SS22: Michael Kors.
Michael Kors is New York fashion’s long-reigning emperor of optimism. Of late, he’s also become its primary entertainment empresario, enlisting stellar musical artists to perform at his shows – Rufus Wainwright, Sara Bareilles, Orville Peck, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, even Barry Manilow.
This time around: Broadway star Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story. DeBose sang some of Kors’ favourite love songs al fresco at the famed Tavern on the Green in Central Park, the restaurant’s grounds gussied up with what seemed like a million glorious roses of countless breeds and hues. These provided a lush backdrop to Kors’s collection, an ode to Urban Romance. “Love is in the air,” Kors wrote in his program notes. It wafted gently, as after the high glam of his of his 40th anniversary collection last season, the designer here embraced a softer attitude.
Kors opened with the runway item of the moment, a bra top, this one is black crepe over pencil skirt, and followed it with a diverse range of high-polish looks. Kors maintains that women are ready to dress up again, for day as well as evening, and he gave them plenty of choices, starting with pragmatic-chic tailoring in coats and jackets. At times, he worked references from the Fifties (feisty circle skirts; gingham shirt tucked into belted cropped pants) and early Sixties (sheath dresses). But as retro is best experienced lightly, he also showed fresh takes on timeless, tony sportswear, including fabulous stone and pink wool gab trenchcoats worn over matching shorts.
It was all the stuff of chic real-life dressing, which women love but can project as lowkey from the runway, as sometimes these clothes did. Not so Kors’ exquisite laces. He’s in love with the stuff and showed numerous variations - white puff-sleeved top and shorts; embroidered leather coat; full-skirted eyelet dress, pale pink cashmere turtleneck over miniskirt, and yes, bra top and skirt, including one in buff-toned leather. All were powerful in their allure. So, too, a pair of black sweaters, each emblazoned with a hand held up to a huge red heart – the logo of God’s Love We Deliver of which Kors is a tireless benefactor. Because Kors believes that, along with those “must have” pieces women love to acquire, most important, you gotta have heart.
