New York: Day 1

Day one in New York started at 9.30am with no clue where we were going. It was recommended that we just explored the city and took some photographs for inspiration, so we did...

Our first stop was Sephora (obviously) which uncovered my deep jealously for every girl that lives in America because they have every amazing makeup brand that you can’t get in the UK. We then went to Saks on Fifth Ave adorned with Christmas lights and garlands. As I was making my way through the floors I repeatedly noticed retail examples of my trend story ‘Bold Botanicals’ through garment print. The first floor greets you with mannequins clad in an array of dresses from different brands. There were two dresses that conveyed my trend beautifully; one from Alberta Ferretti, and the other Dolce & Gabbana. The dress by Alberta Ferretti was actually my favourite out of all the garments, a long pearl-pink chiffon dress embellished with an eastern wildlife scene featuring plants, tigers, and birds. I loved this dress because it had a narrative, one of nature and fluidity. The Dolce & Gabbana dress was also had a chiffon over-lay featuring a floral print paired with text. The Ashley Longshore windows in Bergdorf Goodman mirrored this marriage between floral print and text within their background, which featured two canvases. The first a portrait of a man with a bright tropical print layered behind, and the second a painting of pink flowers with font on top reading ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here’.

The second floor of Saks was home to Gucci in which had a section showcasing their scarfs. All scarfs were colour-heavy (as was the rest of Gucci’s collection) and dense visually because of this. One scarf featured bunches of flowers, which is a trend I have been noticing on many garments instead of single plants. As I continued through each section there were many examples of my trend story on garments with one of Barbara Lohmann’s dresses being a particular favourite of mine. When floral motifs are the focal point of a garment, the story becomes one of romance and soft femininity. Lohmann’s dress conveys this perfectly.

After we made our way further down Fifth Ave onto Anthropology where there was a VM example of my trend in the form of applied art/textile. Handmade petals had been dyed and sewn to look sketch-like, almost like watercolour. The petals were arranged into a flower and used as a background for the mannequins in the windows.

We are set to go to MoMA tomorrow to see a fashion related exhibition…