Scott — who opened the week with her Proenza Schouler debut — was one of few to contextualize her show (for Diotima) in the current moment, and the only designer to create a collection in direct response. If her Proenza debut was an introduction, Scott’s FW26 collection for Diotima felt more urgent. She collaborated with the estate of Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, Scott’s favorite artist, as well as Refugee Atelier, a group to whom she was introduced by Gigi Burris, designer and founder of non-profit Closely Crafted (knowing Scott’s commitment to craft and craftspeople).
“Working with this work right now [by] a Cuban artist talking about anti-imperialism in this moment of imperialism, especially in our region and also what’s happening in New York and across America, it’s just been weighing on me,” Scott said after Sunday’s show. “It’s really terrifying.” Scott is dismayed to see so few designers engage politically at this moment. “If you have any platform of any form, you need to be saying something about what’s happening, especially in fashion, which operates in the realm of culture,” she said on Sunday.
Most references to the fraught US landscape were vague enough to not disrupt business as usual. Ashlynn Park alluded to the current moment when discussing her Ashlyn collection. “The American vernacular is very beautiful — probably more beautiful than other countries — because it’s the melting pot,” she told Vogue Business in the lead-up. “All different people bring their own journeys, cultures, and senses.” The multiplicity of America is a notion she repeated in her show notes. TWP’s Trish Wescoat Pound made reference to “these fraught times” in her notes on a collection for the New York City woman.
Tory Burch described her collection as “a meditation on what endures, especially in times of chaos and despair”, in her notes, and said after the show on Wednesday night that “the world is so chaotic, desperate, and sad” that she was drawn to familiar territory, like her dad’s corduroys. It seems that most designers are simply putting their heads down and focusing on work. It’s a survival tactic.
#York #Fashion #Wrestles #Reality #Takeaways #NYFW
