Still the most talked-about fashion rookie on the block,
Kanye West debuted his latest Yeezy collection to an A-list crowd at New York
City's Madison Square Garden last night.
But unlike in previous seasons, front row-sitting stars like
Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, a newly-blonde Kim Kardashian, supermodel
Karlie Kloss, and fellow fashion rebel Jaden Smith were treated to some bold
colors from the rapper-turned-designer.
For Season Three, Kanye injected a few bright hues into his
go-to neutral palette, jazzing up shades of nude, brown, and black with — gasp
— red, yellow, and blue.
But the show was still quite unlike anything anyone had ever
seen before, starting with the out-of-the-ordinary invites and a
larger-than-life venue, and finishing with supermodel Naomi Campbell hitting
the stage.
As expected the Yeezy show at New York Fashion Week was a
major event and not content with having models walk a runway, Kanye West hired
out Madison Square Garden and made his boys and girls the focal point of his
album launch. Two birds with one stone and all that.
So what to say about the collection? Well are we supposed to
assume the Kardashian / Jenner family didn't really like it as many of them
were adorned in creations co-designed by Balmain's Olivier Rousteing and which
don't form part of the main line?
We'll never know, but Kanye's designs for AW16 are pretty
similar to past collections and feature either skin tight or oversized fits, a
muted colour palette and a vague unisex quality. It's basically elevated
sportswear.
One model who really stood out from the crowd on the centre
stage was, of course, the legend that is Naomi Campbell who made this bodycon
catsuit look good.
In a ribbed cotton with a high neck and long sleeves it's
reminiscent of the kinds of thermals you wear under your salopettes but we're
pretty sure at least one of the Kardashians will be wearing this soon.
If you can't wait for it to hit stores, shop our edit of
similar all-in-ones below.
Anyone lucky enough to score an invite received in the mail
a suction-sealed bag packed with a folded-up army green Augusta Sportswear
jacket. On the back read 'Season 3' in all caps, and the design featured
details for how to RSVP.
Then, at 4pm on Friday, the fashion crowd descended on
Madison Square Garden. Unlike most New York Fashion Week shows that are
overwhelmingly attended by women, Yeezy saw quite a fair share of men turn up
to see the rapper's latest creations — and hear his new album, The Life of
Pablo, which he also debuted for the excited audience.
But while 'regular people' crowded into the arena, a roster
of big-name celebrities settled into the best seats in the house. Kris Jenner,
Caitlyn Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, and even little North
West were there.
The entire Kardashian-Jenner family arrived wearing matching
ensembles, with Kendall and Caitlyn donning matching distressed sweater
dresses, while Kim, Kourtney and Kylie went for embellished beaded numbers.
But while many were quick to praise the designer for
embracing some more detailed, intricate outfits, Kanye actually revealed during
the show that the family's ensembles were the result of a collaboration between
himself and long-time family friend, Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing.
'Olivier, thank you for doing the collaboration. Two weeks
ago when I flew into Paris and designed... the whole family’s outfits — can
ya’ll stand up for one second?' People reported that Kanye said during the
event, before giving both his family, and the designer, a round of applause.
'Will the church please say "Amen"? Make some noise for Olivier.'
Meanwhile, a healthy-looking Lamar Odom was escorted to his
seat by Kanye himself, and Jay Z, 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, Tyga, Austin Mahone,
L'il Kim, DJ Cassidy and Carine Roitfeld also turned up for the event.
Will Smith's son Jaden once again turned up with his
girlfriend Sarah Snyder in tow, with the happy couple both donning Yeezy
footwear.
Jaden, 17, wore an almost entirely black outfit, and carried
a khaki backpack, and a large bottle of Poland Spring water.
Sarah, meanwhile, opted for a Kanye-friendly color palette
of beige and camel tones, wearing a short, figure-hugging sweater dress and a
wool coat.
However, it seems some of the stars that Kanye wanted in
attendance failed to show up; earlier this week, the rapper shared a screen
grab from his phone, revealing that he had been having a conversation with
someone on his team about inviting 'awesome wrestlers' like Rick Flair and Hulk
Hogan, as well as basketball player Michael Jordan.
