Top 5 Highlights From New York Fashion Week 2017

On Sunday night, Rihanna debuted her latest collaborative line with Puma at the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side. This was no regular fashion show however, with a series of motocross stunts taking place before the models hit the runway. Rihanna herself made an entrance on a motorcycle near at close of the show. The theatrics may have been a lot to live up to but the sporty clothes were just as interesting as the performance that preceded them. This was a big week for RiRi, because her cosmetics line, Fenty Beauty, also debuted online and in stores on September 8th.

This outspoken actress has become a social media star due to her hilarious Twitter commentary and it turns out she’s a welcome addition to fashion week too. High fashion runway shows can often be a somber affair where poker faces abound and showing any enthusiasm is considered gauche. When Leslie Jones attended Christian Siriano’s Spring/Summer 2018 show however, she did not bother to hide her excitement over the gorgeous designs. She was exclaiming over every look and yelling compliments to the models which could be heard even over the soundtrack- and her attitude was infectious.

Every season brings new young models to the runway, but this time it seemed that there were even more exciting new additions than ever before. Cindy Crawford’s 16-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, made her debut on the runway at Calvin Klein, opened for Alexander Wang and went on to walk the catwalk at Rihanna’s Puma show as well. At just 16, Kaia is already making waves in the fashion industry. In another example of famous celebrity offspring making their first New York fashion week appearance, Cordell Broadus, son of rapper Snoop Dog, and Pamela Anderson's son Brandon Lee both walked for Philipp Plein.

It may no longer be shocking to see the hint of a breast or bum on the fashion week runways, but we surely weren’t ready for this. Berlin Based brand, Namilia is known for sex positive streetwear and for their Spring/Summer 2018 collection, the brand's intention was to “celebrate sensuality and eroticism in all forms”. There was no full frontal nudity, but vaginas were the focus of many of the outfits and images of lady parts also adorned many of the pieces. The models walked, perhaps ironically, to a soundtrack of well known Disney songs.

The fashion industry has long been derided for failing to feature diverse models in their shows and ad campaigns, but it looks like the tides are finally changing. Though there has been a steady increase of diverse models featured in recent years, 2017 marked a serious change with over 30 percent of the models being women of color. Brands like Concept Korea, Prabal Gurung, Helmut Lang and Christian Siriano all featured models of different age, shapes and sizes. Gender diversity was also apparent this year as several designers included trans, and gender-nonconforming models such as Sophia Lamar who walked for Helmut Lang and Violet Chachki who modeled for Christian Cowan.