris, France.

Michael Costello

Michael Costello is the celebrities go-to designer for sexy clothing to wear to their special events. Michael dresses celebrities including Beyonce, Caitlyn Jenner, Rita Ora, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Toni Braxton, Ariana Grande, Carmen Electra, and Lady Gaga. He even designed dresses for Kim Kardashian's wedding party. Michael Costello's floral collection was a true midnight, romantic dream. The designs featured deep purples, lace, and floral accents. My favorite dress was the purple lace with select drapery and front slits. Celebrities seen in the front row included Carli Bybel, Paris Hilton, and Nicky Hilton.

Marissa Webb

Marissa Webb's collection brought a chic and airy look to the SS17 season. Marissa was born in Korea and has been in love with designing fashion pieces since she was young. She studied at FIT and launched her label in Spring of 2013. My favorite piece was the white lace up and ruffle dress, perfect for a spring party or going out on the town. I also was intrigued by the camel peplum jacket. Webb designed feminine and fun layered ruffles throughout the collection. Dress it up by pairing these looks with fun jewelry.

Telfar

Telfar is a unisex, ambitious line established in NYC in 2005 by Telfar Clemens. Bright colors, deconstructed fabrics, and shift shapes dominated the runway. Telfar's crowd brought out the gender binary, goths, urban hipsters and big fashion bloggers all in celebration of his SS17 collection. Telfar Clemens is known to blur the lines between gender stereotype clothing. The collection also featured the use of interesting cuts, layered pieces, and stripes.

Written by: Mikael Amore

Refinery 29 - The 29 Rooms VIP Party

With Sarah, Brand Ambassador of Chloe Wines.

Jessica Alba

Yup I got invited to the 29 Rooms VIP Party with attendees such as Jessica Alba, Tinashe, and many many more. Hosted by Lady Gaga, the event was a pre party to the 29 Rooms exhibit as well as the NYFW opening party. 29 Rooms was hosted by Chloe Wines, personally the best wine I have ever had. Before the event Chloe Wines and Refinery 29 hosted a dinner party. The dinner took place at Roberta's pizza (which is claimed the best pizza in all of New York) where the Refinery 29 editors, Chloe Wine Brand Ambassadors, and myself feasted on 14 pizzas. We of course didn't finish them all. If you are in the NYC area, travel to Brooklyn for the cool street art and Roberta's Bee Sting pizza. After dinner we made our way to the party.

29 Rooms is an interactive fun house and artistic exhibit that brings sensory overload to a whole new level. Rooms included virtual reality, a pool of pandas, and dancing with your shadow (see my instagram video). 29 Rooms is open to the public on the weekend of NYFW. I went opening year and it went completely viral on social media. This year so many people showed up (some at 5am) that the line was shut down by 10am.