The Young Designers To Watch At NYFW

From the lo-fi democracy of Eckhaus Latta to the high-octane glamour of Area NYC, the new generation of New York Fashion Week talent is as diverse as the ideals that they champion, celebrating everything from Studio 54 shimmer to avant-garde subversion. Here, we highlight three of the young designers we’ll be paying particular attention to this season: those making the best party dresses, and the most powerful political statements.

Eckhaus Latta

Eckhaus Latta can justifiably be termed the founding father of New York’s new era: many of the subversive labels that have cropped up on the calendar over recent seasons first found their feet with Mike [Eckhaus] and Zoe [Latta]. Out of all of the emergent talent hailing from the city, Eckhaus Latta is the first to establish commercially viable international success without losing its authentic sensibility – and has proven that diversity is more than just a fleeting trend on the runways.

“We design based on how we're feeling as individuals,” the duo explain, “but with that said, we love to see our clothing on a range of people including different ages, sizes, races and gender preferences. We prefer when our customer chooses to use our clothing to add to their own identity, not let our clothing define them.” Their willingness to “celebrate non-mainstream archetypes” has previously manifest itself in casting people from Wolfgang Tillmans to Grace Dunham to model their clothes – clothes which might make a statement, but are also simply a joy to wear.

Area NYC

Under the name Area NYC, designers Piotrek Panszczyk and Beckett Fogg are reinventing early-Noughties glamour for the modern age, taking pop culture icons such as Carrie Bradshaw and Christina Aguilera and translating their appeal into remarkably contemporary shimmering lamé dresses and distressed denim jackets. Having started out simply making embossed T-shirts, over recent years the two explain that “we have a developed into a brand that is interested in exploring divides, between high street and high fashion; European and American; feminine and masculine... for us it's not one or the other, we are interested in exploring these concepts as dualities and not as opposites: an inclusive, optimistic attitude.”

Essentially, they’re serving up Romy-and-Michele-meets-Studio 54 realness, filtered through a modern lens and with a gloriously technical approach to fabrication. Quite frankly, what more could a woman want from New York Fashion Week?

Vaquera

“We make fashion fan fiction,” says Vaquera, the collective of New York-based designers who has, over recent seasons, sent everything from wearable Tiffany-inspired jewellery pouches to subversions of Abercrombie & Fitch down their runway. A pivotal part of the new era of young American design, where collaboration and liberal idealism seem as important as the clothes themselves, they explain that “community is a huge part of Vaquera. We wouldn't be at the point that we are now without people’s support, and doing things as a team is also extremely important to us.”

While Patric DiCaprio originally started the brand merely as a passion project, it has since evolved into a disruptive force on the fashion week calendar. “We want to infiltrate the fashion industry, become an influential brand, and make impactful clothing,” they say. “This season, two issues that we'll be touching on are authenticity and commerciality” – but in what avant-garde form remains to be seen.

Couture Techniques With a Modern Approach: Inside Ermanno Scervino

The Tuscan hills have long been a breeding ground for Italy’s fashion industry and one of the hallowed factories that lies nestled amongst rolling vineyards and postcard-perfect towns belongs to Ermanno Scervino. A place that sees three generations work shoulder-to-shoulder, creating collections that blur the lines between haute couture and ready-to-wear.

While the world finds itself in a tough economic situation, it's Ermanno Scervino is a business thriving. “2016 closed in a really positive manner, with a sales volume of €100 million,” Ermanno S”, Mr Ermanno Scervino, creative director, tells us in his sizable office-cum-atelier that houses an impressive collection of art, tomes and the new collection. “The achievement of such results is extremely satisfactory for us, considering the general context of great difficulty for the luxury market and the persistent instability of the international economic scenario."

This business success is the result of a formula that customers – particularly those who choose all-out glamour – appreciate and are keen to buy into, according to the designer. Everything is made in Italy, a business decision that has become intrinsic. “It’s fundamental. Made in Italy means the excellence of materials, cuts, design and know-how in manufacturing,” enthused Scervino. “The product is then charismatic and has an energy that differentiates from any other in the world.”

However, Scervino and his highly skilled employees are conscious that while these hand-crafted approaches are for the best, they need now need to be developed in a modern way. “We have to be careful not to fall into easy nostalgia. My will is to translate this excellence into modern language, combining the values of sartorial tradition with glamour.”

While the brand does centre the design on bespoke craftsmanship, it’s also done with a forward gaze on the latest technologies and design practices. For Scervino, this is the way that the brand can stay relevant especially in an over-crowded market. “Nowadays, the fashion world has an almost infinite proposal, women have any kind of dress in their wardrobe. You must therefore be not only current, but even a step forward, projected to the future, in order to offer women clothes a moment before they desire them."

