Magasin’s pop-up newsletter-within-a-newsletter, where we go on the ground to suss out hot shopping gossip from scenes of interest: New York Fashion Week, Day 2.
Itinerary
10:30a TWP — a polished, Western-meets-utilitarian collection with some really great work shirts, outerwear, and bolo tie accessories. The front row was stacked, I wish I could’ve eavesdropped on whatever Jenna Lyons, Kelly Rutherford, and Martha Stewart were chatting about. - AV
11a Tom Sachs Presents “31 Rue Cambon” — the artist remade his Centre Street gallery into a Chanel store, trading the tweed and leather métiers for construction techniques involving plywood and gold paint fed through medical syringes. There were chandeliers made of Citi Bike parts and ottomans with melted Legos for buttons. It’s a project about consumerism and desire, but it wasn’t anti-consumerist, per se: “You can’t be a critic of consumerism without being complicit in consumption yourself,” was the Tom zinger that stuck. Every skirt suit was dedicated to a famous wearer; there was Coco, Anna, Diana, Naomi, Christy, and a work in progress for A$AP.
12p Proenza Schouler show — the second (official) collection under CD Rachel Scott: She either found the groove that was missing last season or she’s finally being allowed to express her best ideas by corporate powers. It doesn’t look like old Proenza, but it feels like it, conjuring the mythical New York woman who knows it all and does it all—in heels, no less. - LR
1p Mel Usine presentation — so many thoughts from this presentation, not least of which that designer Stephen Biga is really fucking talented. His first collection was editorial, this one is more wardrobed with rough, rustic jersey separates and things that live between those worlds…e.g. a buttery jersey floor-length cape. Just as interesting was hearing about his business model, which is hugely private client-driven. I didn’t know you could do that as a small brand! Not easy, of course, to pull a healthy handful of big spenders out of thin air (or a résumé that includes designing for Gabriela Hearst), but it certainly cuts through the slog and despair that typically comes with being an emerging name. Very happy for him. - LR
2p RÙADH presentation — the denim brand from Jac Sullivan is growing up, with even more emphasis on leather, plus a proper store designed by Madelynn Hudson, complete with grail-tier furnishing from fellow Scott and design legend Charles Rennie Mackintosh. - LR
4p Kallmeyer show — she was once the face of the “real clothes” movement that defined NY, but lately she’s grown more ethereal—not whimsical—designery, concept-driven but no less wearable (quite the opposite). Saw that in the micro-beaded grid-pattern skirts, dramatic brushed-fringe, and of course How to Wrap Five Eggs…more on that below. Importantly, her first leather handbag, the Magazine bag, hits site today. - LR
4p Agmes presentation — the brand recently introduced Agmes Man, a men’s specific jewelry collection that includes chunkier multi-use chains, as well as smaller editions of brooches aimed toward the modern man’s wardrobe. - MK
4p Comme Si showroom visit — lost my mind over a forthcoming tiny, cropped baseball tee that I know I (and every fan of the brand) will wear to shreds. - AV
5p Puck “Fashion People” live recording — a meeting of the minds at Nine Orchard, hosted by Lauren Sherman. She was joined by Rory Satran of The Hamptons Chronicle, Indré Rockefeller of The Circularity Project, and Elizabeth von der Goltz, CRO of Poshmark to talk all things “taste” for the pod. - AV
5p Andrew Dubow’s “Niccolò, Ned, Britt” Exhibition — a brief design interlude to see + finally meet art dealer Andrew Dubow, who also designed the tables displaying the artworks in the show. - LR
7p Tory Burch show — impressive array of references that felt like a very natural continuation of what was built up last season (not always a bad thing, to be consistent in a specific vision you stand by for a few cycles), fully putting embellishment at the center with adorned Renaissance knits and fluffy pompoms galore. - LR
7:30p Net-A-Porter cocktail at Straker’s — ass to elbows in the old Lucky Strike space, soon to open as the restaurant Straker’s, the first NY outpost of the London chain of the same name. Its founder, Thomas Straker, has 2.7mm IG followers for some reason. - LR
8:30p Nili Lotan party at Lucinda’s — swung by Lucinda Williams’s namesake honky tonk bar in Alphabet City to celebrate the Western Americana-tinged fall collection, complete with a performance by Lucinda herself. Yee-haw! - AV
8:30p Marc Jacobs Beauty party — awash with influencers / opportunists who were there for the oodles of free products presented on little platters like food, even the new Nude Awakening concealer (I snagged two). - MK
LR: Laura Reilly, AV: Alyssa Vingan, MK: Maya Kotomori
Outfit
Res Ipsa Suede Jacket (fringed here, $695; similar from Studio Nicholson here, $2,125) / Another Tomorrow Relaxed Wide Leg Pant, $850 / Nu Swim Organic Cotton Daily Tee, $50 $84 / The Row Marlo 12 Tote, $4,900 / Métier Aquilone Ball Charm, $390 / Tkees Lily Liners Flip Flops, $65 / Polo Sport Oval Sunglasses, $166 $102
The most remarkable, heart-hitting choice I’ve seen so far is Kallmeyer’s “How to Wrap Five Eggs” bags. I recognized the style immediately, because the book of the same name is one of my most prized tomes. The Japanese craft book advises on, yes, different methods with which one can use bamboo, hemp twine, and other materials to package and carry eggs. Its cover image is the one recreated for the runway in piles of light-catching beaded strings (and yes, the goods inside are real).
There’s a floppy-leather-men’s-shoe-playful-sock combo emerging as a seasonal microtrend (or perhaps a macro one, menswear doesn’t have that many channels to exploit): First, I spotted my chic French Canadian friend Loic Cardinal in a great Dries pair with red socks, then I rode the Subway with NYT Styles reporter Jacob Gallagher, who wore the Jil Sander Hood shoe with a green sock. I commented on their Chukka-ness; he dubbed them the “Ozempic Wallabee.”
My non-fashion pit stop into Andrew Dubow’s heads-in-conversation gallery show (my name for it, not his) yielded the kind of info I get DMed about the most: his paint color. It’s Benjamin Moore’s Navajo White, a warm neutral that plays nice with the beaming rays of sun through his 14th floor windows and makes a thoughtful background for the art on display.
Not fashion week necessarily, but of interest to most of you reading this: The Uniqlo U FW26 collection marks its 10th anniversary today, and its final one, too, if you can stomach the thought. End of an era, folks. A decade of eclectic, attentive fitting pants and outerwear that leaves nothing to be desired, cribbed from co-creative directors Christophe Lemaire (a one-time Hermés CD) and Sarah-Linh Tran’s main line Lemaire at revolutionarily democratic price points. The fleece short jacket, coated blouson (the dark grey is the ideal non-black staple color), and short wool blend coat make for their own winter capsule to complement your existing wardrobe.
Jalil Johnson getting good mileage out of a fantastic vintage stick brooch this season, which he says has the added advantage of holding open the collar of a polo shirt, rather than allowing it to flop closed and read too literal (the diamonds also help assuage those assumptions).
— LR
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