On the penultimate day of the New York Fashion Week, before the spring/summer 2016 shows switch to Europe, Kanye West stirred up a fashion controversy with a second edition of Star Wars -esque clothes, and by dropping a new song before Hugo Boss gave a master class in style.
Fresh from declaring an improbable bid for the U.S. presidency, rapper West pulled in celebrity friends to unveil the second edition of his military-inspired Yeezy fashion range.
His pregnant reality TV star wife Kim Kardashian sat front row with their two-year-old daughter North, between Vogue queen Anna Wintour and Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci.
Models marched in military formation to barked, martial-style orders, as West revisited the high-rise nude leotard and tights look, which characterised the first season of his line. The Yeezy woman of spring/summer 2016 cuts an androgynous figure, kitted out in grey combat boots, high-rise leotards, matching tights and masculine, bagging tunics and military-style jackets.
There were caps and hoodies. Hair was swept back, and eye make-up heavy. Under strip lighting, the desert hues — green, orange, yellow and tan — appeared translucent and very pale.
For men, there were long overcoats in black and grey, which looked to be in World War I trench warfare style. Critics took to social media to trash the clothes, but there was praise for the new West song, dropped in the finale.
As with practically everything that West sets his mind to, the show came laden with controversies. British tabloid The Mirror reported that he asked models to sign a $10 million non-disclosure form not to discuss him or Kim, annoying some of the models. The 38-year-old also angered designers, who said his last-minute scheduling would unfairly draw attention away from their shows in rival slots. The select few were sent invitations on vacuum-packed, camouflage T-shirts. For others, the rapper announced that it would be live-streamed at cinemas in 36 cities worldwide.
