New York Fashion Week shows complied with social distancing
Jason Wu did what few designers dare this New York Fashion Week: He staged a show on Sunday, September 13, before a small live audience, in the midst of a pandemic. Why? "I think the world needs beauty and optimism," the designer told The Associated Press after the beach-themed presentation. “New York Fashion Week is not over. Is strong. We are here… We can all be safe, be together and celebrate.”
The terrace of Spring Studios became a tropical oasis.
With 30 models on a wooden catwalk surrounded by tropical plants and sand on a rooftop in lower Manhattan, Wu seated 36 guests at a safe distance and transported them to Tulum, in the Mexican Caribbean, where he was married. Each had his temperature taken and had him answer a health questionnaire before he took a seat.
Wu dressed his models in tropical yellows, oranges and pinks.
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The show was broadcast live on a digital platform where most designers presented their collections without the usual crowds this shortened Fashion Week season that opened last Sunday and ends today. Christian Siriano and Rebecca Minkoff are among those who decided to do it in person, with small audiences.
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The garments Wu unveiled, with Indya Moore among his models, are part of a more casual spring 2021 line for women. The couturier dressed his models in tropical yellows, oranges and pinks. Some summer dresses had cheerful floral prints.
The models also donned wide-brimmed hats and, more accustomed to super-high heels, wore an item of the moment: Teva-style strappy sandals on flat rubber soles, decorated with bows and beads.
For her greeting at the end of the event, Wu wore a mask she designed with the words "Distance Yourself from Hate" on it. It is the name of a campaign in partnership with the talent agency The Collective Shift and the HIV and AIDS organization GMHC in New York, her home for more than 20 years.
Proceeds from the $30 masks, which she gave to each guest, will go to people in need around the city. In addition, the black and white chairs used by her small audience will be donated to a new GMHC dining room where the organization serves more than 350 meals a day when working at capacity. More than 2,000 masks have been sold since June.
Wu designed the chairs as part of a collaboration with the Lowe's chain store. The overall experience, while brief, was part love letter to New York and part "mini-vacation," said Wu, who hasn't seen her family in Taiwan since the pandemic began. "For a second, I feel like I'm in paradise," she said.
