Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2015

Bennett Secrest | Writer    &    Kian Kiasaleh | Writer

March 4th, 2015

It’s the time of the year where fashion enthusiasts, hype beasts, and odd “artistic fashionistas” are coming together globally to appreciate the work of many designers. Yes, it is once again Fashion Week in New York.

The clothing being presented at this time is focused on the fall season, meaning thick jackets, long sleeves shirts and sweaters, and any clothing that is used to provide warmth for the harsh weather conditions.

Many designers and brands were represented this year, but those who stood out from the rest were Shayne Oliver (founder of Hood By Air), Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Stéphane Ashpool (founder of Pigalle), Yohji Yamamoto, and the most publicized this year, Kanye West’s collaboration with Adidas. The ongoing trend between all of these designers differentiates. Designers such as Rick Owens use a simplistic style of clothing with a basic dark color palette along with hints of metallic colors in zippers, buttons, etc., while most other designers such as Shayne Oliver and Raf Simons use gaudy branding and overuse of screen printing that mesmerizes the consumers. Both methods of design were used this season in collaboration with warm, fall and winter clothing. As far as materials in the clothing goes, many designers used wool, leather, and a plethora of other materials that are heavy, thick, and warm. Many designers also took the idea of using retro designs in their new fall catalogs.

There’s a sense of restraint and undeniable cool about the 1990’s that captivates our contemporary culture, and many designers incorporated this into their pieces. Duo Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School revisit that decade of grunge and base their collection off of the jaded teenagers who are simply “too cool for school.” Black, red, and neutrals dominate the color palette to capture the hard edge of the 90’s. Throughout the show, an urban casualness manifests as we see unstructured silhouettes in the layering and harem pants. The designers also manage to marry comfort and style in the form of cozy puffer jackets, flannels, hooded parkas, sports caps, sneakers, and wool scarves, all of which can be worn by both guys and girls. For us Orange County residents, these are mostly dust-collectors discarded in the back of our closets. However, anyone visiting colder regions could use these winter essentials to endure the unbearable chills and stay warm in style.

“Family isn’t a word…it’s a sentence” screams Lacoste’s latest fall/winter collection as it pays tribute to the quirky Wes Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums. Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista infuses the clothes with the distinct persona of each beloved movie character. The collection emphasizes on eccentric tennis fashion as Chas Tenenbaum’s infamous red tracksuit makes an appearance in the show. The 70’s style mid-length coats in neutrals and cool colors reflect Richie Tenenbaum’s casual, vintage style. Finally, Margot Tenenbaum’s stoicism and mysterious nature lends itself to the structured overcoats, the preppy colors, and crisp whites. Lacoste’s show displays an array of sophisticated yet youthful and sporty pieces with a kitschy twist inspired by a classic film.

By far, the most popular release in the fashion world during Fashion Week was, hands-down, Kanye West’s release of his third “Yeezy”, in which he collaborated with Adidas to make. There was large controversy surrounding the release of this shoe and whether it would be popular or not due to the fact that the last two “Yeezys” had been made with Nike, but Kanye decided to leave his previous collaborators to work with the Adidas designers, who also collaborate with many high-fashion designers such as Jeremy Scott and Yohji Yamamoto as well as many other musical artists, including West’s G.O.O.D. Music member Big Sean. The model of the shoe is called the “Yeezy Boost 750” and has already sold out, and in the process completely crashed every company’s website who was selling the shoe. The retail price of the shoe was $350 and is currently being resold for $3000 and up. This alone illustrates the massive hype surrounding the shoe and its release.

Altogether, Fashion Week 2015 presented many successful new styles in which many fashion enthusiasts are indulging on throughout this fall season.