Cynthia Rowley knows how to put on a fashion show!! Unlike some nascent brands that understand production value, Cynthia Rowley acutely understands that no matter how good the collection is, a milquetoast production can bring down the value of the garments.
For her spring 2020 collection, Cynthia Rowley took up back to the streets, literally!! That’s right, Rowley set her spring 2020 show outside on Tribeca’s Jay Street. (Inside tip: Rowley’s design team moved to Jay Street a few months ago.) A tip to New York Fashion Week: The Shows designers; consider having some street shows in the future. Nothing is better than New York City architecture as a backdrop.
That said; for her spring 2020 collection Rowley was inspired by Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You Go. And with Seuss’ estate’s permission, Rowley used some illustrations from the book as prints in her spring 2020 collection. Like Seuss and many of the characters in his book, there was a heavy psychedelic 60s reference that will entice many consumers to want to go back to that carefree time when being hip and unstructured was the norm, and you could seemingly be who you are, experimenting with cultural trends that reflected the mood of time.
Though the garments in this collection at times were unstructured, phantasmagorical and cartoon-like, there was great humor and vitality. Additionally, the floral prints on occasion did overshadow some of Rowley’s silhouettes. Still, this was a fun, easy breezy collection that with some tweaking will have instant consumer appeal.
Images courtesy of Filippo Fior/gorunway.com/vogue.com
Standout looks in this collection were Rowley’s sky blue boxy tied-at-the-waist thigh-length jacket with matching two-tone emerald and sky blue slacks, black extended crouch suspender-like romper, white baby doll dress with multi-colored sequined floral motif, green and black floral print dress, floral paint-splattered short dress with floral paint-splattered peasant blouse, and purple and blue sequined suit.
—William S. Gooch
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was one of the most revolutionary and creative eras of black history. Harlem, New York became the pinnacle of black intellectual, artistic and social movements, forever changing black culture and putting the merits of black artists on display. Needless to say, even modern-day black contributions to creative industries owe themselves to the work of those who made the Harlem Renaissance happen from Langston Hughes to Countee Cullen to Zora Neale Hurston.
In April when it was announced that the designer would be doing a show based on AI, everyone assumed that he meant Artificial Intelligence. As the runway show began, it was clear that this was not an homage to the future of fashion and technology, but, rather, an ode to black arts and culture past, present, and future. In this case, AI stood for “Authentic Identity.”
