Givenchy 9/11 New York Fashion Week show pays tribute to the American Dream
Looks from Givenchy’s runway show during New York Fashion Week. Held at Pier 26, with the Freedom Tower in the background, the show paid tribute to the American Dream.
Reporting from New York — A European luxury brand comes to New York City and stages a sunset fashion show on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with the Freedom Tower as backdrop?
It could have gone wrong, very wrong, but Givenchy Artistic Director Riccardo Tisci managed to orchestrate an event that was respectful, meditative, inclusive and solemnly beautiful.
Sept. 11 is inextricably tied to New York Fashion Week. I was in New York City for the Los Angeles Times covering the runways one minute, and at Ground Zero the next. And years later, I’m still here this time of year and the shows go on.
Tisci, who grew up in Italy, was inspired like so many by the promise of the American Dream, and has made Americana a recurring motif in his work, riffing on the flag, celebrating diversity, hip-hop music and basketball. He opened this show to the public, like America opens its arms, offering tickets through an online lottery to experience what is usually an exclusive, invite-only affair.
To set the scene and mood for the spring 2016 show, staged here instead of Paris in order to celebrate Givenchy’s new Madison Avenue boutique, Tisci turned to his friend, performance artist Marina Abramovic, a Serbian living in New York. And Abramovic created an island of calm on the banks of the Hudson River on Pier 26.
FULL COVERAGE: New York Fashion Week 2015
There was chanting in several languages. And atop recycled wood structures, artists hosted live performances expressing love, peace and humility. A couple locked in an eternal, ever-changing embrace, a robed figure held olive branches aloft, and a woman stood under a spout of drenching, cleansing water that lightly splashed guests seated on benches below.
Risers were set up for ticket winners, which included students, young fashion designers and beauty industry employees.
“I like Givenchy because it’s modern yet classic,†said Connor Devoe, 24, an underwear designer from Manhattan. “I’m getting a selfie with Kanye,†said Ceejay Hayes, 19, a student from Georgetown University in Washington.
Kanye was here with his bride Kim Kardashian. Steven Tyler and Liv Tyler were also in the seats. On the runway, it was a kind of best-of collection for Tisci, with his ideas about black-and-white, masculine-meets-feminine tuxedo dressing at their most accessible, and models’ dramatic face jewelry at its most Instagrammable.
Romantic camisoles, slips and off-shoulder tops skimmed the body, trailing satin ribbons, lace edges and handkerchief hems or dotted with pearls. They were worn with sculpted tail coats, over fluid pajama pants, flared trousers or tuxedo pants with lace side stripes. Gowns fit for a Kardashian were puffed up with plumage, constructed from jigsaws of satin and lace, or encrusted in a pirate’s booty of spangles and pearls. On the feet were boudoir booties and mules. And the men wore sharp black suits, black lace bib shirts and lace neckties.
As the sun set, the show closed with “Ave Maria,†that melodic prayer, and the best view of Freedom Tower’s Tribute in Lights that I have ever seen.
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