At New York Fashion Week, J.Crew Rings in Late Augusts fashion renaissance
Babenzien has a good sense of what’s interesting, seeing things earlier than others, as he told GQ’s Sam Schube this early year. Just look at his achievements at Noahwhere he introduced young people in New York to preppy preppy clothing, and at Supreme, which he helped turn into, you know, Supreme. Look around the crowd, full of fashion press and groups How long has the guest been gone?—HLG co-host Chris Black As a creative consultant for J.Crew — dancing and devouring the Brooklyn Lager next to a bar with a large J.Crew logo, I asked Babenzien: is the spirit of the last people renaissance?
Babenzien told me during a VIP dinner after a concert in Indochine: “A lot of what I do is for reference and often retrospective. “It can’t recall, it’s like, there are good things we absorb from the past and we carry them forward. I’ve been doing that with design forever, and it’s only a matter of time… Things only appear as they are supposed to be. This style of clothing, this kind of fit, this kind of music feels good, you know? It just happened naturally.”
Judging by the rest of the NYFW schedule, Babenzien isn’t the only one keeping an eye on the decade past. After a wave of ’90s renaissance led by millennials seeking refuge in their youthful styles, the mainstream fashion industry seems poised to embrace an era of complexity. more — rather than in a sarcastic, inviting-to-shoot-the- party motif.
Remember 2009’s Fashion’s Night Out, New York fashion retailers’ post-crash celebration due to VogueInner circles of designers and A-class friends? Meet Vogue Worldtake place on Monday night, a 130th anniversary Vogue with live fashion show and street fair and Lil Nas X — FNO reworked and streamed for Vogueyoung fans and followers. And Fendi’s Only One Time NYFW Fendi Performance Tonight Finds Marc Jacobs, Who Reached the height of his cultural and commercial power in the late August years, presenting a special collection with Kim Jones that honors the Fendi Baguette bag, the ultimate New York teen status symbol at the turn of the century.
The aughts were still alive last night, too, in Williamsburg (!), where the founders of the Inaugural Humberto Leon and Carol Lim (along with the likes of Chloë Sevigny and Spike Jonze) threw a party to celebrate 20 years of establishment of a specialty store. Along with Jacobs, Leon and Lim are a mainstay of late fashion – OC is “the most influential place in retail” for the NYC fashion crowd and fan base, according to one 2008 New York Times Pieceuntil closing in 2020. Before ballroom legend Kevin Aviance stepped onto the ring, I asked Leon to take on his role.
“We were so lucky to be a part of that time,” he told me. “We’ve always been culturally oriented, and the view has always been about bringing different cultures together.”
I asked Leon if they would reopen. “I’m sure we will,” he replied without hesitation. “It’s only a matter of time.”
The grand opening won’t be the only retail hit of that era to head back downtown. J.Crew is opening a menswear boutique next week on Bowery. When was the last time they did that? 2008.