Jason Wu and Imitation of Christ open New York Fashion Week

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On Valentine’s Sunday, Jason Wu opened the latest New York Fashion Week with a nostalgic ode to American Coca Cola capitalism.

This was followed by the Imitation of Christ duo, Tara Subkoff and Matthew Damhave, with a call for more teasing beauty. The inspiration came, among other things, from an acquaintance of Subkoff who died of Covid-19.

Jason Wu said he “thinks nostalgically” of his New England school days and the “very idyllic Americana of that time”. In reality, he went back even further, to the 1950s, and picked up the idea of ​​a general store. On the set of his private live show, flower baskets and plywood boxes with tomatoes, leeks and pumpkins cavorted.

Wu’s show is one of the only ones in the New York season with live models. Most other designers organize digital presentations or fashion videos. 60 brands will take part in the three-and-a-half-day event, the climax is expected on Wednesday evening with Tom Ford. But half a dozen of the major fashion houses that usually parade in New York have canceled, including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs.

For the opening event, Wu sent cautiously dressed models down the catwalk, their hair wrapped in a ladylike bun, in keeping with Wu’s cosmopolitan New York DNA.

Last season, the creative director had stated that he had cooked his mother’s recipes during the lockdown and devoted himself to “finding new ways to express myself”. And with the help of Chef’s Warehouse, Wu was able to fill his show with exquisite ingredients. After the event, the company donated all of its groceries to New Yorkers in need, in partnership with the City Harvest charity.

Wu also played with the most famous embodiment of American capitalism – Coca Cola. He was given free access to the brand’s archives – but not to the legendary secret recipe. The designer incorporated the iconic cola bottles into his prints, for example in a silk dress in the color of a red love apple, densely printed with various logos. A black and white bottle print could also be seen on a pleated skirt as part of a series of international Coca Cola logos in different languages.

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“These logos emphasize the multicultural aspect of the collection and are a symbol of what America means to me – a melting pot of cultures,” said Wu. He bowed dressed all in black – jeans, coat, mask and hoodie with the Chinese Coca Cola logo.

The great, almost picturesque knitwear and the perfectly sized jackets also worked very well, Wu visibly perfected himself in lockdown. His goal, the designer explained, was “a collection of sublime American sportswear with handcrafted details and a focus on outerwear”.

Jason Wu has always cut great coats and here, too, he gave his topcoats a majestic look with their long, masculine cut and hand-embroidered details. A Canadian trapper quilted coat with a black body and lumberjack sleeves was also excellent.

To do this, Wu equipped his models with metal earrings and pendants with autumnal leaf shapes. The same shapes were used for the opening coats.

Imitation of Christ – or IoC – followed later that evening with a charmingly bizarre collection. Drum major tops with wide trousers, colonialist military jackets with gold silk bras, tie-dye T-shirts with lace details worn by men with hairy legs, and film diva dresses with eccentric lace trimmings.

Like circus performers at an after-after party in the city or better still – in search of one of the unforgettable performance art runway happenings from IoC. So that they can return soon with the normal show program.

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