What’s Not to Love about Fashion Week?

Between the U.S. Open and fall Fashion Week, September in New York for me is like Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. Two of my favorite things — tennis and fashion — showcasing their best and brightest in the most glamorous settings.

But just as the U.S. Open is about more than tennis for me, the same can be said for Fashion Week. It’s a living, breathing representation of art, culture, and the changing face of America, in all its glorious diversity.

One of the best illustrations of that was offered by Texas-based(!) Renacio by Carlos Reyes, whose show was as much a performance art installation as it was a fashion show. According to culture journalist Nadja Sayej, the show at Runway 7, titled “The Myth of Eris and the Resilient Unicorn,” told the story of a little girl who goes to sleep and we see what she dreams of.

In one piece, a large cameo box opens at the heart of the wearer, crowned by the words “Mortem” meaning ‘death’ in Latin and “Saltare” meaning ‘dance,’ on the shoulders. Inside the box, we see an image of a ballerina from “Destino,” a short film created by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney in 1945. The box is emblazoned with the French phrase, “Le disco a besoin de vous” (the dance needs you).

“The whole thing symbolizes the choice between death and dance,” says Reyes. “To live your life stagnant and bored, or to be joyful and dance. The journey of the unicorn is to choose to dance.”

There’s fashion, film, mythology, dance, and philosophy — all in one place. It doesn’t get more inspiring than that.

Fashion is self-expression, both for the artists who design and create it, but also for those of us who make it our own (but who couldn’t draw a gown, let alone design one, to save our lives). The combination of high and low, or two patterns that should clash but somehow complement each other perfectly, or just anew use for an old piece — all of it thrills me. If you’re reading this, I suspect you feel the same.

Let’s not forget that fashion is also big business, roughly $1.7 trillion worldwide in 2022. That’s countless jobs, thousands of small businesses, many of them woman owned. So, fashion is literally the intersection of art and commerce, and it touches the lives of every one of us. It’s worth noting that fashion is, while not one of the top contributors to the climate crisis, it’s not blameless either. That’s why I was heartened to see this recent statement from Patagonia, declaring the Earth as the company’s only shareholder. I encourage you to read it.

The extent to which fashion touches all of our lives was brought home in one of my favorite movies, The Devil Wears Prada, in this scene between Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and her assistant, the decidedly and proudly unfashionable Andy Sachs (Ann Hathaway). Miranda was choosing between two turquoise-colored belts, when one of her helpers says “It’s a tough call. They’re so different.”

Andy Sachs: (snickers under her breath)

Miranda Priestly: Something funny?

Andy Sachs: No. No, no, nothing’s… you know, it’s just that… both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y’know, I’m still learning about this stuff, and uh… (giggles uncomfortably)

Miranda Priestly: This… “stuff”? Oh, okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You… go to your closet, and you select… I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back, but what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.

You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that, in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns, and then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn’t it?… who showed cerulean military jackets. … And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores, and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin.

However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs, and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry, when in fact, you’re wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room… from a pile of “stuff.”

Fashion is so much more than pretty, shiny things. It’s everything that makes life worth living — art, culture, self-expression, self-love, and, yes, pretty, shiny things — all wrapped up in one gorgeous package. What’s not to love?

From Renacio Instagram with caption below:

renacioreyes: (Part1) “Dante” gown- FGI @fgidallas winner of $10,000 and Directors Choice award. Walked for both New York Fashion Week @nyfw and now Paris Fashion Week. Let’s talk about it…

This dress was my first introduction into what I want to do moving forward with “Renacio”- Dark and Whimsical Storytelling.
Transparent bustier made from strong black crinoline. Black piping to cover the boning. The lower tip of the Breast is exposed under the wrapped fabric.
Featured on the center is a small banner with embroidery stating “Paradise.” Immediately following into the decent room hell, as described in “Dante’s Inferno.”

The waist tappers in with a small tulle detail to break up the crinoline from the gold taffeta.
No darts or style lines used to create the shape at the waist- only a couture pleating technique I learned studying in Paris a couple years back. This Madame Gres technique is utilized to create pleats where the stitching cannot be seen from the front for the cleanest look possible.
Pleats release into skirt… where hell awaits.

Also huge thanks to @tay.all and @ketmie.rui for walking on the runway with this dress which is utterly too long. Love y’all🖤