RUNWAY RUNDOWN NYFW 9.8.18

9.8.18 2:00pm- Taoray Wáng

In her SS19 runway show, Chinese fashion powerhouse, Taoray Wáng, stuck with her signature style of feminine menswear. Wang's inspiration for the collection named “BLOOM” came from not just any normal flower but one that grows underwater in the depths of the coldest tundra. The flower then finds its way through the narrowest crack, strong and resilient, the flower will always find its way. Wang accompanied her collection with upcoming seasonal trends, like statement belts, lace, and structure. The line boasted looks that could easily be taken from the office to the office party. Our personal favorite was a white, asymmetrical top paired with a white wide leg wide leg trouser. Along with all of Wáng's looks from the collection, this piece was effortlessly chic and clean. In a time where diverse representation matters, Wáng did a fabulous job at making sure women of all colors and ethnicities were represented in her show Although relatively unknown to the masses in the states, we believe that this collection has the ability to catapult into the mainstream.

By Beth Levy

9.8.18 7:00PM- Canada Curated

NYFW on a Saturday night with fellow writer Jessica Santini, we headed to the soft launch of Fashion Canada Curated. Co-Founded by Alyson Roy, owner of AMP3 PR and one of our favorite PR firms to work with personally, Roy's passion project came from her Canadian roots. She tells us "Canadian fashion has been having a major moment thanks to celebrities like Meghan Markle who favorites several Canadian brands,” “Our goal is to give Canada a spotlight during New York Fashion Week, and to continue to highlight both rising and established Canadian brands throughout the year including food, wine, travel and culture.” We walked into Indochino’s showroom in SoHo, a menswear haven for suits and were immediately greeted with fresh deli sandwiches, courtesy of Mile End Deli. Growing up on deli food, this was one of the best array of sandwiches, transporting me back into old school Brooklyn and even Schwartz's, Montreal's best deli.

The lucky guests invited to the soft launch got to mingle while sipping on Lamarca Prosecco and recounting their favorite moments in Canada. The cocktail event then shifted to a panel discussion, talking about the rise of Canadian fashion brands along with a Q&A session. The panelists included Drew Green who is the CEO/President of Indochino, Lauren Chan who is a former editor at Glamour, and others involved in the fashion industry. The panel was hosted by Bradford How, TV host and former MuchMusic VJ. In the panel, they discussed how the recent interest in Canadian fashion has exploded in the USA and what needs to be done in Canada to better help emerging designers. The current trade agreement with the European Union means that Canadian designers can ship their goods to Europe without paying any duties, therefore lowering the costs for retailers in Europe significantly (comparative to American designers). While there is still work to be done, if a company like Indochino could take their idea and become massively successful with it in America, then there is a lot of hope for more Canadian designers and brands to come to the America. We believe in pretty much anything Alyson does, so her and fellow co-founder Maureen Martin will bring the best of the best to Canada Curated and we are sure we'll be seeing more Canadian designers here in the near future.

9.8.18 9:00pm- The Selects

A five minute walk to our next stop in Soho, we headed over to the "The Selects" show and party, put on by Seventh House mogel, Mandie Erickson. "The Selects" are a collective of ten emerging Korean designers who are attempting to take their designs to the US market. What is great about the showroom is that they are sponsored by the Republic of Korea and their Creative Content Agency, wanting to show off the unique Korean culture to Americans. These ten designers were hand-picked by industry leaders over the course of many years, making this extra special. The runway show was extraordinary, with each piece having more detail than the next, while nothing we saw was dull. These designers brought a much needed sense of newness with a ton of color and prints while not making it "K-POP" tacky.

Our favorite designers included Chung Chung Lee from LIE who designs with his sister Nana to form the brand. An interest fact is that they are the children of the designers from LIE SANGBONG, one of our very first ever fashion shows, also put on by Seventh House PR. They took what they saw growing up and evolved it into affordable luxury for today's market and have a permanent spot in the LIE SANGBONG concept store in the Meatpacking District. After the show, we got to mix and mingle with the guests on hand, including Hilary Rhoda, Nicole Harrison, Brett Allen, and Devon Windsor who was sweet as can be! We're excited to see what 'The Selects' are going to bring to the table for years to come and hopefully we'll get some more menswear in there as well!

By Nisim Frank