As the sales volumes reveal, this approach is working both on and off the red carpet. Lookback several months ago and Ermanno Scervino was one of the most worn designers at the Cannes Film Festival. Answering the call to the events that call for high-octane opulence, the signature lace gowns were worn by fashion darlings Sara Sampaio, Lottie Moss, Martha Hunt and Jasmine Sanders.

Getting bright young things to wear his gowns is one thing, but getting younger people to work in the ateliers – especially those located in rural towns – proves a more challenging task. “It’s difficult, yes, but not impossible. Fortunately, there are many girls who come out of school and want to come to work in my atelier. In a global economic crisis, I hire, which shows how the industry is flourishing. For us then it is very important to have young people working in the atelier, because they bring ideas, modernity and technological skills.”

 As for the focus that has been placed on shifting show schedules, it’s interesting to consider how Ermanno Scervino – a ready-to-wear brand that holds couture techniques at the forefront of their practice – finds the demanding timetable. “The world of fashion has today frenzied rhythms, one presents a collection, and immediately has to start working for the next one, which will be presented in five months,” shared the designer. “This is one of the hardest problems that designers have: they have not only to stimulate continuously their creative part, but also have to adapt to the times and needs of marketing.”

“My ready-to-wear is almost haute couture, because this is the norm with which I work in my atelier,” Scervino continued. “Our garments are not suffering from industrialisation. They are unique, obtainable only by couture, handmade manufacturing. This allows me to create something new every season, such as the millefoglie lace, a plissé work so difficult to obtain that I almost gave up. It took months and months of tests and experiments with my toiles before getting the desired result, but it was worth it.”

Looking to the future, there is much to be conquered: more stores, more unique techniques and red-carpet gowns, looking to create a greater global presence. “We are working on many projects, in particular to consolidate our visibility at the international level. In these years, we have reached an important position. In 2017, we have the determination to consolidate and expand. On the creative side, my goal is to continue to dress the most beautiful women in the world, enhancing their beauty and femininity.”

Amal Clooney in Ermanno Scervino. "This plumetis bustier on a base of impalpable tulle fully exalts her femininity and her elegant and refined sensuality", the creative director shares. "Amal is an extremely contemporary woman: beautiful, with an innate grace, but also committed and profoundly passionate about her job as a lawyer. This dress is therefore generally suitable of for all women with a strong personality, who must be free to express their beauty during a cocktail or a special evening as well, not just on a red carpet."

How Fashion Provocateur, Gareth Pugh, Is Abandoning Runway Convention This Season

Ever since designer Gareth Pugh launched his eponymous label in 2006, he has been known not only for the painstaking precision of his avant-garde silhouettes and the remarkable dramatics of his seasonal collections, but equally for his profound rejection of convention. Spring/Summer 2018 is certainly no different: we can exclusively reveal that, in lieu of staging a catwalk show during London Fashion Week, Pugh will be presenting a high-octane film to showcase his collection, created in collaboration with renowned photographer Nick Knight.

"At heart of this film is a violent rejection of the status quo, built around the idea of 'duende'," Pugh explained this morning. "It's about how you translate a feeling into image-making that you could live or die by." Pugh will be screening this film at London's BFI IMAX, on the largest cinema screen in Europe (it is the height of four double-decker buses) to the same audience who would have been present at a runway show. However, by eschewing the traditional format, "it's incredibly democratic; presenting a collection on film means that you can sidestep the usual gatekeepers", he says. "It's totally non-negotiable. The work speaks for itself, and it can go anywhere and everywhere." In fact, as the curtains are raised at the IMAX, the film will simultaneously screen to a worldwide audience.

Pugh continued to explain that it was the absolute control that film allows that inspired this move away from the runway. "When you know you need to get it right - when the depth of feeling is so strong that you need it to be executed exactly as you'd wish - then film allows you to do that. Nick is a creative anarchist, and there's no-one else like him. It's never been a question of the most practical option, or 'how is this going to be perceived?' Instead it's only about trying to create images that penetrate and that hijack the mind; images that can take you a place where you feel something visceral and deeply affecting."

And so, we shall wait with bated breath – bring on Saturday, September 16th.

Kering And LVMH Join Forces On Model Wellbeing Charter

Fashion conglomerates LVMH and Kering have joined forces to create a charter that will protect the wellbeing of models. The charter will be implemented across all of their brands as of the spring/summer 2018 show season, which starts today, "paying particular attention to ensuring good working conditions".

"Respecting the dignity of every man and woman is at the heart of both group’s values," read a release on behalf of both groups. "Having always cared for the well-being of models, LVMH and Kering feel that they have a specific responsibility, as leaders in the industry, to go one step further with their brands."

