New York Fashion Week: Animal kingdom

Every time Thom Browne puts on a fashion show, the room is buzzing with anticipation.

What will fashion’s ultimate showman — and a master craftsman, too — come up with this time?

The New York Fashion Week crowd entered Browne’s Chelsea gallery venue earlier this week to find a brightly tiled and multihued space — not unlike a swimming pool, but with the water drained out.

Hmm. Was this a bathing suit display?

Suddenly a gaggle of models came out in brightly coloured floral coverups and old-fashioned, pouffy bathing caps, carrying large totes — as if out for a day at the pool. They were guided around the space by four birds — two parrots and two seagulls, to be exact — and four cats, all male models with animal heads. (It’s a tribute to Browne’s menswear know-how that he can make a man look hip even wearing a cat head.)

Gradually the models stepped out of their robes to reveal their real outfits: suits in black and white and in gorgeous pastels, with jackets and ties and shirts. But they were actually one-piece dresses, only appearing to be suits through ingenious trompe l’oeil work (literally, tricking the eye.) The models — who wore bright blue or white pasty lipstick, making them look thoroughly otherworldly — slowly paraded around the room.

Watching over the proceedings was a figure that can only be described as a disco dog goddess.

Yes, a disco dog goddess. She was dressed in shimmering silver, with a dog head on top that resembled a disco ball.

Browne later confirmed the obvious: this figure was a nod to his own beloved dog, Hector. (The real dog was somewhere on the premises, posing for photos.)

There was yet another reveal coming. Aided by their animal friends, each model then slipped out of her suit-dress via a zipper in back. And suddenly, they were all in matching bathing suits of red, white and blue. They lowered themselves to the floor and struck a pose. The crowd broke into applause.

“I was thinking about swimmers in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Browne explained. “Taking the idea of a wetsuit for guys and making it for girls, in trompe l’oeil tailoring.

Hector, no doubt, approved of the results.

Suddenly, models came out in brightly coloured floral coverups and old-fashioned, pouffy bathing caps, carrying large totes — as if out for a day at the pool.

PHOTOS BY DIANE BONDAREFF, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Gradually the models stepped out of their robes to reveal one-piece dresses, only appearing to be suits through ingenious trompe l’oeil work.

It’s a tribute to Thom Browne’s menswear know-how that he can make a man look hip even wearing a cat head.

Watching over the proceedings was a disco dog goddess, shown at left. She was dressed in shimmering silver, with a dog head on top that resembled a disco ball.

Aided by their animal friends, each model slipped out of her suit-dress via a zipper in back. They were all in matching bathing suits of red, white and blue.