Spartan Echo

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press is all over New York Fashion Week, from the runways to celebrities as eight days of spring previews entered their fifth day Monday, September 14 .

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A STORIED VENUE FOR CAROLINA HERRERA

For a designer known for her refined elegance, there could hardly have been a better venue for Caroline Herrera to show her wares: The storied Frick Collection on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

Dressed in filmy dresses and gowns in ever-deepening shades of pink and rose, her models snaked around the museum’s garden court, where guests lining the edges included actress Penelope Cruz, sitting next to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Afterward, the Venezuelan-born Herrera waxed rhapsodic over the museum’s decision to allow her to mount a fashion show there.

“This is my favorite museum in New York, and always has been, since I was a very young girl,” she said of the museum established by steel magnate Henry Clay Frick some 80 years ago, “It is the most divine place and I was really very honored … it’s the first time that they’ve opened it for a fashion show and I think I was in heaven, because I love it.”

Herrera, 76, has long been known for her elegant designs that have clothed style icons like Jacqueline Kennedy and, multiple times, Michelle Obama. At Monday’s show, she introduced a modern flair, while still portraying the air of fantasy that she says is essential to fashion.

“I am in my rose period,” she said in a backstage interview. “I started with very light shades of pink and then it went a little bit more intense … and I think for a woman to wear something light and pink, it’s great because it gives you a different face, you know?”

Those pinks ranged from a pastel, filmy pink shirt dress — very short — to suits with floral accents, to longer slip dresses. She also worked with “techno fabric” to achieve, in some garments, a pleated effect. “It gives the idea that it’s pleated and at the same time it is very seductive, sensual, transparent, (but) not vulgar.”

Herrera noted that in every collection, she seeks an element of mystery. “You cannot be going out naked,” she said. “No mystery in that.”

—Jocelyn Noveck

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WET AND WILD AT TOMMY HILFIGER

Models splashed in a lagoon surrounded by a sandy boardwalk to end Tommy Hilfiger’s ode to easy island life.

Looking to add some youthful oomph to the heritage brand, Hilfiger built a wooden boardwalk ringed by sand, hung a hammock and constructed a tiki bar in front of a faux sunset. He sent his models out in multicolored hats and billowy dresses adorned with flora and fauna inspired by textile artist Josef Frank.

The idea was to vibe off the Caribbean’s Mustique, a playground for rock stars and royalty. And to pay attention to young customers.

A limited-edition silk bomber jacket embroidered with a lion on the back was made available for purchase instantaneously.

“We basically went back to our roots and made that relevant for today. We decided to really look at our DNA and celebrate who we are as a brand,” Hilfiger said in a backstage interview before the show. “When we started doing that our business just took off again. We elevated everything: the quality, the fit, and we really focused on listening to the customer.”

With new designers sprouting and social media offering a quicker road to success, Hilfiger said his focus is clear.

“Fun, youthful, unique and memorable. It keeps us really on our toes. We should never become complacent, never sit back and relax. We have to keep thinking of the next, the newest, the next, the newest,” he said.

Among the top models on hand in bikinis to help that happen was Gigi Hadid as Victoria Secret’s Behati Prinsloo romped on the front row before showtime in one of the company’s new bomber jackets. Joe Jonas was there, along with Princess Beatrice of York.

On the runway, Hilfiger reinvented the traditional cricket sweater in crochet and polos in netted mesh. T-shirt dresses were done in multicolored leather and traditional Oxford shirts were treated to some patchwork trim.

And for the feet? Comfy, colored mules all around.

—Leanne Italie

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‘CELEBRATING MISTAKES’ AT OPENING CEREMONY

It’s every designer and model’s worst nightmare: To trip while walking the runway duringfashion week.

That’s exactly what happened, over and over, on Sunday, September 13, evening at Opening Ceremony’s show. The audience gasped as the first model took a tumble, but by the time the third “model” fell, most realized the stumbles were actually calculated.

You see, some of the models were not models at all, but rather New York City Ballet dancers.

“This was to challenge the idea of the runway show and runway stride of models. It’s an idea of not always trying to catch up and not being afraid to make mistakes,” designer Humberto Leon said. “They always got back into their place. It’s an idea of making it about how these girls do it. … It’s celebrating mistakes in life.”

The collaboration is fitting considering the label is designing costumes for the ballet. Resident choreographer Justin Peck even choreographed the dance for their runway show.

So, was Leon concerned the theatrics would make the audience, which included Kylie Jenner and boyfriend Tyga, Laverne Cox and Jessica Alba, focus on just the dancing and not the clothes?

Not a chance. “The audience was a part of this,” Leon said. “We wanted the participation of the audience. You didn’t know if they were falling. This is a cross conversation of life. We got to share this special thing I’ve been working on this audience.”

—Alicia Quarles

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MONKS AND PRAYER AT PRABAL

It was an incongruous sight, even for New York Fashion Week, but a very moving one. With a who’s who of A-list Hollywood actresses in the front row, Prabal Gurung opened his runway show with 30 Buddhist monks who had traveled to New York to chant a prayer of gratitude for the world’s help during the devastating earthquake that killed thousands in Gurung’s native Nepal in April.

“When the earthquake happened, the first people that came to our rescue in Nepal was the fashion industry here, and I wanted to show some kind of gratitude to them,” Gurung said after Sunday,September 13, evening’s show. “I go and visit the monastery (in Nepal) all the time, and I had this idea, and they wanted to do it.”

The entire runway show was dedicated to Nepal, with garments in shades of lemon, saffron, peach, tea rose and other variations of orange and yellow. There was barely a dark color in the mix. Especially effective were lovely white dresses embroidered in orange and yellow, and filmy chiffon evening gowns that floated down the runway. There was also some fringe and sparkle in the mix.

Gurung had a lot of celebrity support: His front row included actresses Jennifer Hudson, Hailee Steinfeld, Laverne Cox from “Orange is the New Black,” Kylie Jenner, and Solange Knowles.

Cox was wearing a bright blue Gurung creation. “I’ve just started working with Prabal,” she said. “It’s pretty cool. All of a sudden I am here, wearing his stuff at his show.”

Gurung said he hoped the world would learn a little bit about Nepal. “All I wanted to do is show a little of where I’m from,” he said, “and show it to the rest if the world. I hope they’ll be enticed to go visit, because that’s what Nepal needs right now.”

—Jocelyn Noveck