Unfortunately for Kanye, however, he was told that Michael
had already declined his invite - while the other people mentioned in his
message don't seem to have turned up.
The crowds that were in attendance — including many of the
stars — waited around for almost an hour, with nothing to look at but a giant
parachute tarp obscuring the stage, from which smoke was leaking out from
underneath.
Also under the tarp were a number of models and other members of
the Yeezy team, readying for the big moment.
Unsurprisingly, the show got off to a late start, with the
giant tarp being removed from the stage at 4:45pm, nearly an hour after the
scheduled start time of 4pm.
But the crowd was certainly in for a surprise. Rather than
the typical line-up of 20 to 30 models, Kanye had hundreds, who crowded the
stage in overwhelming numbers as he played the first song off his new album,
called Ultralight Bling.
'Feel free to dance and cheer!' he told the audience.
Of course, the models were all consummate professionals, too and they better have been, since their boss set out a very long list of rules
for all of his performers to follow.
During the show, models were banned — in
all caps — from whispering, smiling, dancing, singing (unless instructed to),
making eye contact, acting cool, 'sexy posing',or showing 'pride'.
They were instructed not to look at any cameras, break
character, or making 'the same movements at the same time'. In a set of
instructions that seems quite obvious, models were also told not to take off
their clothes and shoes and know that their 'behavior affects the conduct of
others.
The models also had some famous names to look to for cues.
Up on the stage was supermodel Naomi Campbell, who wore all black and showed
the amateurs how it's done. Veronica Webb and Alek Wek also came out onto the
stage in the rapper's new designs.
All of the ladies rocked fitted dresses, bodysuits,
leggings, and crop tops, much like in previous seasons — though this time,
there was some red and orange thrown in.
They also all donned black caps on their head, with only
Naomi Campbell letting her long black hair shine around her shoulders.
The music was very much as important to the show as the
fashion — and Kanye's in-laws are clearly already fans of new tracks like
Famous, Highlights, and Wolves.
While the music played, Kylie, Kendall, Khloe,
and Kourtney all danced along, already able to recite some of the lyrics. A
proud Kim — who wore her newly-blonde hair stick-straight — also looked on
proudly and grooved to the music.
Kanye certainly ensured that his new music would be
memorable for the crowds, with one song - Famous - suggesting that he and
Taylor Swift might one day get intimate.
'I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex,' he rapped.
'I made that b*tch famous.'
The track - which also features Rihanna - is fourth on
Kanye's title-rotating album.
After the show, Gigi Hadid, 20, who was in attendance,
tweeted her 'loyalty' to BFF Swift after controversy grew over the song.
'My attendance somewhere does not mean I agree with
everything being said in the music playing there. My friends know of my
loyalty,' Gigi tweeted to her more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter.
Gigi and Taylor, 26, have been close friends and the top
model appeared in the pop star's Bad Blood video.
Around the same, Swift's brother, Austin, made his own
statement, posting a video on Instagram with the caption, 'Getting a head start
on some spring cleaning. Here we go again.
The video showed Austin carrying a trash can while whistling
the Colonel Bogey March.
He placed the trash receptacle down and then pulled a pair
of Moonrock Yeezy Boost 350 off a shelf and tossed them into the bin.
West's album, currently named The Life Of Pablo, it has
previously been known as So Help Me God, Swish, and - apparently most controversially
of all - Waves, the selection of which kicked off a furious Twitter row
involving him, Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose.
Finally, after the entire album had played through, the
major supermodels walked off the stage and Kanye concluded the show by thanking
Kim and asking: 'Tell me how you feel ... did I deliver my promise of the
album?'
He also thanked fashion editor Carine Roitfeld for putting
Kim on the cover of her magazine, Balmain's Olivier Rousteing, Jay Z, and Tyga.
As well as taking Madison Square Garden by storm, Kanye's
show also wowed social media, with Twitter users and Instagram fans the world
over taking to their accounts to give their very mixed opinions on thecaliber
of the collection and the album.
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