Michael Kors Collection Ready To Wear Fall/Winter 2019 New York. Michael Kors delivered the feel-good moment of fashion week with a nostalgic romp through the Seventies.
You can count on Michael Kors to deliver the feel-good moment of fashion week and lift spirits in a season wracked with anxiety and doubt. He did it by hosting a fun little a.m. disco, capped off by a surprise performance by none other than Barry Manilow, who got all generations, from Bella Hadid to Patti Hansen, singing along to “Copacabana” — all before 11 in the morning.
“The greatest thing about this city is the cast of characters,” Kors mused during a collection preview of his latest homage to New York, a nostalgic romp through Studio 54, complete with an actual licensed collection of logo merch. “Studio 54, everyone always talks about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, but the best thing about it was the mix; Nan Kempner next to a street boy.”
Kors was thinking back to his teenage years in the Seventies, when girls and boys dressed for WWD’s photographers, not Instagram, and stores weren’t “optimized” for selfie ops like the SoHo pop-up he opened with Hadid for his Michael Michael Kors brand last week.
Although shares of parent company Capri Holdings are soaring, the Michael Kors brand has underperformed in recent quarters, with same-store sales declines. As spirited as the show was, it’s not clear if this collection — which felt a bit like a vintage revival rather than a modern remix, and lacked an air of luxury — will give sales the lift they need. There’s also the question of whether Studio 54 still has enough currency to create desire for a logo handbag, much less an allover sequined minidress with marabou feather sleeves — at least beyond those who can still remember going there.
Then again, looking around at guests watching Manilow swing his hips, including “If Beale Street Could Talk” star Regina King (guess we know what she’s going to be wearing for the Oscars) to blog stars of the minute, everybody knew the words to “Copacabana.” As the song says, “Who could ask for more?”
