Of ‘80s Glam

It started at Tom Ford, the first big show of New York Fashion Week: wild colored animal print, overthe-top sequins, hot hot pink and a Pointer Sister’s soundtrack. It continued in fits and starts throughout the week – banana clips and mini-skirts at Alexander Wang, pleather dresses at Christian Siriano. And by the time Marc Jacobs closed out the Fashion Week it became crystal clear: The ‘80s, in all their brightly-colored, shoulder-padded, tacky glory, are back.

In the same spare set he has used the past few seasons – just two rows of chairs flanking a narrow runway inside the cavernous Park Avenue armory – Marc Jacobs sent out a dramatic, voluminous, and richly textured Fall 2018 collection. There was cashmere and taffeta and velvet and tweed. There were oversized menswearinspired coats and poufshouldered and cinchedwaist dresses fit for a very cool Molly Ringwald prom.

But where Tom Ford’s collection seemed to recall an exuberant and decadent ‘80s, Jacobs’ interpretation felt more somber. Where Ford offered citron cheetah, Jacobs answered with moody plum.

Where Ford’s models sported thick black leather headbands, pulling their hair off their faces in haughty self-assurance, Jacobs’ models were mostly concealed, hidden in the dusky shadows of dark and somewhat sinister wide-brimmed hats.

Let’s not forget that while the ‘80s gave us Pac-Man, Guns N’ Roses and Aqua Net, they also gave us Reagan, trickledown economics and the war on drugs. To say we’re headed down that same path, but worse, would be an understatement.