Jeremy Scott offered his “too-cool-for-school” set clothes for thought Friday, blending Jesus, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe in a catwalk call to arms against President Donald Trump.
It was a meditation on celebrity in the age of Trump, the reality TV star turned commander-in-chief whose early presidency has alarmed liberal America and turned New York fashion week unusually political.
“I will give Donald that very important honour, is that he has brought people together. He wakes us up,” said Jeremy Scott.
Always fun, always colourful and always playful, the Los Angeles-based designer mixed his love of pop art, bold colours and stunningly crafted tightly frilled jackets, with a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s.
There were Presley-style capes and studded pantsuits — one worn by supermodel of the moment Gigi Hadid — star-shaped sunglasses, pink crushed velvet trouser suits, and studded leather jackets.
The face of Jesus was reproduced in the carpet-style fabric on the back of jackets, with animal print sleeves and purple lapels. There were Marilyn Monroe-style baby doll dresses and Mardi Gras headpieces.
Hadid and the rest of the models trode a white, faux-fur runway that mimicked fluffy clouds or the pockets of snow that continue to line the sidewalks of New York a day after a major winter storm.
There were no program notes, but Scott sprinkled messages on his clothing: “Jesus is Alive,” “Sex is Cute,” “Save the Robots” and “As seen on TV” on a sequined top shimmering like a flickering screen.
Scott, who is also creative director of Italy’s Moschino, told NPR in an interview broadcast this week that he intended his fashion as a “call to arms” for his followers to wake up and confront Trump.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how we worship celebrity, and how we have Elvis and Marilyn Monroe and Jesus all on the same playing field,” he said in the interview. “That is really the same situation what’s happened to our politics, that we have elected a celebrity.”
“I think that he has given us a great gift,” he said of the Republican president. “I will give Donald that very important honour, is that he has brought people together. He wakes us up,” he told NPR.
“I’m trying to be the messenger for the people that pay attention to me. And those people I want to help inspire because a lot of people maybe think it’s — they’re too cool for school.”
A fragment of Presley hit “Suspicious Minds” was included in the soundtrack. Celebrity it-girl Kylie Jenner sat in the front row in a barely there gold sequined and tasselled cocktail dress.
