Beautiful like the falling leaves: New York and Milan Fashion Week review

Fashion Oct 3, 2022 Megan Bocchinfuso

New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week have just come and gone, briefly and beautifully like the fall season they are in. While...

New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week have just come and gone, briefly and beautifully like the fall season they are in. While the fashion weeks are short-lived, lasting only seven days, they pack an extreme punch. This year NYFW and MFW had some new things in store for us with unique runway shows and head-turning looks. Here are some of my favourite pieces from each show.

Let’s start with NYFW, which ran from Sept. 9 to Sept.14. NYFW always has me in awe, with the changing colours of the leaves against the grey, cold pavement and strong buildings. There is also always such a great range of styles to be seen in NYFW, all the way from sequins to goth-chic.

Tommy Hilfiger hit the scale somewhere in the middle with a preppy, artsy collection. According to the Tommy Hilfiger Twitter account, The Tommy Factory is “A rebellious take on modern prep.” Hilfiger collaborated with Richard Quinn and made his return to NYFW with a rainy runway show on Sept. 11. Hilfiger’s show this year was called ‘The Tommy Factory,’ dubbed after expressionist artist Andy Warhol and his art studio ‘The Factory.’ Hilfiger’s line is very similar to Warhol’s art, with vibrant colours and patterns, creating a beautiful marriage of art and clothing. The Tommy Factory still stayed true to Hilfiger’s past fashion lines, as many of his pieces still had the iconic embroidered ‘T.H.’ somewhere on the clothes.

Two models sit side by side holding clear umbrellas by their sides. One model has short blonde hair, one model has short black hair. The models both appear male and are wearing pieces from The Tommy Factory. The model with black hair is wearing a matching black and white pattern suit with flowers, and the other model is wearing the same suit but in blue, and overtop he is wearing a sports jacket with patches.

Models at The Tommy Factory Photo credit: Twitter @TommyHilfiger

Milan Fashion Week took place from Sept. 20 to Sept. 26. I always love the pace of MFW, it has a definite European style. Rather than the brisk, concrete and structured ambience of NYFW, this Italian fashion show feels more fluid, like a week-long dance.

MFW had a very interesting show created by fashion designer Beate Karlsson, who is just 26 years old. Karlsson’s show ‘AVAVAV’ was more than a runway, it was a movement. Literally. All of Karlsson’s models who walked, or tripped rather, were committed to expressing the theme of the show. As each model strutted down the runway, they all intentionally tripped as a way of displaying the literal downfall of wealth. AVAVAV was made as satire, to show the “pathetic” risks of being wealthy and power-hungry. Some of the models from this show can be seen with dollar sign embroidery or text pieces reading “FILTHY RICH” on their clothes for a literal sense of monetary madness. Karlsson said in an Instagram post “I wanted to do a parody of a fashion show to go with the pathetic theme of this collection, and of fashion’s extreme superficiality, at a time when so many fake richness, but risk falling down.” AVAVAV featured models dressed in streetwear-style pieces, all with large fuzzy boots.

A white model with long orange hair is in mid-trip walking down the AVAVAV runway. Their arms are out long for balance and they're wearing a sleeveless black bodysuit with two silver dollar signs on each breast. They're wearing large over-the-knee ultra fluffy boots. They're also wearing a choker. The entire background is grey.

AVAVAV model for Karlsson Photo credit: Instagram: @beate.karlsson

I love when politics and world issues are expressed through fashion. There is something extremely powerful about the fashion movement and the stage it has. Feelings and thoughts expressed through beauty is very important and has created a big splash in both the fashion world and beyond.