Michael Kors: French Polynesian under the Brooklyn Bridge

“I want more optimism in fashion, to look at life in a more positive way. I’d call for a global Utopia,” said Michael Kors of his upbeat, dazzling and hyper-colorful collection he presented Wednesday, the last day of the New York runway shows.

Starring painterly florals and aquatic motifs and made in a palette of turquoise, persimmon and lime, it would be hard to imagine a more optimistic collection that this selection of clothes for spring/summer 2019.

Chiffon dresses that seemed designed to catch the wind, cut in whisper thin layers and finished with multiple ruffles. Tiny little broderie anglaise white suits, cut with hot pants, worn on top of hand-painted raffia platforms, and paired with bags finished with appliqué and cutouts; or truly humungous palazzo pants in jumbled-up florals.

A collection designed for today’s active traveller. Where the key message was the casualization of eveningwear and glamorization of casual clothes; from hand-embroidered jeans to evening dresses worn with flip-flops. Even Kors slippers were topped with golden seashells.

Multiple hand paintings, from the sweatshirts finished with bucolic images of hunky surfers, and exotic gardens. Kors worked with an Australian artist, Christina Zimpel, who created images of Cote d’Azur and Papeete paradises

““Everyone dreams of turquoise, water, sunshine and romance, especially in today’s complicated world. If I could have shown this collection in French Polynesia I would have, instead we are here in New York,” joked the designer.

Kors chose a wonderful setting, a raw pier with huge windows looking out on the Brooklyn Bridge, unfortunately shrouded in clouds in the wettest September season in New York in eons.

Kors has built his fashion empire on handbags; and for his top signature collection today he offered hand-painted snakeskin bags or elegant verdant green totes, finished with the legend, 'Mr. K Beach Club St Tropez', “which does not mean I am going into the nightclub business!”

The cast was highly diverse, from uber models like Bella and Gigi Hadid to a beautiful new star, already dubbed the new Mia Farrow, Lucan Gillespie, a Brit with shorn blonde hair.

The show also featured an appearance by plus-size model Ashley Graham, marching in a chiffon floral dress, clearly loving her runway moment. Graham is, well, everywhere at the moment; the subject of a hagiographic interview in the New York Times’ latest Sunday edition; interviewing Kors in a video shown inside New York yellow cabs. While in France, she will grace the next cover of glossy monthly Officiel, coming out on September 24.

“Fashion has embraced diversity and we have to show that to the world,” stressed Kors.

Michael Kors: French Polynesian under the Brooklyn Bridge

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