Celebrities flock back to fashion week
Fashion Week has taken over New York City once again with six days of Fall-Winter 2023 shows from brands including Rodarte, Thom Browne, Prabal Gurung and Eckhaus Latta.
Last season marked the return of nearly all in-person shows, and A-list celebrities descended on the city for a packed schedule of slick high-production shows all around Manhattan and Brooklyn. This week, the trend toward iconic backdrops and grand architecture continues, with shows taking place at the historic main branch of the New York Public Library, the classic hotspot the Rainbow Room and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
On Friday, the mood was high fantasy as Rodarte kicked off the official schedule inside the neoclassical Williamsburgh Savings Bank, transforming the landmark Brooklyn institution into an otherworldly banquet populated by gothic fairies. Rodarte’s romantic collections have a loyal celebrity following, and guests included actors Brie Larson, Jemima Kirke and Natasha Lyonne.
The night continued with themes of transformation, from Collina Strada’s playful presentation of models-turned-animals to Dion Lee’s edgy club-kid looks that played on the idea of clothes as shedding snake skin (the latter attended by internet favorites Julia Fox and Ice Spice).
At the New York Public Library, designer Prabal Gurung sought to create a celestial escape in the heart of the building, inspired by meditation and his Nepalese heritage. Models in asymmetrical draping and a variety of outwear walked on a mirrored floor beneath star projections, while guests including Kimora Lee Simmons and Nicky Hilton looked on.
“I wanted people to forget for 10 minutes that they are in New York — to feel like they are on a spiritual journey with me to Nepal,” he told CNN ahead of the show.
Another weekend highlight was Area’s dramatic take on fruits, turning bananas, watermelons and grapes into sculptural ensembles that seemed to draw heavily from art history, from Andy Warhol’s pop art to Dutch “vanitas” paintings. Models walked to the sounds of buzzing flies and thumping techno, while colors shifted from vibrant to black, signaling decay.
Celebrity runway cameos have included Lindsay Lohan’s siblings Ali and Cody, who walked Christian Siriano’s early Thursday show (with Lohan present in the front row), as well as a surprise appearance from “White Lotus” actor Jon Gries on the Eckhaus Latta runway on Saturday night.
Emily Ratajkowski closed Simkhai’s presentation of power-dressing ensembles.
Other celebrities spotted front row during the week have included the alwaysmasked South African singer Orville Peck and Japanese Breakfast frontwoman Michelle Zauner, who showed up to Rodarte and cool-girl staple Sandy Liang.
“I’m so flattered that people get it,” Liang said of cultivating a loyal following, which includes Bella Hadid and Phoebe Bridgers.
Liang’s latest collection imagined the dress as a “modern, everyday uniform,” mixing feminine silhouettes — with signatures bows, rosettes and ballet pointe flats — with utilitarian additions.
Duran Duran will make a longawaited return to Pittsburgh with a show at PPG Paints Arena on Sept. 9 with special guests Bastille and Nile Rodgers & CHIC.
Tickets for the Future Past Tour go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday at livenation.com.
Pre-sale began Monday. Members (and those who wish to join) should visit duranduran.com and click the MEMBERS tab for more details.
Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets until 10 p.m. Wednesday at citientertainment.com.
The classic New Wave band, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2022, is touring behind its 15th album, “Future Past.”
Singer Simon Le Bon, upon making the announcement, said, “It’s remarkable to me that as a band, we are still hitting new milestones, and introducing the sound of DD to new generations of music lovers. We are truly grateful that we get to do what we do on a daily basis, and that we still love our job as much as we did when we started out some four decades ago.”
The band, which has not played Pittsburgh since 2005 (a 2012 Stage AE show was canceled), brings such hits as “Hungry Like a Wolf,” “Rio,” “The Wild Boys” and “The Reflex.”