The moments not to be missed at New York Fashion Week spring/summer 2020
Pictured above: Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty spring/summer 2020 show. Image credit: Getty Images
During New York Fashion Week, our attention is captured by the celebrity-packed front row, together with the shows that never fail to make a powerful statement and undeniably dictate our wardrobe choices in the following months.
Given the fashion week’s newly-instated schedule, which sees shows limited to a six-day window, designers have been given the that much more time to make a little more of their runways that their once tight time-windows hadn’t permitted, with many launching full-scale theatrical performances, and wrangling in celebrities for surprising cameo appearances dressed in new season wares.
To read all about the moments not to be missed at New York Fashion Week spring/summer 2020, scroll on.
A British royal made a surprise appearance at Misha Nonoo’s NYFW pop-up
Following Meghan Markle’s surprise jaunt to New York to support close friend, Serena Williams, at the US Open tennis final, yet another royal has made the trip across the Atlantic to also fulfil their own best friend duties.
Hosting a pop-up shop in NY’s Soho in the midst of New York Fashion Week, Misha Nonoo preceded her upcoming Street Works capsule collection launch with Markle to present her latest collection to a number of celebrities — including Karlie Kloss and Nicky Hilton Rothschild — and one royal, Princess Eugenie.
According to Vanity Fair, the princess — who happens to be a long-time friend of the designer — and her gallerist husband, Jack Brooksbank, squeezed a quick trip to the city within their already-packed schedules.
Image credit: Getty Images
Cara Delevingne played a memorable supporting role in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty runway show
Holding her latest Savage x Fenty lingerie show at New York City sports arena, Barclays Centre, designer Rihanna filled the expansive space with an in-situ burlesque club of sorts—an impressive set up for what was always destined to be a memorable show.
The singer-turned-actress-turned-designer called on an inclusive and diverse group of models, including Joan Smalls, Laverne Cox and Cara Delevingne, who played the whip-wielding supporting role to Rihanna’s eventual show appearance.
According to the model — who also proceeded to dance on-stage once she walked out — the atmosphere mid-performance was nothing but uplifting. “Everyone looked so gorgeous and was lifting each other up,” she told People. “It’s so inclusive and is such wonderful feeling backstage. There’s so much love involved… It’s different. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Topping her answer off in the only way Cara Delevingne would know how, the Carnival Row star had this to say on the topic of intimates: “I don’t really like wearing underwear.”
Image credit: Getty Images
Serena Williams had a tiny surprise guest at her NYFW runway debut
Making her New York Fashion Week runway debut during the spring/summer 2020 season, Serena Williams presented her S by Serena collection to a star-studded audience.
With notable guests including Kim Kardashian, Anna Wintour and Ashley Graham sitting in the front row for the tennis player-turned-designer’s milestone fashion week moment, one particular surprise guest no-doubt stole the show.
Completing the customary step out following the conclusion of the show, Williams walked out onto the runway with her two-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, who looked understandably shy as her mother aided her in making a runway debut of her own.
Image credit: Instagram.com/serenawilliams
Paris Hilton perched herself on the Eiffel Tower and Billy Porter belted out Lady Marmalade at The Blonds show
Doing away with the traditional runway all together, New York-based label The Blonds took over the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, infiltrating the stage of Moulin Rouge! The Musical which is currently playing at the theatre to sold out audiences.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillipe — who made his own appearance on-stage on Satine’s swing — and David Blond worked with the show’s producers to craft an event that melded fashion and the theatre that comes with an adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film, combining models with the show’s cast members.
But heightened theatricality aside, there were inarguable two particular moments that stole the blockbuster of a show, the first of which being Paris Hilton, who made a cameo appearance in the most Paris Hilton way possible. Making her sparkly entrance, Hilton was perched atop a scaled-down Eiffel Tower, wearing a richly beaded bodysuit, glittering Louboutin heeled booties and a towering tiara, naturally.
Just as show-stealing was a guest appearance from the 2019 Met Gala’s scene-stealer, Billy Porter, who played chanteuse for the show’s finale, belting out a rendition of Lady Marmalade to close what will now be known as the spring/summer 2020 show that stole NYFW.
Image credit: Getty Images
Prabal Gurung used his runway show to make an important political statement
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of his namesake label, designer Prabal Gurung titled his spring/summer 2020 milestone runway show with the thought-provoking question: Who gets to be American?
Giving hints at the theme with the collection’s red, white and blue-rich colour palette, the designer did away with subtlety all together when he sent his models down the runway for their final walk, donning pageant queen-style sashes that were emblazoned with the same question.
Inspired by a recent business meeting, in which he was asked “How can you define American, you don’t look American,” Gurung defied this moment of ignorance — which was no doubt exacerbated America’s current rigid stance on immigration — by casting his Americana-style show with a multi-cultural roll-call of models.
“It was very clear to me what he was implying,” Gurung told Time. “I am American, I became an American citizen, I’ve been living here for 20 years, I pay my taxes. Not only that, but the majority of the clothes that I make, are made in New York and in America, I have spoken on social issues, contributed and been an active member of this country. So when is it going to be enough?”
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Image credit: Getty Images
Kerby Jean-Raymond and Pyer Moss took us to Cardi B church
In his highly-anticipated NYFW return, Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond paid tribute to black girl magic in the most epic way in the third and final show in his runway trilogy, this one dubbed “Sister”. Preceded by shows titled “American, Also” and “created to uncover the stories of black peoples’ contribution to popular American culture.”
With show notes detailing a focus on “the contributions of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the black woman who invented rock and roll,” — as was reported by Teen Vogue — the runway included an opening musical number soulfully performed by Brent Faiyaz, backed by a band dressed in all white, followed by a speech on slavery, disadvantaged ancestry and the revival of freedom, recited by author and speaker Casey Gerald, which featured repetition of the powerful phrase “You can’t hurt us no more”.
In an equally powerful moment, the show’s curtains finally opened to reveal a gospel choir—a now common occurrence at Kerby’s show—who sang a medley of songs by female artists as models walked down the runway, including Anita Baker’s Sweet Love and Tina Turner’s Proud Mary, and even modern rap songs from artists including Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B.
Image credit: Getty Images