Michael Kors Turns 40 By Lighting Up Broadway With The Best In The Business

On the 40th anniversary of his eponymous brand, Michael Kors pulled off the ultimate power move. Showing how beloved he is in the showbiz industry, fashion’s greatest entertainer invited Broadway’s best to introduce his autumn/winter 2021 show. Billy Porter, Bette Midler, Jane Krakowski, Rosario Dawson, Debra Messing, Alan Cumming, Marisa Tomei and Judith Light, among others, served as the warm-up act for Kors’s love letter to theatre, while raising awareness of the Actors Fund. In lieu of birthday gifts, the designer and his company both donated to the performing arts emergency aid organisation.

The jolly skit making light of Midler’s ineptitude at Zoom and the stars’ gentle bristling over the success of Hamilton would have been enough to secure a place in fashion history. But then, the show happened. Staged in the heart of Midtown under the lights of the Shubert Theater and soundtracked by a live performance from Rufus Wainwright, legendary models and new-gen stars walked the makeshift runway down Broadway. It was nothing short of epic.

Supermodels Shalom Harlow, Helena Christensen, Karen Elson and Carolyn Murphy looked jaw-dropping in the glittering, red-carpet worthy gowns, while Naomi Campbell closed the show in the best shoulder-robing moment of the season. Liya Kebede made a return to the catwalk in ladylike monochrome coords, while brand ambassador Bella Hadid held her own in the throng.

Irina Shayk, Ashley Graham, Adut Akech, Soo Joo Park, Paloma Elsesser and Halima Aden all joined the march down the twinkling streets showing New York at its most fabulous. Wearing the elegant, yet easy pieces that one could imagine going to the theatre in, the transportive film is emblematic of Kors’s career so far: a true celebration of fashion.