The charter incorporates the following:

- All brands will work with models to ensure that they can "present a valid medical certificate, attesting to their good health and ability to work, obtained less than six months before the shooting or the fashion show"

- French sizes 32 for women and 42 for men will be banned from casting requirements. Instead, casting agents will need to present female models sized 34 and over, and male models sized 44 and over

- Brands will have a dedicated psychologist or therapist at their disposal during their working time

- Models must be able to make a direct complaint to the brand "in the case of a dispute with a modelling agency, a casting director or a brand"

- Brands must provide transportation for models to return to their place of residence after 8pm

- Brands must provide models with access to food and drinks that comply with dietary requirements as well as "useful information to maintain a healthy diet throughout the working day"

- In the case of nudity during a shoot or while getting dressed before or after a show, "the model will never be alone with a person linked to the production or a photographer"

- Models aged under 16 "must not be hired by brands to take part in shows or shootings representing an adult"

Regarding models aged 16 to 18 specifically, they will not be allowed to work between 10pm and 6am; a chaperone or guardian is mandatory; alcohol will not be served during castings or shoots; and they must meet their "school-attendance obligations".

The news comes a season after allegations of model mistreatment at a casting session for Kering-owned Balenciaga sparked an industry-wide debate after model casting agent James Scully elected to name and shame brands and individuals accused of mistreating models. Models, including Helena Christensen, Carolyn Murphy, Elsa Hosk, Leomie Anderson, Julia Stegner, Hillary Rhoda, Joan Smalls, Jourdana Phillips, Julie Hoomans, Dilone - and industry figures including make-up artist Kay Montano, hairstylist Anthony Turner, CEO Antoine Arnault, and stylist Mary Fellowes - all spoke out in support of his public outing.

Balenciaga responded immediately to the news, releasing a statement which said: “On Sunday, February 26, Balenciaga took notice of issues with the model castings carried out on that day. The house reacted immediately, making radical changes to the casting process, including discontinuing the relationship with the current casting agency."

“Respecting the dignity of all women has always been both a personal commitment for me and a priority for Kering as a group," said Pinault. "Through the establishment of this charter and our commitment to abide by its terms, we are once again manifesting the importance of this core value in a very concrete manner. We hope to inspire the entire industry to follow suit, thus making a real difference in the working conditions of fashion models industry-wide."

“I am deeply committed to ensuring that the working relationship between LVMH group brands, agencies and models goes beyond simply complying with the legal requirements," chimed Arnault. "The well-being of models is of great importance to us. As the leader in the luxury sector, we believe it is our role to be at the forefront of this initiative. We have the responsibility of building new standards for fashion and we hope to be followed by other players in our sector."

Tom Ford's Nineties Comeback And Rihanna's Catwalk Sass: What To Expect From NYFW

New York Fashion week starts today but with several big-name American designers defecting to London and Paris, what does the event have in store? British Vogue’s new fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen has the preview.

If you’re looking for a New York Fashion Week preview, you needn’t look further than July’s haute couture shows in Paris. Proenza Schouler and Rodarte’s decision to relocate to the French summer schedule will leave a void in New York this September, but the shows must go on—even if major players Altuzarra and Thom Browne are immigrating to Paris Fashion Week, and Tommy Hilfiger is decamping to London.

The departures mark a new chip in the polish for the American shows, which have suffered a lack of interest from European visitors in recent years. It’s not all bad news for the New York this season, however. The city still boasts all-important young names like Sies Marjan and Monse, and headliners including Alexander Wang, Victoria Beckham and Marc Jacobs are staying put for now.

The Americans also have a few big-name surprises up their star-spangled sleeves. Tom Ford is back in town. The designer/director opens the week on Wednesday evening and is promising to revisit his sexually charged, Nineties heyday.

Meanwhile, Rihanna is bringing her star power to New York, uprooting her Fenty Puma show from Paris and moving it to her adoptive homeland. It’s a clever decision by the popstar. The New York shows thrive on an air of celebrity, and Rihanna puts on the kind of fun-filled fashion show we want to see on the American runways.

Calvin Klein brings that kind of celebrity spectacle, too, and after Raf Simons took the reins last season it’s only got grander. With the locals leaving town there’s a certain irony to the fact a Belgian designer is now New York’s biggest draw. Look out for house ambassadors Paris Jackson and Brooke Shields as Simons braves the traditionally challenging feat of nailing his sophomore season for the American fashion institution.

Helmut Lang has undergone a revamp of sorts over the past six months, and this week Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver – the brand’s current designer-in-residence – is ready to show what he’s been working on. Expect subversive nostalgia, dystopian deconstruction, and a fair amount of fetish chic.

