Jason Wu said he was feeling Zen, swiveling in an office chair in his studio near Penn Station.

It was Saturday afternoon, the day before his runway show, and he was surrounded by his design team and stylists, fitting models in outfits from his spring 2021 collection. The clothes were bright and breezy; the waists were elastic, the bras were cashmere, the hats were big, and the sandals were flat.

He thumbed through his phone, looking for a video of one of the models walking down a rural tree-lined road that he’d been sent the day before. He approved the casting via text, and today she was here, he explained with some awe.

The models came and went, floating from their fittings to their Deborah Lippmann manicures in an adjacent room, which Mr. Wu called “the spa.” Jazz played from a speaker somewhere. There was still a lot to do, but nothing felt too intense.

“I think this might be my favorite show ever,” Mr. Wu said.

It may have also been his strangest. This season, Mr. Wu was one of the very few designers staging a traditional runway show during New York Fashion Week. The pandemic has driven most designers online, offering videos and look books (dressed up as “digital activations”) in lieu of shows. But not Mr. Wu, who debuted at NYFW 14 years ago, when he was just 23.

Source: New York Times

Powered by NewsAPI.org