Against the bleak backdrop of mid-Pandemic New York, Fashion Week F/W 2021 was held as news of widespread vaccinations and lowering caseloads became common. While most shows were held virtually some designers forged ahead with in-person shows and presentations in hopes of retaining a sense of normalcy. The rapid evolution of comfort fashion continued with designers imagining indoor comfort with knits and the now ubiquitous sneaker wear. Yet there were also those foreseeing the world beyond the pandemic, designers dropped bold, new, and refreshed looks for those seeking to impress the unquarantined world.
Notable designers who presented a sense of normalcy included: Jason Wu who gave us a flair for now with subtle mix and match pieces and clothing that was ready to wear. Rebecca Minkoff, whom this writer spoke to at length, sought to provide bold prints – as is her style – but also cohesive singular looks with heavy accessorization. Fashion week also saw the debut of numerous Black designers with emerging menswear designer Justin Wesley a former Kansas University basketball player.
Virtual presentations and runways offered a more bold aesthetic. Chanel presented the very chic and very in alpine life with slopestyle declaring winter as a time for a vacation – perhaps prescient towards the pandemic end. Tom Ford offered up the catsuit as the defining silhouette of the season – a nod to summer bodies and the return seeing and being seen, quite revealingly, by others.
The familiar and the future, comfort and the conspicuous, NYFW F/W 2021 offered up the here and now but also the fearless future that appears nearer everyday. Overall, this Fashion week tailored from the heart of a pandemic proves one thing above all, the show must go on.
Photography: Infinity Creative Agency
