The Spring Summer 2023 New York Fashion Week signaled the official kick-off to the fashion month. The anticipation was high from the very announcement of the schedule; over 100 brands including Area, Tommy Hilfiger, and Tory Burch along with extras such as Tom Ford and Fendi snatched the opportunity to be center stage. Most of them presented physical runways, often tied to significant milestones such as Fendi’s celebration of the iconic Baguette or Proenza Schouler’s 20th-anniversary runway show.
Now, apart from the glitz and glam, the number of brands producing collections was impressive. 100 brands offering approximately 25 looks each is an impressive number. And while I am a fierce believer in innovation and an avid consumer of fashion excellence, I couldn’t resist but wonder: do we really consume all that fashion?
I am well aware that each designer offered a valid concept, story, or personal vision behind his or her respective collection. And yet, at this stage in late capitalism, with a said recession ante portas, people should be normally investing in timeless staples. Are they? In a private discussion with a friend – fashion insider, he verified it; quality hero pieces such as cashmere sweaters or little black dressed sell like crazy out of New York runways.
Their metatextual narrative aside, do New York Fashion Week runways mean anything to anyone anymore? It seems that brands actually cater to their very own pool of hyped-consumer community who religiously follow them in good and in wrong. For the widest population though, fashion trends are gradually becoming of no interest, an aesthetic signal voided by late capitalism. This type of anodyne apparel flooded those multiple New York runway shows. It felt a bit like high fashion Shein. There. I’ve said it.
What’s left to love? Michael Kors’ quality hero pieces, Willy Chavarria’s exaggerated suits, and Peter Do’s masterful minimalistic menswear. After all, less is more.
The StyleTitle 