Richard Chai, Kenneth Cole and wedding chat with Christina Ricci - MyDaily's girl-about-New-York Carlene Thomas-Bailey on the first day of shows and all the party gossip from NYFW
The first run of New York shows did not disappoint. Christina Ricci and Ashlee Simpson started the day in Richard Chai's front row, very politely wearing pieces from the label. I grabbed a few minutes with Ricci who admitted plans for her upcoming nuptials were moving "slowly", and described her daily style as, "a little bit classic. I'm kind of a uniform person, I have a couple of shapes and basic looks that I stick to". She added she's a denim girl who loves a good pair of jeans.
Chai's ready to wear designs included hooded oversized jackets and slim silhouettes in deep muddy greens and a splash of colour thanks to touches of purple silk. And after the show? It's the after-party, of course! Chai finished the night with a star-studded cocktail night at Mister H at the Mondrian SoHo hotel.
However, the biggest talking point of the day was Kenneth Cole's triumphant return to NYFW after a seven-year break. And what a return it was, with A-list guests from Heidi Klum to Cuba Gooding Jr sitting front row at the show in Manhattan's Chelsea district. Bloggers, editors and celebrities poured into the space on W27th Street and were seated in the centre of the room on blocks or on the outer edges of the room with the runway going right through.
The designer played to his absence and the rise of social media with a film that said "this show will embrace the intrusive nature of social media", the film encouraged audience members not to love the collection but 'like' it. With a silhouette of New York City projected onto the stone walls as a back drop, the collection came out bold and strong with an urban feel, ladies according to Cole we'll be playing with fabrics, mixing up leather and metallics come autumn.
The show ended with the models turning the tables on us the audience, by coming out with their phones tweeting, instagraming and facebooking images of us.
With Cole's show over, I had one quick stop to make before my head hit the pillow, and stopped into the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn to catch up with fashion week DJ Becka Diamond, who was providing the tunes at the Graymarket Brooklyn party.
Her playlist for fashion week? "The new Bloody Valentine album, industrial techno from Vatican Shadow and the classic Depeche Mode track Enjoying the Silence- that track was recently used in a Dior campaign too."
With that we're already gearing up for more fashion and with a snow storm set to hit Manhattan today, as well as big name shows coming up from Jason Wu, Helmet Lang, Charlotte Ronson, DVF and Victoria Beckham it will be exciting to see what NYFW weekend holds.
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