Seitdem Lady Gaga stepped out in swaths of periwinkle satin at the Golden Globes back in January, the words ‘fairytale’ and ‘fashion’ have gained new currency. This year’s AW19 instalment of NY fashion week has similarly seen designers get fanciful with volume and froth, fantasy proportions and eye-catching details. Over the weekend, Marc Jacobs’ darling Tomo Koizumi was the name on everyone’s lips, filling Instagram feeds with clouds of rainbow fluff. Scouted by Katie Grand, of London fashion bible Love, and supported by Jacobs — the show was held at his Madison Avenue store — Koizumi presented a spectacular showcase of gigantic fluorescent party dresses that for all their gargantuan show-stealing marked a turning point for NYFW, a fashion week better known for downtown grunge à la Alexander Wang than layers of candy frills. But following on from the ultra-volume of Maison Valentino and Viktor & Rolf at the Paris couture shows, the bigger the better seems to be the name of the game, and New York is catching on.
Koizumi wasn’t the only one to present playful frou frou dresses. Grown-up brand Sies Marjan — who last year had their own viral moment with shimmering, mother-of-pearl suits — brought marbled technicolor tufts of organza to a runway studded with a million Swarovski crystals. As we’ve seen at the Paris shows last month, an extravagant touch like this is orchestrated for Instagram virality, but arguably it also signifies a greater move toward a new sort of glamour, one that is ostentatious, extremely feminine and unapologetically ‘fabulous’. And on Sunday night, as Ariana Grande ditched the Grammys’ ceremony and posed at home in a silky ice-blue princess dress complete with a diamond choker, one has to ask: is fashion having a Cinderella moment?
If we were to define a “Cinderella Moment”, we’ve got to think about the fairytale. Poor girl sweeping floors is granted the chance to attend the ball for one night only. It’s a chance to escape the grim humdrum of reality, put on a nice dress (once again: the bigger the better!), hit the ball and make an entrance. In 2019, the world seems to be in a tenuous position, growing global anxiety over a failing planet, Europe on the brink of Brexit and a weakened political core, it sort of makes sense that there’s a demand once again for escapist fashion, something frothy, frivolous and marginally ridiculous.
But escapist glamour can be observed in ways other than giant ballgowns and mille-feuille layers. At Area’s AW19 collection, co-designers Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczy, borrowed from 1960s couture glamour in the vein of Balenciaga and André Courrèges, bringing houndstooth two-pieces to the proceedings. Most of all, the show was notable for its lavish use of diamanté — opulent headdresses, twinkling fringing dripping from handbags, enormous disc earrings, glittering neckpieces, arm bands and ‘20s style cage dresses. The bejewelling was amplified by magenta satin floral prints, outrageous purple-ombre fur trims, crushed velvet bows and thigh-skimming minis. And while Tom Ford eschewed the sort of high-octane glamour he is known for this season, an element of fantasy was still palpable — a pink-tinged, lilac fur coat befitting of some extreme femme starlet, those jaunty hats, and that final number: a sheath of luminescent sweeping sparkle.
Of course, this is only the start of this season’s cycle, but there’s little doubt that designers will continue to reinterpret and surpass the perimeters of “glamour”. Will designers continue to strive for the “Cinderella Moment” as exemplified by Tomo Koizumi, or will they veer more towards thoughtful restraint? It’s interesting that Maison Margiela posed this question last week on Instagram with an image of a poodle (surely the canine embodiment of glamour) : “Following a four-season study of glamour in the millennial age, our Spring/Summer 2019 ´Artisanal’ collection marks a new investigation for Maison Margiela … A desire for change, Maison Margiela renders the decadence of our time and examines if inverted excess could lead to a new appetite for restraint?” Perhaps, the era of the great divide in fashion has only just begun.