Last fashion month, shows like Michael Kors, Simone Rocha, and Marc Jacobs cast women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, adding some much-needed age diversity to the runways. Yesterday, at Kate Spade, we saw more models of all ages, and that was just the beginning of an appealingly, casually inclusive runway.
Set in a garden, the show was filled with smiling women carrying tote bags and potted plants — as if we’d caught them all on the way back from the farmer’s market. Along with traditional runway models, the women walking included influencers, celebrities, and various cool New Yorkers. Multiple generations were represented, including one model who was pregnant.
Curve models like Stella Duval were included for the first time, alongside runway veterans Karen Elson and Grace Elizabeth. The brand asked influencers Vanessa Hong, Reese and Molly Blustein, and Lyn Slater to walk, plus a few art-world citizens, including curators Kimberly Drew and Nicola Vassell and filmmaker Celia Rowlson Hall. Rounding out the group was actress Molly Gordon of Booksmart, plus Debi Mazur and her daughter, Evelina Corcos.
The styling emphasized each person’s own taste, as if to say that plenty of real-world women wear Kate Spade in plenty of different ways. We left the show feeling refreshingly uncynical — maybe this is the new normal.
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