THE CURRENT STATE OF THE WORLD CAN SOMETIMES LEAVE
LITTLE ROOM FOR FEELING OPTIMISTIC. In the past year we’ve
seen children routinely separated from their migrant parents at
US borders; a rising death toll after a tsunami hit Indonesia; Prime
Minister of Australia Scott Morrison infamously making degrading
comments about Pamela Anderson and a far-right extremist rally
causing chaos in St Kilda, echoing dangerous rumblings around
the globe. The nature of the 24-hour news cycle can make
positivity feel like a rare commodity. Michael Kors – a man who
has built his entire four-decade career using fashion as a tool for
escapism, fantasy and yes, positivity – wants to change that.
“Right now people are so overwhelmed by the news globally,”
he says to ELLE in New York, after his brand’s spring/summer 19
show in September. “I think they’re glued to their devices – I know
I am – and at a certain point you need to shut it off and remember
optimism, joy, romance and that chic doesn’t have to be sad.”
That’s not to say Kors is burying his head in the sand. As his
personal philanthropic efforts will attest, it’s quite the opposite. It’s
just that he sees fashion as an antidote of sorts. “I think what we do
is like fashion Xanax,” he muses.
Escapism was the underlying theme of his spring/summer19
show – with models taking to the runway at Pier 17 in Manhattan’s
stylish Seaport District, walking alongside large-scale colourful art
installations by Perth-born, Brooklyn-based visual artist Christina
Zimpel. The clothes? Inspired by Kors’ regular trips to Capri,
Morocco and Malibu, there was a definite “surf’s up” motif
(a trend that permeated the entire season). Think: kitschy florals
and fish prints, crochet day dresses and separates in a colour
palette of lemon, azure blue and watermelon pink. Even the
accessories were on-theme – models carried “MK Beach Club”
totes and beach towels and wore retro floral swimming caps. It’s
no surprise that, before the show, Kors told media that if he wasn’t
a designer, he’d open a chain of international beach clubs.
The sensibility for the show was, at its core, about mixing
glamour with a relaxed, lived-in sensibility – something Kors sees
as being very Australian. “One of the things I love when we go to
Australia is that Australians inherently have a sense of joy,” he says,
referring to a recent trip he took with his husband of seven years,
Lance LePere. “When we were in Palm Beach and we walked into
a store – a clothing store, kind of beach dresses and stuff
there was sand on the floor in the shop! I said, ‘Well, that’s th
you want to shop.’”
“It was the same in [Sydney beach suburb] Tamaram
continues. “It’s a little like glamarama seeing the people go
there. In this collection we really wanted to express that sam
of being barefoot and glamorous. We’re in a modern world
moving so fast with busy lives, so you want to embrace that a
influence without giving up on the idea of romance and fem- it all just mashes together.”
The poster girl of this movement? An iconic Aussie. “
Elle Macpherson to an event once and she was w
this big, extravagant gown from us and she said to me
know what? I’m just going to wear flip-flops,’” he says
147
- and
heway
ma,” he
ing out
e idea
d that is
athletic
mininity“I took
wearing
e, ‘You
with >FASHION PROFILE