This season's Fashion Week could be summed up in one word: Personal. While most designers consistently make some sort of concerted effort to showcase their designs in unique settings, the fall collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, which concluded February 14, seemed to have an extra dose of intimacy and customization that sent a strong message of natural extension over forced showmanship.
Whether the venues were grand—in the case of Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs—or cozy à la Jason Wu and Thom Browne, guests were transported into designers’ psyches this season more so than ever. The Row, meanwhile, under the auspices of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen working with Bureau Betak, even went so far as to fully furnish a Beaux Arts townhouse to create the most proper environment in which to showcase designs.
New York shows, for the most part, have typically taken a more straightforward path when it comes to venue choices—largely juxtaposed against their Parisian counterparts. But this season, the noticeable uptick in attention paid to presentation by many designers made for multiple memorable moments in what would otherwise have been a haze of nonstop shows and presentations.