Kanye West’s previous show on Roosevelt Island last September courted so much controversy that no-one actually spoke about the clothes. It was a logistical nightmare, with major delays and difficulties, including one model fainting from heat exhaustion. This season was a much less dramatic affair, with West appearing to be on his best behaviour, or at least as good as he can be. He held the show at Pier 59 and started fairly close to on-time, even moving the show time from 5pm to 3pm when it was discovered that the time clashed with another scheduled show.
However, speculation was high prior to the event, and of course, Kayne couldn’t help but put a twist on things. After the invitations had been sent out, which came in the form of vacuum packed sweatshirts with ‘Lost Hills’ or ‘Mulholland’ stamped on them, rumours were abound that there would be a collaboration with Drake at the show and new music would be premiered. West has indeed released new tracks as part of his shows in the past but chose not to on this occasion. Instead, a remix of an old track he co-wrote played on repeat.
Rules were strict inside the venue; ‘NO CELL PHONES. NO PHOTOS. NO VIDEO. ABSOLUTELY NO SOCIAL MEDIA,’ small slips of paper read. Of course, these rules weren’t strictly adhered to by those who were allowed to remain inside the venue. As the show was about to begin attendees were tweeting that press had been removed. A dramatic notion, although a fairly null point as the representatives from fashion publications were allowed to stay and continued to live-blog the proceedings. The presentation began with a voice over and models projected onto a screen before the models took to the runway in real life and did a final loop.
Most notable was the change of aesthetic in Season 5. Denim was introduced for the first time, from shearling lined coats to high waist jeans. A marked and welcome departure from the flesh coloured body stockings of last season. The diversity of models was clear, most noticeably Muslim model Hadima Aden who walked in a long faux fur coat and her own hijab.
The athletic influence was present as always; West even took the opportunity to launch a new sneaker. However, where he has usually shied away from the branding of his label, this season he was much more blatant, stamping pieces with words like ‘Calabasas’ and ‘Lost Hills,’ the name of his in-progress collaborative album with Drake. It was a commercial choice, these items will no doubt now sell like wild-fire. But the argument could be made that he’s lost what used to be an elevating element of his previous collections; he now looks much more like his streetwear competitors. Although, with West as the man behind the brand, it remains to be seen as to whether that will matter or not.
At the end of the show, he declined to take the stage himself for a bow. West clearly understands the power of hype, and he’s adding a dash of mystery to the mix too. The question is whether the clothes will start to speak for themselves once the media frenzy passes.
