At 10 a.m. the thumping sounds of 90s hip-hop set the stage for the Nicholas K Fall/Winter 2017 Runway Show that was held inside Skylight Clarkson Square in downtown New York City on Thursday, February 9th. The NYC-based sibling duo, Nicholas and Christopher Kunz, kicked-off another fashion week with a much-needed jolt of high energy, as Mother Nature unleashed a heavy downpour of snow outside.
Having braved whirling, blizzardy winds and a state of traitorous transportation, guests (including myself, view NYFW FW17 Day One Blizzard ) arrived draped in chic layers of winter wear (outfit posts coming soon) so that they could be the first of the fashion flock to preview the much-anticipated new collection from Nicholas K. Not surprisingly – and depsite the horrifying weather conditions – the sprawling event space quickly filled to capacity with eager bloggers, world-renown editors, and reality television stars such as Dorothy Wang from Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, and sisters Erin and Sara Foster from the show Barely Famous.
Once packed with enough body heat to almost turn on the sprinklers, the room went dim and DJ Rob Swift and live artist Latasha Alcindor (a femme activist lyricist) began to drop head-bobbing beats reflective of the soon-to-be-seen collection. The first look to appear out of the slow-rising light was a model wearing a gold metallic trenchcoat with matching culottes and beret (said to be a nod to the Black Panthers). This statement served as clear reaction to the current political climate and was prefaced with this thought-provoking synopsis (below) released by the Nicholas K communications team:
“The 90s was a decade promising communal diversity and unity. Beginning with the release of Nelson Mandela and continuing community advocacy of the Guardian Angels, this decade was the golden age of hip-hop. Artist wide-ranging topics, political militancy undertones, and experimentalism became celebration of diverse widespread cultural acceptance. The late 90s digital world brought the promise of a global humanitarian community. Recent events seem to unravel this progress and it’s now relevant to revisit the promise of the 90s.”
What followed was a color palette that consisted of black, champagne, crimson, gold, scarlet, slate and snake print. To me, the most intriguing facet of the glamorous, urban street wear was the continuation of texture mixing. The color palette curated by Nicholas K blended so seamlessly across a variety of fabrics such as foil leather, vegetable dyed leather, alpaca, undyed eco-cashmere, artisan ekats, silk satins, cotton sateen, silk velvet, organic cottons, and shearling. The flowy silks that were topped with shearling outerwear are what my dreams are made of.
During the relatively long show, a large assembly of culturally diverse, slender models rocked the runway wearing elongated layers (the brand’s signature look) which included track pants, tie skirts and pants, mini and maxi dresses, wrap shirts and dresses, and oversized parkas and military coats. An assortment of headbands and berets were also spotted, which I couldn’t be any more thrilled about. All of this made for one hell of a collection preview, as well as my official fashion week kick-off!
Below you can see a short clip of the grand finale with orginal music (captured on my iPhone), as well the full runway show (without original music) via www.nyfw.com.
Images c/o Agentry PR