At most big-name fashion shows, there’s a clear
social hierarchy among guests. The front row serves as a visual
tip-sheet of who’s who and why they’re there: celebrity fans, retired
models, top fashion editors, bloggers with brand recognition, and luxury
retailers all get prime seating.
Needless to say, “standing” tickets are the lowest rungs on the hierarchical ladder, reserved for interns and interlopers.
You
can tell a lot about a brand from its front row. Star wattage doesn’t
always line up with industry respect, for instance. But a guest list
stacked with celebs and fashion insiders, as it was at Raf Simons’s
Calvin Klein debut, is a good indicator of both commercial success and
industry renown.
Then there are big-name shows where the social order is more ambiguous. Take the mixed crowd at Phillipp Plein,
where A-list stars (Madonna, Kylie Jenner) rubbed shoulders with the
D-list ones (Paris Hilton), and a slew of seemingly wealthy, nameless
peacockers joined them to be photographed by street style
photographers—to see-and-be-seen and (hopefully) end up in Guest of a Guest party pictures the next day.
It was a mixed bag at Narciso Rodriguez on Tuesday night, too. Outside the show, a young man who claimed he was with the media outlet Russia Today wielded a mop-like microphone and asked guests what they were wearing. (Since when does Russia Today do fashion coverage?)
In
recent seasons, the atmosphere at Rodriguez’s shows has been intimate
and serene. It’s the only show this reporter has attended where people
talk to each other in hushed tones both before and after the runway
presentation.
Sarah Jessica Parker
was chirping quietly to her seatmate in that girly, ageless voice of
hers in the front row on Tuesday. She wore one of his washer-embroidered
dresses from last season over a sheer black long sleeve tee and black
stockings. Raf Simons, beloved Belgian designer whose debut show at Calvin Klein was the show to see this week, squeezed in next to her. They looked like old friends: No need for pleasantries.
When two of the most long-adored people in
Planet Fashion turn up to a show, you know it’s an important one—not the
buzziest, necessarily, but one that is respected in the biz. Indeed,
Rodriguez has been designing some of the most effortlessly chic
women's wear for so long that his name is sometimes overshadowed by new
hot tickets.
But fashion purists love Rodriguez. His
clothes are pared down but exquisitely cut and styled. When other
designers resort to gimmicks to stand out, Rodriguez remains a masterful
minimalist.
That much was clear from his
fall/winter collection, which opened with a black wool top with thin,
horizontal cutouts on the chest and black wool trousers cropped above
the ankle. The chest cutout was a recurring motif in the collection.
(SJP pulled out her phone for a black, knee-length dress with
cleavage-exposing cutouts.)
Metallic
satin dresses that almost looked like liquid echoed pieces from last
season. Streamlined jackets and trousers in burnt orange provided
flashes of color. Tops with wing-like split sleeves that trailed behind
models like streamers were at once simple and stunning.
The crowd was charmed and cheered Rodriguez when he came out at the end. There was no mad dash for the door, as there often is. Vogue staffers
took their time walking out. Ken Downing, the fashion director at
Neiman Marcus, whispered something to someone about needing sleep. It
was day five of fashion week, after all, but everyone seemed blissed out
as they left. Rodriguez’s shows have that effect on people.
Narciso Rodriguez by Lizzie Crocker
Narciso Rodriguez by Lizzie Crocker