Ralph Lauren won’t be in town, either, but fret not, the American hero isn’t moving to Paris, only to the garage in his Bedford abode on Long Island where his see-now-buy-now spectacular will be unveiled. The event may not boost Manhattan’s declining fashion week population, but at least few things show off the famous American hospitality quite like inviting people into your own home.

Off the catwalks, Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler are showing some Anglo-Austrian support for New York alongside Juergen Teller as the trio celebrate their long-standing photographic collaboration with an exhibition at the house’s 55th Street store. We may get a glimpse of prominent American Westwood fans such as Pamela Anderson and Kim Kardashian.

Kanye West will be in town, too. It’s just that no one knows when and where his Yeezy show is taking place, how far we’ll have to drive to see it, and what footwear might be appropriate. You have to give it up to Mr West, though: in a time when New York’s other star designers are heading to Paris, he’s keeping us on our toes.

Kendall Responds To Pepsi Ad Criticism

Kendall Jenner has addressed the Pepsi advert in which she starred and which came under fire for drawing on the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement.

After backlash, Pepsi withdrew the “Live For Now Moments Anthem" advert, and apologised for the commercial which aired in April and showed Jenner attending a protest and handing a can of Pepsi to one of the policemen controlling the march.

Five months later, in the trailer for the new series of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the reality-star-turned-model, is shown discussing the matter with sister Kim Kardashian West. “It feels like my life is over,” she told her older sibling. "You made a mistake," Kardashian West replied.

While Jenner has kept silent, the mother-of-two addressed the advert earlier this summer in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We're not perfect, but you see these things in the media, like Kendall and her Pepsi ad, where I see her at home crying,” West said. "In the media she looks another way because she's not addressing it."

West revealed that she had encouraged Jenner to stand up for herself: "I'm just like, 'This is wrong. You need to speak up'. She was like, 'I don't ever want to show that footage of me crying.' She was trying to not make excuses or be dramatic, but that was what she was going through at the time."

Fellow model Ashley Graham also weighed in on the matter on US talkWatch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen back in June. “I think my team probably would have nipped it in the bud before anything happened,” Graham said. “I was very surprised that nobody said, ‘Hey, this looks like a bad idea right here.”

Since the controversial advert aired, Jenner has also pulled a line of T-shirts created in collaboration with her sister, Kylie Jenner, which featured their faces superimposed over images of famed music artists including The Doors and late great rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. The $125 tees came under fire from from relatives of the artists, with the sisters receiving cease-and-desist letters over unauthorised use of the images.

MatchesFashion.com Confirms The Rumours

Rumours have been swirling around the industry for some time that Matchesfashion.com, the fashion business established by Tom and Ruth Chapman in 1987, was preparing for a sale of some sort - and this afternoon the brand confirmed them to be true. Private-equity fund Apax Partners has acquired a majority stake in the fashion business (subject to closing conditions), while the Chapmans - along with other shareholders - will continue to own minority stakes.

“Matchesfashion.com has redefined the face of luxury commerce and become renowned globally for having the fashion point of view," said the pair this afternoon. "The business has never been in a stronger position and we want to thank our loyal customers, the exceptional brands and the brilliant people who we are fortunate enough to work with. They inspire us every day to be better."

"We are delighted that Apax Partners have taken a majority stake in the business. After 30 years of growing this business Ruth and I are ready to take on new challenges while remaining shareholders and taking on an advisory role," added Tom. "Our world-class team led by CEO, Ulric Jerome and CFO, Fiona Greiner will continue to drive Matchesfashion.com to becoming the number-one luxury fashion commerce company in the world."

It will bring big change for the couple, who have been intimately involved with every detail and development of their hugely successful brand since they established it, despite starting to scale back their official roles in recent years- a sentiment that was addressed today by Jerome.

“It is very important that, on behalf of everyone in the Matchesfashion.com family, I recognise the incredible vision and work of our founders, Tom and Ruth," he said. "Over 30 years they have created an exceptional brand, renowned and recognised globally and respected by the industry. They gave this business its DNA and we will carry that forward."

The deal is set to be completed in full by the end of the year, with change and development expected to be in the pipeline. Already this year, the brand announced a huge new expansion into the east end of London, creating more than 150 jobs in four years.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Matchesfashion.com, which has emerged as one of the leading players in the online luxury space globally," said Gabriele Cipparrone, a partner at Apax Partners. "Tom and Ruth, along with Ulric and his management team, have done a tremendous job in expanding the business in a sector that continues to demonstrate huge growth potential. Online penetration of the luxury market is still small and we anticipate this will grow significantly in the coming years. Matchesfashion.com, with its distinctive assortment, unique voice, and unparalleled customer service, is ideally placed to attract and encourage this growth in the online luxury market.”