Organising a proper fashion runway in our times of global pandemic is more or less impossible and, while digital shows and fashion films may be entertaining, they often manage to engage consumers only for a limited amount of time.
New York Fashion Week used to have an impossibly long schedule and was packed with events and presentations. In the last few years there were actually too many designs showcasing their collections, presenting runways and launching a variety of events; Covid-19 radically changed things, dramatically reducing the schedule.
Only a few designers have managed to organised live events, among them Jason Wu who opted for a socially distanced presentation with 30 models and 20-25 showgoers (the event was livestreamed exclusively on NYFW.com yesterday).
For the occasion Wu created a 1950s-inspired market, Mr. Wu's General Store, at an empty retail space at 666 Broadway in NoHo. Wu was inspired by his passion for farmers' markets and cooking as well.
Last year's lockdown prompted Wu to realise that fashion is not everything in life and to rediscover another of his passions, cooking. This led the designer to launch also an Instagram page dedicated to food, MrWuEats, that also helped him fighting the boredom of lockdown.
Models walked through a runway surrounded by food, including fruits and vegetables, and flowers, but these goods weren't just props. Provided by Chefs' Warehouse, the leading distributor of specialty food for chefs, the goods were then loaded onto the food rescue trucks of charity City Harvest and donated the same evening to people in need in five New York boroughs (guests were also given a tote to pack up with some of the treats on display).
Fashion-wise Wu focused on functional clothes: fringed trenchcoats, quilted jackets, cozy knits, full-length skirts, printed dresses and turtlenecks prevailed. As a whole the mood wasn't definitely new, but casual and minimalist with just a touch of sophistication, offering consumers the possibility to mix-and-match the various pieces and create their own looks.
The collection also included a collaboration with a sponsor, Coca-Cola. The iconic American brand gave the designer complete access to its archives and the results were four designs, two pleated midi-skirts and a pussy-bow blouse with retro glass bottles, and a light and billowing dress with prints of Coca-Cola international logos. The skirts and the blouses with the bottles of Coca-Cola brought to mind Andy Warhol's artworks.
At the end of the show Wu also emerged to thank his audience in a Coca-Cola hoodie, with the logo embroidered in Chinese (bottles of Coca-Cola were also integrated into the "runway store", right at the entrance of Mr Wu's).
Wu's embroidered hoodie in collaboration with Coca-Cola is an exclusive piece made with the NYFW: The Shows as part of The Drops, but you're warned, the sweatshirt will set you back $395.
Functional and practical, easy to wear and fun, these pieces and the price of the supposedly esclusive hoodie left you wondering. Coca-Cola has indeed collaborated throughout the decades with many companies and brands: walk to your nearest H&M (or check their online selections) and you will easily stumble upon a hoodie with a Coca-Cola logo, a vintage bottle or the classic "Drink Coca-Cola" ad in multiple languages.
You may argue there is a difference between a cheap Coca-Cola hoodie from H&M and a designer Coca-Cola sweatshirt: the quality of the latter (we hope) is (probably) better and the design may look a bit cooler. Then again, deep down, you're still investing in a design advertising a popular beverage with a dubious reputation when it comes to sugar content that was also ranked only last December as the world's number 1 plastic polluter by Break Free From Plastic in its annual audit. Sure, you can wear the dress printed with the international Coca-Cola logos in a fun way to visit a Pop Art exhibition and look like part of the event, but once you're out, you will still look like a walking advert for a soft drink.
It must be said that in Jason Wu's case the collaboration produced better designs than other dubious sponsorships (remember that time Au Jour Le Jour and Procter & Gamble teamed up producing rather questionable clothes inspired by a detergent?), but getting sponsored by a prominent brand and having to celebrate it in your designs is never a great idea.
In Coronavirus times grocery shops have also become one of the few glamorous places where we can socialise a bit (or that we may find open in case of a national lockdown...), that's why it's easy to like such collaboration with its Pop Art aura. But, in case you're a designer and are thinking of getting sponsored by a popular food and beverage company, always keep in mind the perils of a sponsored collection and of getting lost in the proverbial supermarket.
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