Opting for a more austere and minimal backdrop for his September 6 show at 82 Mercer, Jason Wu worked with Alex de Betak to devise a landscape light show that ran the entire length of the runway. Eight brushed brass light sculptures that emitted a severe white LED light, custom made by show producer and designer Bureau Betak, complemented Wu’s color palette of sandy neutrals infused with gentle shots of color.
Tasked with realizing Marc Jacobs’s vision of “Victorian surf,” longtime set designer Stefan Beckman devised an abstract beach at the 69th Regiment Armory on September 10 that melded visual cues ranging from the Paul McCartney show at the Park Avenue Armory to Burning Man in Nevada to the notion of artifice. Fully immersing the audience into the runway—a series of six concentric circular islands were built so editors would feel “washed up”—the weeklong load in marked the first time Jacobs had utilized all 25,000 square feet of the venue for a show.
For designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista, the simple lines of a tennis court not only inspired the designs he showed for spring, but also the atmosphere of his September 7 show. Held in the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents at Lincoln Center, the runway backdrop included a series of strategically placed all-white metal tennis nets, which also ran the length of the runway interspersed between guest seating areas.
Meandering paths covered with seven tons of coal slag snaked around the entire space of the Marc Jacobs show, with Kadan Productions culling 5,600 yards of fabric for the theatrical stage curtains for an air of opulence. Creative Engineering built the giant props.
Held within the intimate confines of the Classic Car Club on Hudson Street, General Idea's September 6 show cleared all but two of the venue’s antique roadsters that set the tone for the label’s sleek and sportive separates. General Idea designer Choi Bumsuk, however, wasn’t the only one who was bit by the auto bug during Fashion Week; Siki Im’s show on September 9 featured Range Rovers and BMWs that lined the grit-covered brick walls of Pier 57.
Nike erected a three-day installation in Gansevoort Plaza during Fashion Week to celebrate the launch of its Nike Free Hyperfeel running shoe. Produced by Aramique Krauthamer, founder of production company Odd Division, which specializes in interactive and immersive media, and Web and installation creator Jeff Crouse, the black-on-black temporary structure featured a tactile labyrinth comprising barefoot experiences that amplified nature. Three distinct physical spaces made up the labyrinth, which replicated common running surfaces like stone, sand, and grass. Equipped with neuro-headsets, visitors produced their own audiovisual installation—informed in real time by the brain's sensory reaction to the textures underfoot.
In keeping with the spring collection’s “California style—Melrose to Malibu” theme, the September 9 Tommy Hilfiger show at Pier 94 featured a 390-foot-long weathered wooden boardwalk-cum-runway that was flanked by 140 tons of sand trucked in from New Jersey.
Produced and designed by Bureau Betak, Rodarte's September 11 New York Fashion Week show at Center548 featured a striking grid of mirrors with red and blue fluorescent tubes (now a Rodarte signature), inspired by Los Angeles’s street grid at night in the '80s.
Ever enchanted by florals, Dior creative director Raf Simons utilized 300,000 stems of hanging foliage that included orchids, wisteria, and lianas, among others, mixed with plants both real and artificial, as his runway backdrop. The jungle-like setting, filled with tropical cascades of fabric flowers and real plants painted canary yellow, fuchsia pink, and chlorophyll green, was a nod to Dior’s many links to nature. In total, 48,438 square feet of decor—32,292 square feet of walls plus 16,146 square feet of roofs—was used.
Riffing on the ultra-wealthy’s near-obsessive fascination with contemporary art, Karl Lagerfeld’s October 1 Chanel show played up both his sense of humor and the brand’s knack for chic satire. The Grand Palais was transformed into a gigantic white-walled gallery, where a total of 75 “artworks” were realized in massive form. That included interlocking Cs made of pearls that were falling off onto the floor, an image of Mademoiselle’s private atelier entrance, a Chanel No.5 Robot, and one of the naughtiest, “Modern Narcissus,” a life-size, 3-D nude (but for a pair of socks) lounging on an elevated Plexiglas platform. Leaving no detail overlooked, some of the props even boasted red dots beside their titles, as if they’d already been sold.
Aveda Canada hosted a media luncheon at 2nd Floor Events in Toronto on August 27. The event offered a three-course lunch served in an earthy, forestlike setting. Tabletop decor included locally grown succulents planted in reclaimed glass containers with organic white beans. The vessels were displayed on reusable moss runners, which were scattered with Bulgarian Lavender candles from Aveda.
Handbag designer Anya Hindmarch sent models flying down the runway at London Fashion Week on September 16. Called “Out of This World,” the spring/summer show had a segment that took place against a dark backdrop littered with glowing stars. Rotating planets were strung overhead, and the otherworldly vibe was sealed with models in harnesses floating above the runway.
