Donna Karan mannequin at Sidewalk Catwalk
Fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry, but every once and a while it’s refreshing to simply appreciate the artfulness of our favorite designers away from the retail experience. Although, refreshing may not have been the best word to describe today’s balmy morning (it was a steamy high of 92 in NYC today), the Sidewalk Catwalk event where 32 mannequins were unveiled in NYC’s Fashion District was a fun new take on things.
Nonetheless, designers, editors, and fancy fashion folk turned for a pre-breakfast at Macy’s and to check out the unique public art exhibition meant to draw much-needed attention to the historic, but economically affected area. Organized by the Fashion Center Business Improvement District, each mannequin will be auctioned off after the viewing ends September 3 to benefit Materials for the Arts.
In the meantime, what used to just be a stretch of Broadway from Herald Square to Times Square is for a short time a runway that holds each designer’s representation of their design ethos. The event’s chairwoman, Fern Mallis, was quick to point out that “everyone gets a front row seat.”
Donna Karan integrated the NYC skyline for her DKNY piece, while DVF used her signature colorful leopard print in a minimal way to celebrate the female form, John Bartlett got creative with materials from Home Depot and Isabel Toledo created a dress we want to borrow paired with an avant-garde hat.
In case you can’t make it down the catwalk, check out some of the mannequins below, including one by talents to watch from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Design by students from FIT
Design by Isabel Toledo
Design by Prabal Gurung
Design by Diane von Furstenberg
Design by John Bartlett
All photos by Joseph D’Arco
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