As the dust began to settle around New York Fashion Week, its audience began to question whether or not this was the most innovative NYFW in recent history. New York is renowned for its emphasis on urban chic - luxe sportswear and high-end separates are usually the order of the day, leaving the melodrama for Paris. This season, however, things were markedly different thanks to a number of young designers ignoring traditional runway presentations in favour of something a little more interesting. Opening Ceremony, for example, cast stars such as Dakota Fanning and Rashida Jones to create a Fashion Week satire; one which raised eyebrows among the industry for its exaggerated depictions of fashion clichés. Elsewhere, Gareth Pugh moved his show from its usual Parisian setting to the Big Apple and Thom Browne created a typically fantastical setting for his S/S15 garden party. This season was packed with truly memorable shows and indicated that some designers are looking to move away from the 'trade show' mentality that has recently plagued the industry. We already have pre-collections, resort collections and diffusion lines to provide the commercial basics that keep the industry thriving - the runway is a platform for spectacle and it seems that, for the first time in a while, designers are ready to embrace it.
