People & Places

NEWS/FEATURESARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14-15, 2020

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Fash

ion

NEW YORK: Christian Cowan equates showing his fashion collec-tions with continuously living out a childhood dream.

“I’m always going to be so ecstatic every time I wake up and know I’ve got a show,” Cowan told The As-sociated Press before his fall-winter collection rolled out Tuesday night at New York Fashion Week.

In a few short years, the 25-year British designer has developed a high-profi le fan base within the artistic community. That sits well with him since he said it’s musicians and actresses who inspire him in the fi rst place.

Cowan counts Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Keke Palmer among celebrities who have embraced his designs. And then there’s Cardi B. Cowan dressed the Grammy-winning recording artist for the cover of her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy”.

“It was early on and she asked me for a few outfi ts, and I loved her and loved her personality. … She only had a few tracks then and I loved them. So we loaned her looks and then we just built a friendship and a working relationship,” Cowan said.

As for latest collection, Cowan calls it the most evolved he’s ever done, right down to the custom fab-rics and wide range of accessories.

“We are doing eyewear this season, we’ve got handbags, there’s many more layers. It’s just really evolving in its technique. It’s just a big wow factor, deep show,” Cowan said.

Michael KorsMichael Kors is so over leggings

and sports bras. He used Wednes-day’s fall collection as a reminder that staying in and cozying up by the fi re can still be chic and glamor-ous.

Blake Lively, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Issa Rae and Anna Wintour sat in the front row at the star-studded event held on the fi nal day of New York Fash-ion Week.

The collec-tion was all about dressing for a country getaway and unplugging from busy life with a strong equestrian feel, heavy on camels, grays and blacks with sparse hits of red and orange. Everything was draped with a cape, hood or cozy cowl neck - even a chunky tan sweater was complemented with a matching sweater tied around the neck for extra snuggles.

The ubiquitous and often naked athleisure wear is “not sexy, it’s not alluring,” Kors said during a back-stage interview with The Associated Press.

“I like casual clothes. We’re American. We invented it, but now we’ve got to reel it back.”

Lively, who came dressed in a menswear inspired look in a plaid vest, wide-leg trousers and white button down, said Kors brought her

Above and be-low: Models

present creations

by Michael Kors,

Naeem Khan,

Oscar de la Renta and Proenza Schouler during Fashion Week in

New York on Feb 12. (AP)

Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Proenza Schouler

to her very fi rst fashion show nearly a decade ago when she was the new girl in town.

“I didn’t have any friends and then I get a call from Michael Kors saying, ‘do you want to be my date to some fancy fashion show’,” said Lively, who gushed about the designer’s kindness. “Sometimes we think of

fashion as very standoffi sh, but my experience is that it’s been very warm and welcoming.”

Several young stars also attended

the show, including actresses Dove Cameron and Olivia Holt and singer Kelsea Ballerini.

“I love the menswear vibes. I’m

very into suits at the moment,” said Cameron, who wore a an oversized black striped suit jacket. “It’s so sexy. Everything he does is so tailored.”

Prabal GurungIn celebration of the grit and eclectic glamour of his adopted New York City, Prabal Gurung staged his New York Fashion Week show Tues-day night at the famed Rainbow Room high above Midtown with his favorite street musician on a piano emblazoned with the message: “This Machine Kills Fascists”.

But Gurung, a fashion darling who has dressed Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton and Oprah Winfrey, went distinctly non-political this go-around, choosing to honor the city’s impossible dreamers and creative energy instead in a colorful, sensuous collection that included a strapless ice blue taffeta gown made of recycled plastic bottles. Last September, he draped models in beauty pageant style sashes that read: “Who Gets to be American?”

In the Rainbow Room, the Nepal native put out looks of black, white and jewel tones, along

with lively sur-realist fl oral prints by the painter Isa-belle Menin as Washing-ton Square Park pianist Colin Hug-gins played while mod-els from around the globe in a range of sizes and ages

walked a circular

runway.He showed evening gowns

along with jacket and trouser sets, and elegant coats and jackets. There was one

coat in mint and a jacket in white with fl uttery ostrich feathers. Expressing the dichotomy of New York’s boroughs and neighborhoods, from high society to bohemian, Gu-rung included a Fair Isle turtleneck, a tartan draped dress in ivory and black, and a leopard print coat with matching boots, all after Huggins opened the show with a rousing ren-dition of the Frank Sinatra standard “New York, New York”.

“There’s no place like New York,” Gurung told The Associated Press backstage. “I left Nepal 20 years ago to come here because I wanted to live my American dream. I wanted to come to the Rainbow Room because it’s such an iconic place. ... I wanted to remind all of us why we do what we do when the relevance of New York Fashion Week and the city itself is being questioned. Let’s not forget what it stands for. It’s a true melting pot of diversity.” (AP)

NEW YORK

Naeem Khan

Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Oscar de la Renta

Proenza Schouler

Naeem Khan