‘People have stars, but they aren’t all the same…’ Thom Browne AW23. #NYFW

Thom Browne is an imaginative, emotional storyteller whose unique, evocative fashion theater was sorely missed through his on-and-off romance with showing in Paris. Now New York is lucky to have him back and installed as the new chairman of the CFDA. 

Arriving guests always find Browne’s set reveal a thrill. This time, we had an unusual jolt. The scene was a night sky, perhaps in a galaxy not ours, filled with white stars and planets. Only in a bizarre coincidence, the planets wsent the mind racing to their twin white spy balloon and other mysterious flying objects now suddenly in the news. Interesting – indeed. (Whether interesting amusing or interesting creepy depends upon where you stand on alien conspiracy theories.)  

Beneath the sky: a downed biplane embedded in sand. What’s going on, we wondered, while also eyeing a dazzling celebrity lineup that included Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Teyana Taylor, Whoopie Goldberg, Lil Nas X, Rebecca Hall, Johnny Suh, Pusha T and Christine Baranski. 

To start, a voice came over the sound system reading a literary passage, and with that came clarity – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince! Then two people came into the view, The Prince (identifiable by her pointy blond hair) and the Pilot (in a corseted, bulbous flight suit that couldn’t have done well in the cockpit.)

An intricate pantomime of the story thus ensued. First Prince and Pilot interacted with the planets the Prince had visited, each represented by a character -- King, Drunkard, Lamplighter, Businessman. They all wore an identical silhouette – a long, lean, strong-shouldered dress, each with a different vibrant intarsia motif. Then came a statement on the different ways in which adults and children view the world. The former came decked in a parade of Browne’s tweeds – gorgeous but big, boxy and no-nonsense. They were followed by a group done up in the designer’s fantastical collage looks, de- and reconstructed coats, jackets, pants, shirts, and neckties, assembled with willy-nilly precision. Those were the kids. 

While this was going on, the narrator continued with book snippets: “People have stars, but they aren’t all the same…” For the finale, the characters walked to a haunting, emotional rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” It was all quite beautiful. But…

The beauty wasn’t enough. At 32 minutes or so, the show was at least two-and-a-half times longer than average. Nor was it a zippy 32; the pace was leisurely, to say the least. Which isn’t necessarily bad; a Merchant-Ivory pace can reel you in – usually with a nugget of surprise. Here, the big unknown was the set, which awed upon entry. Theplanet looks were all the same. The coats – exquisite, but variations on a theme. Ditto the collaged constructions. Browne is a brilliant designer and craftsman, and his clothes are extraordinary. They are also very specific and now, very familiar. While his telling of The Little Prince was moving, thirty-plus minutes called for something unexpected – a sartorial surprise – that never came. 

So much to unpack here. Thom Browne is a wildly imaginative storyteller whose unique, emotional fashion theater was sorely missed through his on-and-off romance with showing in Paris. Now New York is lucky to have him back and installed as the new chairman of the CFDA.