New York Fashion Week entered its fourth day on Sunday with some big-name shows ranging from Manolo Blahnik, known for his sexy high-end shoes, to Victoria Beckham, the British designer, former Spice Girl and wife of soccer star David Beckham.
Donna Karan brought real, everyday New Yorkers onto the runway along with models showing her autumn DKNY collection. And while some of the models at the Tracy Reese show were wearing gold glitter boots, heels and highly bedazzled outfits, the designer herself was resplendent in gold platform sneakers.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents at Lincoln Centre were a welcome return to familiar Manhattan territory after many in the fashion world had trekked out to Brooklyn on Saturday night for the must-see Alexander Wang show, held in the unlikely setting of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
VICTORIA BECKHAM SHOW: IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
Those who come to fashion shows purely for the celebrity factor would not have been disappointed on Sunday morning at Victoria Beckham's runway show. Her husband, soccer great David Beckham, accompanied by their four impeccably groomed children, snapped selfies of himself and his toddler daughter while waiting for mum's big moment.
On the runway, Victoria Beckham presented an autumn collection based on the idea, in her words, that "everything is not what it seems".
"It's all 360 degrees - nothing is flat," she said in a post-show interview backstage. "You look at a structured coat from the front, and then from the back you see this beautiful pleat. Or you're looking at a dress, and then the whole back is missing."
The collection was almost entirely black and white, with an emphasis on ruffles and pleats, and a fondness for a single gold chain draped across a garment.
Beckham said she was trying to incorporate changes in her clothes, but not so much as to alienate her regular customer. "It's about satisfying my sense of creativity, but also giving our customer what she wants," she said.
After the show, Beckham spoke about building a stronger presence in New York. But she made clear that the couple won't be moving to Miami - even though David Beckham just confirmed a few days ago that he plans to become owner of a Major League Soccer expansion franchise there.
"Just because David has a club in Miami doesn't mean we are moving to Miami," she said. "We're based in London and that's where the kids go to school."
Seated next to the Beckham family were Vogue editor Anna Wintour, a familiar sight at New York Fashion Week shows, and her daughter Bee Shaffer.
WHO'S THAT ON THE RUNWAY AT DKNY? REAL PEOPLE!
If you've ever watched a fashion show and said to yourself, "Those aren't real people out there on the runway," Donna Karan has an answer for that.
For her DKNY runway show on Sunday, Karan presented - along with the models, of course - an assortment of non-models: a DJ, TV presenter, printmaker, a few students, a biologist, a "night-life hostess," and, in the most intriguing entry in the show's written program, a "tattoo artist/ pro skateboarder".
They walked the runway with confidence and drew enthusiastic cheers. Some were built almost like models, others weren't. Some had (gasp) grey hair, but all looked great in Karan's colourful clothes.
Karan said she decided to display non-models because "DKNY really is about the streets. It's about the streets of New York, the energy of New York, the people of New York."
The show began with a short film featuring the young New Yorkers about to walk the runway, speaking about where they live - Greenpoint in Brooklyn, for example, and Tribeca - and why they came to New York.
Angel Haze, a musician, wore a favourite DKNY look: a long black faux fur vest. Devan Mayfield, a painter and a health practitioner, wore a crepe houndstooth and lace shift dress. Daniel Bamdad, a TV presenter, wore slim black jeans and a black cotton cut-off shirt. Masha Korchagina, an actress and biologist, wore a black and white shearling "cape vest." Melissa Burns, the night-life hostess, wore a striped shearling coat.
Some of the nice looks went to the models, too, including an edgy black vinyl pleated slip dress, a delicate grey lace dress with a pleated hem, and the filmy silk, lace and flannel long slip dress that closed the show - all in grey.
DEREK LAM GOES TO HIS COSY PLACE
From roomy cashmere in pale lavender to boucle in a pleasing blue, there was barely an outfit on Lam's runway on Sunday that you wouldn't want to curl up in.
But not all. Open slits on several dresses were held together by gold beads in colours that included navy and marine blue. They were perhaps too risky for the average girly girl, though she remains the one he loves.
He offered her a lovely shade of "lake" blue (think deep robin's egg) in a sleeveless dress and roomy coat. A cashmere crew-neck sweater and boucle coat came in a pale lavender.
Lam lacquered canvas and coloured it a forest green for a stiff coat that would hold up to the autumn elements and used the same technique and colour for a shorter jacket.
One of his standouts was a multicoloured patchwork skirt showing both leather and suede.
Known for culottes, he didn't disappoint, splitting trousers well below the knee but just short enough to protect from rain and snow.
A FASHION SHOW GOES TO BROOKLYN
Brooklyn may be a hotbed of hipsters, but the fashion world is securely centred in Manhattan. So it took a designer of Alexander Wang's calibre to lure those fashionistas to the other side of the East River in freezing weather for a 15-minute fashion show.
Wang, 30, presented the autumn collection of his signature line (he is also creative director of Balenciaga in Paris) at a greenhouse at the Navy Yard. The Saturday night production involved a rotating stage and a futuristic-looking set that resembled some post-apocalyptic world.
A free ferry boat service and chartered buses helped to get the Manhattan crowd to Brooklyn and back.
"Fashion is always evolving and changing, so why not have a location change?" Wang said, adding, "You want to create an experience. Clothes are clothes, at the end of the day. You're not reinventing the wheel there. So you want to be proposing an idea that entertains people - and gets them to come out to Brooklyn in the cold."
The clothes were an unusual mix of simple and elaborate, with a survival theme. "The great outdoors, camping, mountain climbing," Wang explained.
But there was also a theme of sophisticated luxury. There were big and comfy jackets, for example, but in luxe fabrics, such as cashmere. There were tunic dresses made with the silky fabric of men's ties. Many garments came with multiple pockets - the better to hold necessities. "What does our girl need to survive in an urban landscape?" Wang said. "Her cigs, her lighter, her flask, her notebook, her smartphone. In some of the bags we had a lipstick holder, a hand mirror and a compact."
"He wins the prize for the most out-of-the-way show, that's for sure," quipped Nina Garcia, long-time Project Runway judge, who was in the audience.
Actor Sam Worthington said he was happy to come out to Brooklyn. Wang, he said, is "at the forefront, pushing the limits of New York Fashion Week".
