The Times - UK (2022-02-16)

6 Wednesday February 16 2022 | the times

fashion

From left: a model

outside the Khaite

show; model Elsa

Hosk; influencer

Leonie Hanne

As to colour, there was the odd

flash of saturated brights — see the

influencer Leonie Hanne in a bright

yellow coat — but attendees for the

most part settled into an age-old

Manhattan code of genteel winter

whites and biscuit-hued neutrals worn

almost head-to-toe. These outfits

are statement-making in their sheer

optimism given most of the city’s

paving stones burp forth black sludge

when the storm drains fill up, but that

seems to have been the energy on the

city’s sidewalks: an exuberance for

dressing up again tempered by the

enforced practical lessons we’ve all

learnt in the past two years. It sounds

like a potently comfortable combo to

me — and it’s coming to a street near

you soon.

There was also, as in Copenhagen

last week, something of a trenchcoat

revival. Given the weather, these were

almost certainly worn with multiple

Uniqlo Heattech layers beneath. That

said, the extreme tribe of no-coaters

seems to have dwindled in number —

yet whether this is post-pandemic

pragmatism or because glossy

magazine budgets for chauffeurs

have been cut is up for debate.

It’s -2C! What the front row wear

The style set wore

big coats with bare

skin at New York

Fashion Week.

By Harriet Walker

N

ew York may never

sleep, but its street

stylers have this

week awoken from

an extended nap.

After several seasons

of digital catwalks

and small-scale

presentations, the city’s autumn 2022

fashion shows marked the return of

glamour, going out and, importantly,

the scrum of photographers outside

the entrance to each venue.

What’s new in post-pandemic

Manhattan? Several hundred

thousand of its inhabitants have

moved away and there is a new mayor,

but the most noticeable difference is

that it snowed during fashion week

and the front row didn’t insist on

wearing strappy stilettos regardless.

This season they simply strolled on

through in downright appropriate

footwear: Sorels, Moon Boots, the

low-key black bikers that have become

uniform the world over. What heels

there were tended towards chunky

platforms — but thank goodness for

Huma Abedin, the former Clinton

campaigner who has newly turned

clothes horse, who was on the front

row at Ulla Johnson in suede courts

despite the freezing slush outside.

Whither too the famous New York

winter bare leg? Lockdown may just

have killed off the perennially tanned

and tights-free calves of the Upper

East Side. A few remain, but trousers

— from leather to split-hem leggings

via tailored cargos and true-blue

denim — were the order of the day.

Instead, bare flesh has migrated north

of the waistband, it seems, as several

practical puffas and parkas were

paired with bra tops, and even

corporate tailoring came accessorised

with bare arms or a midriff.

Warmth-wise, there was an

emphasis on statement fluff: teddy-

bear coats, shearling gilets and faux

fur in plenty of colourful variety. Fake

is of course now the only acceptable

version unless, like Lauren Santo

Domingo, the former Vogue staffer

and chief brand officer of Moda

Operandi, your pelt has something

of the heirloom to it. Sheepskin-lined

aviator leather remains the off-duty

model jacket of choice — in black

rather than Del Boy brown: Acne’s

£2,100 version is the nec plus ultra,

but I also like Saint + Sofia’s

reversible sleeveless version (£594,

saintandsofia.com) and Zara’s is

£99.99 (zara.com).

EDWARD BERTHELOT; CHRISTIAN VIERIG/GETTY IMAGES