From runway infiltrators at Chanel to a Cheetos fashion show, this season had it all (and then some)
If you listen carefully, you may be able to hear the faint sighs of relief from fashion desks around the world (hi!), after the SS20 season drew to a close last night.
Kicking off with Tom Ford making his debut as chairman of the CFDA in New York, and finishing with a spectacular Louis Vuitton show (featuring none other than SOPHIE), there have been some major fashion moments over the course of the last four weeks: from Cardi B showing up to PFW in a full-on floral incognito look and J-Lo closing Versace in the dress that launched Google Images, to Naomi Campbell looking nothing short of iconic in a poignant piece from Mowalola’s AW19 collection and Billy Porter basically shutting down LFW in JW Anderson, Rick Owens, Erdem, and more.
Elsewhere, there were also a couple of fashion funerals. Gathered around two black coffins outside the main LFW show venue, Extinction Rebellion paid their respects to fashion week, as they called for the event to be cancelled, while Victoria’s Secret was also laid to rest by Rihanna, who presented a Savage x Fenty extravaganza in NYC (RIP VS, it’s been terrible).
But if you’ve not been hooked into the fashion mainframe this month and missed all the biggest moments, don’t worry: here’s our rundown of the season’s wildest, weirdest, and most Instagrammable moments.
NEW YORK FASHION WEEK
CHEETOS (YES, THE CRISP BRAND) HAD A FASHION SHOW
Kicking things off on a particularly odd note was Cheetos, which hosted its very own fashion show. Presenting a ‘Flamin' Haute Couture’(!) collection, the American snack company sent models down the runway in a variety of orange and black outfits, the brand’s signature colours. Why? We’re still not too sure tbh.
HARI NEF LIVED HER BEST LIFE AND WALKED FOR ECKHAUS LATTA
Alongside Paloma Elsesser, Coco Gordon Moore, and Michael Bailey Gates, Hari Nef walked for downtown New York label Eckhaus Latta. Known for having its impossibly cool friends model its collection, this isn’t the first time Nef has walked for the brand. Later in the season she was also spotted at Maryam Nassir Zadeh in a clown-inspired outfit.
RIHANNA TELEVISED HER SAVAGE X FENTY SHOW AND SAID ‘FUCK YOU’ TO CONVENTION
As one of the most anticipated events of this fashion season, Rihanna did not come to play. Televised on Amazon, the Savage X Fenty show featured performances from the likes of Migos, Fat Joe, and Big Sean, with the collection itself modelled by Normani, 21 Savage, and Slick Woods. We said it once and we’ll say it again: Victoria who?
FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE MADE HIS NYFW DEBUT AT VFILES
Combining spliced and diced knits with vintage gaming devices, every piece Pierre-Louis Auvray sent down the runway was an instant Instagram moment. Known for his penchant for distorting the human body, the Central Saint Martins graduate presented alongside Wesley Harriott, Di Du, and Nico Verhaegen at the VFiles show.
VAQUERA PAID HOMAGE TO NEW YORK
Titled In Loving memory of New York, Vaquera’s SS20 show expressed the ways in which the label felt let down by NY’s fashion industry. Presenting a t-shirt bearing the collection's name, as well as its signature offbeat tailoring, the New York-based label also sent a full funeral-inspired outfit down the runway, as well as a look resembling a heart-shaped chocolate box. Meant to echo the feeling of being let down on Valentine's day, we can only relate.
RICO NASTY RULED NYFW
Rico Nasty had such a busy time at NYFW she made a song about it. Aptly called “Fashion Week”, Nasty performed at both Chromat and VFiles, while also making time to appear at Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty extravaganza and Pyer Moss’ SS20 show – all while serving lewks courtesy of Marine Serre and Mowalola.
AND PYER MOSS MADE HIS NYFW RETURN
After the label skipped fashion week back in February, Pyer Moss returned to the calendar this season with a show in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Entitled Sister, the show paid homage to Sister Rosetta Tharpe: a queer, black musician credited with laying the foundations of rock ’n’ roll.
LONDON FASHION WEEK
GARETH WRIGHTON DEDICATED AN ENTIRE COLLECTION TO JESSI SLAUGHTER
For SS20, CSM graduate Gareth Wrighton took inspiration from 2010 viral youtuber Jessi Slaughter, who is widely regarded as one of the first victims of cyberbullying. Intended to hold a cracked mirror up to cyberspace, the collection featuring Sailor Moon-inspired looks and one particular stand-out tee (see above). Showing as part of the Fashion East family for the second time, this season he was joined by radical footwear designer Ancuta Sarca who presented her wild hybrid kitten heels.
EXTINCTION REBELLION HOSTED A FASHION FUNERAL
Dressed in black and throwing flowers on top of caskets outside LFW headquarters, Extinction Rebellion protestors held a funeral for what they hoped would be the last London Fashion Week, after they called for the British Fashion Council to cancel the event. While it looks like it will keep running for the foreseeable future, this season a number of brands seemed to have stepped up when it came to the environment this season, with the likes of Burberry and Gucci all going carbon neutral for SS20.
NAOMI CAMPBELL IN THAT MOWALOLA DRESS
Having turned up to her annual annual charity event Fashion for Relief dripping in Thierry Mugler, Naomi Campbell later switched into a white dress featuring a scarlet gunshot hole. Designed by Dazed fave Mowalola, Campbell took to Instagram to support the Nigerian designer, who found her dress at the centre of the national news.
BILLY PORTER WAS A SOURCE OF CONSTANT JOY
The iconic Billy Porter was everywhere in London this fashion week, and we are not complaining. From JW Anderson to Christopher Kane, Victoria Beckham to Burberry, spotting Porter at LFW felt like the most stylish game of Where's Wally ever. The newly crowned king of fashion week, long may he reign.
