NEW YORK -- Alexander Wang went back to black in a crumbling old theater in Harlem and Christian Siriano provided a pop of politics in a single T-shirt that read "People are People," choosing instead to focus on a dreamy copper-colored collection of velvet and satin at New York Fashion Week on Saturday.
Among the day's highlights:
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WANG FEELING BAD-TO-THE-BONE
This girl's going to get it done. Wang's models, including Bella Hadid and a freshly bobbed Kendall Jenner, wore mostly black on Wang's raised runway at the abandoned RKO Hamilton Theatre, theatrical fog and a mosh-like pit setting the tone after a DJ and a couple of hip-hop dancers entertained before the show.
Hadid donned leather mini-shorts and a long-sleeve "Night of Treason" top, while other models walked in leather skinny pants, a few in checks and some in deep blue lingerie looks. Little silver balls provided edgy detailing on boots and seams for some. Others carried bags with chain-link straps.
Jenner sis Kylie and on-again, off-again boyfriend Tyga, Ansel Elgort, Teyana Taylor and A$AP Rocky were among Wang's guests.
The crowd, wending its way uptown through traffic from the usual lower Manhattan venues, was led to this dystopia through a narrow walkway with black-plastic lined walls, passed shelves of Peroni beer kegs. People were greeted by waiters offering glasses of the brew.
Wang does know his way around a neckline. There were some in form-fitting black with bustier bodices and off-the-shoulder sleeves. A black jumpsuit went off the shoulder in long sleeves but also included thin dainty straps that showed off heavy chunk chokers in silver.
He also knows how to cut a blazer, providing a few worthy of work or the club, though his tousled-haired models may need to pull out the straightening iron before heading to the office.
---Leanne Italie
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SIRIANO'S WINDSWEPT COPPER, LUXE VELVET
The designer said he was inspired in part for this fall collection by beehive sand formations in Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park. The shapes he was referring to were created by wind, providing a layered effect that impacted his silhouettes and a fiery copper color that dominated.
From the park, he said in a backstage interview: "We took everything. We took colors, we took textures. I felt like when I was there I literally felt like I was in a dream."
His setting: The Grand Ballroom of New York's storied Plaza Hotel. Some of his guests were treated to box seats above his rows of chairs. Mega-model Karolina Kurkova was among his walkers, while Juliette Lewis and Janet Mock were among his front-row guests.
Considering today's contentious political climate, Siriano said, "I think it was important to kind of take everybody out of their element and just be in a dream."
Last season, Siriano made a point of mixing all shapes and sizes among his models. Many of the same plus-size models walked this time around as well.
He showed gold-and-black velvet looks with bustiers and Victorian sleeves. A strapless dress had gold crystal tassels and a maroon bell-sleeve gown was fringed. He cut trousers wide in metallic copper and added a touch of faux fur on wool coats.
Among his desert tones was a touch of mauve and coral.
Siriano's "People are People" T-shirt was about as overtly political as he got. The black top was paired with a long, pinkish satin skirt slit high on one side.
The thing that matters to Siriano, as a gay man who married just last year, is this:
"We have to do something to make sure that we're all comfortable in our lives," he said.
---Leanne Italie and Nicole Evatt
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