Seven Looks From NYFW FW16

In wake of this month’s New York Fashion Week, let’s take a trip back through seven looks from shows you ought to know about.

Rodarte FW16, look 3 This season’s presentation marked Rodarte’s tenth anniversary.

With all that we expect from the Mulleavy sisters and maybe a little more. A deconstructed set strewn with neon lights? Check. Dizzying, consistently gorgeous handiwork and detail? Absolutely. Highlights included a darkly feminine, sheer, sequined lace jumpsuit styled with a pair of formidable elbow length leather gloves, a look neatly encapsulating Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s love of historicism, subversion, and craft.

Eckhaus Latta FW16, look 13

Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus, the RISD educated brains behind art-school favorite Eckhaus Latta, are rising stars on the way up. The collection reads with plenty of influences: Belgian deconstruction, Japanese workwear, an interest in sculpture, and a good helping of horrifying thrift store Thing. But in the end, all of these disparate elements come together for a result that is equal parts evocative, enigmatic, and eminently wearable. A little discomfort goes a long way.

Hood By Air FW16, look 37

If you still thought Shayne Oliver’s Hood By Air, loved by streetwear acolytes and club kids the world over, was just a t-shirt company, you’d be dead wrong. Let’s just say that you don’t quite know what hit you at an HBA show until it’s too late. HBA is terror and energy. HBA is excess and fetish. HBA is queer as hell and beautiful for it. The closing look, a black hoodie underneath a fur lined leather jacket paired with baggy leather plus-fours, wraps up the brand’s sensibility in a wearable package. This is realness, folks, and it’s got teeth.

Rag & Bone FW16, look 23

There wasn’t much new here by the way of brand vocabulary, but that doesn’t necessarily hurt, either. What we saw were designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright proving themselves once again as arbiters of downtown cool in familiar codes. Infusions of street, military, and classic English tailoring influences came together to form a vibe with an undeniable appeal. Case in point: a tough bomber in a lustrous jacquard paired with a slouchy track pant in a Highland check, accessorized with a string of pearls and some serious chain loafers. We’re sure all the cool kids are taking notes for next season.

The Row FW16, look 13

The Olsen twins haven’t been the child stars you knew, not for a long, long time. These days, the sisters have established themselves firmly and neatly among the fashion cognoscenti with their label The Row, beloved by editors and critics alike. They’re a rarity, considering their status as celebrity designers. And certainly, the praise is duly earned. Take sumptuous 90s minimalism, luxurious fabrics second-to-none, a rigorous eye for detail, and you’ve got a mix that’s certainly hard to beat. In a world full of noise and motion, the label posits itself as a nice antidote. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen invite us to slow down, hush, and savor the moment.

YEEZY FW16, look 10

Ah, Yeezy. Yeezy Yeezy Yeezy. If you haven’t heard that name in the past week of being on social media, we honestly have no idea what you were doing. One thing is sure and it’s that Yeezy season is in full swing and there’s no escape. The album release cum fashion show extravaganza at Madison Square Garden was truly a triumph in celebrity spectacle and performance, if only by numbers. But you ask, what about the clothes? Well, it was all standard fare for Yeezus. Military surplus, generous helpings of beloved designer influences (namely Margiela, Helmut Lang and Raf Simons,) tight body stockings for women, oversized washed sweats for men, and the shoes which will inspire nothing short of a scalping frenzy later on. Kanye West has proven himself as a remixer instead of a designer, but at least for now, he’s managed to capture a mood that his followers will be lining up for.

VFILES FW16, look 30

Fashion is a democracy, or at least according to VFILES. By now, the VFILES Made Fashion event has become a beloved staple at NYFW, self-described as the world’s first crowdsourced runway show where everything from designers to makeup artists are selected via vote on the VFILES website by its users. In a trade historically defined on the basis of its exclusivity, it’s a refreshing and downright revolutionary concept for fashion. From this year’s crop of fresh talent, Swiss design duo Cosima Gadient and Christa Bösch’s label Ottolinger. Gadient and Bösch explored fabric manipulation, gender, and deconstruction with a rough hand, blowtorching holes, ripping apart and hand distressing fabrics for a result that felt unnerving, anarchic, and alive.