SPORTS BANGER PRESENTED THE VIBIEST SHOW AT LFW (AGAIN)
After putting on his first ever fashion show back in February, Tottenham bootlegger Jonny Banger was back on the (unofficial) LFW schedule for SS20, and this time it was bigger, better, and even more vibey than before. With the collection made up of repurposed sportswear, politically charged slogan tees, and even a couple of Couture looks, Banger enlisted a huge group of friends and collaborators to model, with a house of Voguers and an IRL NHS nurse among them.
MILAN FASHION WEEK
A$AP ROCKY RETURNED TO FASHION AFTER HIS ARREST IN SWEDEN
After his trial in Sweden, A$AP Rocky made his return to the fashion world by sitting front row at Prada. Dressed in an all-black the "Fashion Killa" singer then went on to appear front row at Gucci, where he chewed a stick of liquorice in unison with Lou Doillon, and rubbed shoulders with Iggy Pop.
...BUT IT WASN’T A$AP’S APPEARANCE THAT SENT THE GUCCI SHOW VIRAL THIS SEASON
In response to the ‘insensitive’ nature of the show, which saw models in straitjackets make their way around a travelator runway, model Ayesha Tan-Jones wrote the words ‘MENTAL HEALTH IS NOT FASHION’ on their palms which they then held up to the camera as a form of protest.
J-LO CLOSED VERSACE IN THAT GREEN DRESS
The dress which helped make the internet what it is today almost broke it this season. J-Lo closed Versace in that green dress. You know… the one she wore to the Grammy’s back in 2000. The one that launched Google images. The one you’ve probably tried to emulate for Halloween at one sad point or another. Guess what: time to try again this year.
MOSCHINO GAVE A LESSON IN THE ART OF FASHION
Never one to shy away from all-things-kitsch, Moschino dedicated its entire SS20 collection to cubist artist Pablo Picasso, with models including Kaia Gerber and the Hadid sisters dressed to resemble some of the Spanish artists most renowned paintings. Living breathing art etc.
OUR FAVE INCOGNITO INFLUENCER SAT FRONT ROW AT FENDI
Wearing their signature morph suit matched with a coat covered in the iconic Fendi monogram, one half of anonymous creative duo Checking Invoices sat front row at the Italian fashion house (just don’t ask us which one, okay?). Although it is unclear how much can be seen through a morph suit, we hope they had a great time.
PARIS FASHION WEEK
TELFAR MADE ITS PFW DEBUT
Telfar Clements left New York behind this season, as he crossed the Atlantic and headed to Paris for SS20 (with his iconic tote bags in tow). Opening PFW at a Parisian theatre, models walked while his new film, The World Isn’t Everything, made in collaboration with Clayton Vomero, Ashton Sanders, Jeremy O. Harris, Kelsey Lu, Petra Collins, and Bbymutha, played across a huge screen.
NAOMI CLOSED YSL
In a black sequinned iteration of the house’s Le Smoking suit, Campbell offered us her iconic walk with the Eiffel Tower as her backdrop. What else is there to say? Je suis dead.
MARINE SERRE SENT DOGS DOWN THE RUNWAY
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Marine Serre’s SS20 show featured a large black dog and a tiny Pomeranian. If 2019 taught us anything it's that the world is fucked, but maybe we can all hold onto the small glimmer of hope that we might be well dressed in and in the company of cute dogs in our dystopian future (at least in Marine Serre’s version anyway).
THE WALK THAT STOLE FASHION SEASON AT MAISON MARGIELA
It was the walk that launched a thousand memes. Model Leon Dame closed Maison Margiela’s SS20 show with a walk so unique it even made Anna Wintour smile. To see some of our favourite memes please click here, here, and here. No need to thank us.
ISSEY MIYAKE’S DRONES
Satoshi Kondo of Issey Miyake wanted to show how bouncy his dresses were this season: a question which has been on everybody's lips and was almost certainly answered this fashion week. With the help of more than a few drones, Mikaye certainly put the bounce back in the step of this season's fashion week observers (lol, sorry not sorry).
CARDI B’S OUTFIT AT EVERY PFW SHOW, BUT PARTICULARLY THIS ONE
Proving more and more every day that she is the fashion gift that keeps on giving, Cardi B served an almighty look by wearing Richard Quinn head to toe (literally) while posing in front of the Eiffel Tower. She was later spotted in full Thom Browne, Edda Gimnes, and Chanel. If every fashion week has a queen, Paris belonged to Miss Cardi B.
BALENCIAGA TOOK BRUSSELS TO PARIS AND CREATED ITS OWN PARLIAMENT
Not one to shy away from making a political statement in his clothing, Denma took that mantra to a whole new level for this season’s Balenciaga collection by recreating his own EU parliament in Paris Fashion Week. With freezing cold air blasting from the AC units and ear-shatteringly loud thrash metal on the speakers, models with warped face prosthetics made their way around the spiralling runway, with the show closing with five outstanding Couture looks.
JESUS AND MARY CHAIN PERFORM AT YANG LI
Playing an hour long set of their greatest hits, Jesus and Mary Chain performed inside a digital video installation created by Icelandic video director Agusta Yr. Also making the animations for the 3D models who displayed Yang Li's SS20, Li continues to subvert the conventional fashion traditions with his shows.
GIGI HADID ESCORTED A PRANKSTER OFF STAGE AT CHANEL
Watching Gigi Hadid face-off the YouTuber who stormed the Chanel runway was the perfect end to this fashion week season. Faux Chanel suits, supermodel drama, and a fashion ‘prankster’: fashion week is officially finished, and we can all go home now. See you at AW20.