Prabal Gurung was thinking deep this season. He installed a mirrored square runway reflecting an opulent blue light display at the main branch of the New York Public Library for a fashion week show Friday exploring the Buddhist concept of “anichya,” or impermanence.
Does a butterfly know it was once a caterpillar? How do we fill those fleeting moments between beginning and end, joy and despair?
With moody luxury clothes, of course.
In butterfly motifs, wool jackets and hues of vermilion, saffron, burgundy and dusty pinks, Gurung was thinking of his homeland, Nepal, where he hasn’t been since before the pandemic. He was motivated by a 10-day meditative retreat he recently experienced to “silence everything.”
“In Nepal, we talk about it all the time, what is present and how soon it can go,” he told The Associated Press in a backstage interview. “And there’s actually an optimism to that, especially during these challenging times.”
The idea, in part, was finding hope “in the dark places,” he said. “There’s light after darkness.”
His silhouettes were sharper and longer this time around. His asymmetry challenged the idea of harmony. He draped softly and provided sharp angles at the same time. There were fluid, gliding skirts, wool jackets and glitzy golds and crystals.
Rodarte brought dark, gothic glamour and opulence to New York Fashion Week on Friday with a shimmering show that transported the audience to a majestic Celtic fairytale land with a dark twist.
The grandiose show held at the Williamsburg Savings Bank featured dining tables decorated with silver candelabras and brimming with food and fruits covered in silver sparkles, lending a feel of performance art to the fall/winter collection display.
Rodarte sister-duo designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who worked on the tutus for 2010′s “Black Swan,” seemingly pulled inspiration from the film again. Rodarte’s line illustrated that the “balletcore” style trend may be headed down a darker path this year.
Models wore heavy, winged black eyeliner and black lipstick, matching their black gowns with long and pointy sleeves that draped to the floor for a dark fairy look, at New York fashion show.
In signature Rodarte fashion, buttery satin, ruffles, ribbons and lace were heavily present throughout some of the most visually pleasing gowns with simple silhouettes and puffy, broad shoulders and structuring. Some models wore capes and held grand bouquets of tulips.
“Winter” by Tori Amos set the haunting atmosphere as the gowns grew increasingly more avant-garde with hues of yellow, green and purple. A handful of models wore oversized black, blue and purple colored bonnets and veils like Tim Burton characters.
Some of the most eye-catching looks of the afternoon were sported by four models who were draped in full- to medium-length colorful and iridescent tinsel gowns. Toward the end of the show, each model stood in the center of the sparkly tables for a moment of appreciation.
A weighted and structured golden tinsel dress that trailed about 20 feet (6 meters) behind its model closed out the wistful and folkloric show.