By Alicia Powell
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Designer Rebecca Minkoff recreated an indoor botanical garden for her latest line at New York Fashion Week in one of the event’s few live shows, with a limited number of guests.
Some 100 fashionistas had to fill out a COVID-related form and have their temperature checked before entering the presentation on Tuesday, a video of which was released on Thursday. They then rotated in groups of 15 every 20 minutes for two hours.
This season, New York Fashion Week: The Shows is a mostly virtual event with most designers sharing videos of their collections due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Part of me wants to showcase that you can get back to work and you can do it safely,” Minkoff told Reuters.
“I think right now we need to show examples in leadership of work being done in a safe manner and that economies can be revived through people being aware and conscious, and I think clearly our economy needs that.”
New York-based Minkoff was one of the few designers who held a live show in September and said visits to her website and sales were higher after that presentation than in any other season in her brand’s history.
“The sales we got from the show were all just great signs that this is something we should keep doing as a brand,” she said.
At Tuesday’s show, models posed in floaty summer dresses and frocks adorned in floral or animal prints. They also wore matching face masks. Embellishments included tassels on a jacket and puffed up sleeves on a shirt.
“The inspiration of the collection was really about the juxtaposition between this modern bohemian woman and rock and roll,” Minkoff said, adding items would be available for purchase straight after the show with payment plans offered.
New York Fashion Week ends on Thursday.
(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
