MARC Jacobs punk’d his audience last night in more ways than one. First, he started his 8 pm show at 7:58 pm, so you were punk’d if you weren’t early. Then he rolled out a spoof on the ’80s that looked like a love letter to his days working at cult design emporium Charivari. And it was rad, as the kids say.
The show began with a beehive to rival Kate Pierson’s from the B-52’s – and the references played on: Flock of Seagulls hair, Rocky Horror Picture Show makeup, Max Headroom glasses, Keith Haring cartoon brights, and Cindy Lauper thrift shop styling.
But it was almost a Harajuku girl’s anime version of that era, with rave-y hooded jackets in glo-stick neons, gray sweatshirts with pagoda shoulders, capes with scuba zipper details, and prom dresses with handkerchief hems in fabrics that looked highly flammable.
Thank goodness Marc knows girls just wanna have fun!
What a relief, because the rest of the week was looking like a face off between high brow and low, as designers and attendees jockeyed to fill the void once occupied by Hollywood celebs, now back in LA worrying over what to wear on Sunday.
In one corner, there was the camp that would represent the biggest star of Fashion Week in absentia, the first lady, and in the other… the uh, Hilton sisters.
Starting at Carolina Herrera, Anna Wintour wielded her front-row sidekick, White House social secretary Desirée Rogers.
Herrera’s lineup (Click for Photos) was all very White House-worthy, if a bit four-administrations-ago. The collection seemed to bend over backward into the ’60s for modesty’s sake. The social secretary and the Vogue editor also made stops at Donna Karan (Click for Photos) and Thakoon (Click for Photos).
At the latter, the house was packed, including Mrs. Obama’s fashion consultant Ikram Goldman. To his credit, the designer did not pander, showing a variety of looks that may never make their way up Pennsylvania Avenue. Still, we’d love to see her in his bomber jacket and skirt in a bonded velvet and rib knit fabric combo.
Inexplicably, the Hilton sisters and Kim Kardashian were the front-row guests at Tracy Reese (Click for Photos ), a designer who has already sent some commissions over for the first lady. Reese explored her inner Sexy Librarian for fall, giving flirty tiered dresses and oxfords a 1920s twist.
Paris and Nicky stole the show again at Jill Stuart, where her rock ‘n’ roll Lolita looks were a more authentic match. Ruffled dresses got the tough chick treatment with stiletto boots and corsaged fedoras and black leather hooked up with lace. Now that’s hot. (Click for Photos)