Fans and celebrities gathered at the SVA Theatre on Monday in New York City for the premiere of A Madea Family Reunion, a new comedic but drama-filled film directed and produced by Tyler Perry that is set to hit theaters nationwide this Friday, March 1st.
Only a week after her striking performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, H.E.R. is only getting started. The Bay Area native was recently awarded not one, but two Grammy awards for R&B Album of The Year and Best R&B Performance which is a huge deal for the artist as this is her first year being considered by the Recording Academy and also winning.
NYFW is slowly winding down but runways throughout the city are still heating up with flashy and striking looks that attract the high-profile stars sitting front row. However, Mexico City-born and Brooklyn living designer Paola Hernández took a subtler yet fashionable approach to her Fall/Winter 2019 line.
New York Fashion Week has finally kicked off, which means some of your favorite celebrities are here for the week braving the cold weather to sit front row at shows for some of the biggest names in fashion.
On Friday, Netflix hosted an Axe Throwing event in preparation for the premiere of their new series, Outlaw King. Netflix partnered with Kick Axe Throwing, an indoor axe throwing bar scene in Brooklyn where guests were able to enjoy food and booze while experiencing axe throwing just like the Scottish warriors did in Outlaw King.
Monday was the last day to catch the New York Women’s September Market, a three-day fashion exhibit held by COTERIE at the Javits Center in NYC. The marketplace showcased the Spring/Summer 19 apparel, accessories, and footwear from various designers from all over the world in the form of five different shows: COTERIE, SOLE COMMERCE, Fame, Moda, and Sourcing@COTERIE.
On Wednesday, Style 360 hosted their annual fashion showcase during NYFW. Style 360 has hosted several events over the years and are known for being one of the prime spots for NYFW shows and festivities, as they bring designers, brands, models, celebrities, artists and media together each season to network and celebrate fashion and style.
Along with providing venues for dazzling events and for designers to display their work, they have collaborated with many celebrities and entertainers in the past and this season they partnered with Angela Simmons to debut the launch of her new clothing line Bonnie Bouche.
Bonnie Bouche is a women’s clothing line by designer, philanthropist, actor and producer Angela Simmons. Angela first came in to the spotlight as the daughter of legendary rapper, DJ Run from 80’s Hip-Hop group RUN-DMC. Angela has always had a passion for apparel, successfully launching her first footwear line Pastry Footwear alongside her sister Vanessa Simmons in 2007.
Her fashion ventures did not stop there and she has been dedicated to feeding her creative interest in fashion. Since then, she has created a faux-fur line Foofi & Bella as well as collaborated with VIPE Activewear on an active wear line for women. With Bonnie Bouche, Angela says she this new line focuses on millennials and young adults as she believes it represents “power, femininity and inclusiveness.”
Bonnie Bouche is a collection of more than 20 pieces, all vibrant in color and interwoven with funky shapes. The line is very relaxed yet playful, and even has a COOGI Sport-inspired colorway that drops this fall in collaboration with COOGI at Lady Footlocker. It is safe to say that this won’t be the last venture for Angela in the fashion industry as she continues to grow as a designer and a businesswoman.
Look out for more Bonnie Bouche this fall exclusively at Lady Footlocker, and in the meantime you can follow the Bonnie Bouche brand on social media: @bonniebouchebrand.
The Academy of Art University School of Fashion presented the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2019 collections of 17 of their student designers during NYFW on Saturday at Pier 59 Studios. The San Francisco based art school has an elite fashion design program with notable alumni such as Anna Sheffield, Lauren Conrad and Raven Symone.
The new generation of young designers from the university’s Master of Fine Arts program introduced their work on the runway to a diverse audience of recruiters, industry executives, fellow designers and media. You can get a better look at the runway pieces from each student below:
Nicholle Jones, an online graduate student at AAU, took advantage of unconventional materials to create these looks. Her inspiration behind them were masks and the idea that they essentially used to hide something or someone.
Throughout his academic career, Justing Kong Jiang’s focus began to shift from kinetic art and mechanic structure to incorporating the ‘spirit of surrealism’ in to his work. Justing’s collection were definitely designed to stand out with their shiny, metallic details and futuristic-inspired garments.
Tingting Cai and Esther Qi collaborated on a retro futurism and asymmetrical collection, drawing inspiration from vintage books and the unusual linked bodies of Siamese twins. The layer and shape of fabrics give off a gradient effect and really taps in to the traditional 70’s retro aesthetic.
Currently working on his masters in fashion design Yoonsuk Lee integrated different patterns like houndstooth and plaid to create a familiar yet unconventional perspective of womenswear and menswear combined.
Serbia native Snežana Aničić-Van Pelt gained inspiration for her collection from the constant evolution of our social climate. All the different materials used in these looks, from human hair to lamb’s wool, manage to work together rather than clash which is the concept she wanted to convey in this collection.
This collection is a collaboration between three graduate students: Mark Kazu Mekaru, Katy Fang Liu and Amo Chou. The menswear consisted of loose, dark garments perfect for the fall and winter season, using wool, cotton and polyester.
Longwen Li and Kiwon Kang collaborated on this menswear collection and to bring together Li’s twist on the typical “nerd” style and Kang’s interest in photoshop and graphic design.
Zibo Wang used her early life growing up on a military compound as a child as inspiration for these pieces. The military themed tones are evident in the heavy, layered pieces to bring together a balanced blend of masculinity in the womenswear collection.
Jessica Lai drew inspo from graphic illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli who uses bright, vivid colors and large shapes in her work. Similarly, Lai incorporated the ‘pop art’ theme in to her collection, using organic cotton and wool.
Lusha Wang’s collection was heavily influenced by the movie We Need to Talk About Kevin and its main character Tilda Swinton. Wang combined thick, wool blends along with yarn and patent leather to create these oversized yet cozy garments.
The haunting scenes from the film Shutter Island influenced Zhihan Liu womenswear collection. These looks represented the emotionally dark scenes throughout the film, mixing the concept of standard black and white evening wear with sheer, ruffled details.
Vivid Yunan Ma created the ideal winter essentials. Her collection of fuzzy sweaters and skirts, and crochet knit tops and dresses were inspired by teddy bears and stuffed animals from Mark Nixon’s book Much Loved.
Changsheng Yu took the cultural route, drawing inspiration from his mother’s upbringing and his Chinese heritage to incorporate in his collection. The earth tone fringes give great detail to these stunning pieces.
Following the student’s debuts’, the School of Fashion allowed industry professionals a more intimate opportunity to view the students’ work at their two-day showroom at Kimball Studio in SoHo.
All runway photos are by John Perez.
Follow the School of Fashion on all social media channels: @AcademyUFashion
With NYFW just kicking off, fashion houses from all over have come together in NYC this week to showcase their Spring/Summer designs.