If you’ve seen some of Sony’s latest commercials you may have noted that Justin Timberlake is shilling for them these days. So it’s natural that they’d sponsor the William Rast[1] show at Fashion Week. Thus I got to attend the show and sit in fancy VIP seats right behind one of the most powerful fashion editors evar[2]. Also, Jessica Biel was apparently there.
It was actually very cool. Having never been to a runway show I was only vaguely aware of what to expect. I thought it would be longer, but it was only 20 minutes, maybe, from start to finish. The models walked very quickly down the runways and there were about 30 pieces overall. The idea of the line had something to do with nomads and “New America” and reflecting biker culture, the midwest, trees, mountains, and deserts. I guess I saw that. The AP has some images.
What I mostly fixated on was the number of raccoon and fox tails sewn to the outfits in odd places. Like the shoulder or the hip. Also, coon-skin hats ala Daniel Boone. Yes, I am serious. There was a lot of denim, of course, and lots of leather. Lots of fur and skin as if these poor models spent their days hunting small animals for food and clothing. Except they aren’t particularly good hunters because they looked awfully hungry.
It was amazing to me the looks on the models faces. The practiced disdain and the blank eyes must take years to perfect. I kept thinking of this Daria episode where Quinn takes a modeling class and the instructor tells the girls how to look when walking down a runway.
All right, ladies, your worst enemy is at the end of the catwalk. The one who stole your boyfriend. She has fallen and broken her leg. Your job is to tell her — without words — that you’ve come to watch them cut it off!
When you stride down the runway, you’re walking towards your car. You’ve spotted a headless corpse in it… and it’s a brand new car!
Anyway, back to the clothes. If you follow my Twitter feed you’re probably aware of my initial impressions. Dudes in Jack Harkness coats came down the runway first, then some dudes in Vampire Lestat fluffy shirts came down, then a dude wearing a Jack Harkness coat over a Lestat shirt showed up. The one-shoulder capes were interesting but I felt they would unnaturally imbalance me. And, of course, the raccoon tails.
If I were to guess, I’d say that if you spent a three day weekend watching all three series of Torchwood with a break for Interview With The Vampire in-between then fell asleep on AMC showing old Daniel Boone flicks, you might wake up, grab a pencil, and create this year’s William Rast line. These are not bad influences to have. I would actually buy some of those coats and jeans, but I’d remove the tails.
It was a fun night and I’d definitely go to another fashion event if invited. The Sony people were incredibly cool and treated us well. Plus, I met a new friend. What more could I ask?
Barbie is a Computer Engineer and I’m covering a toy convention — has the world turned upside down!? Not quite. Not yet, anyway.