Hot Stuff

New York has much in common with London’s vibe and Aesthetic. They both innovate and challenge convention, but more so than London, New York designers love to keep close to their roots. Sportswear is an all-American legacy that never wonders far from the minds of designers such as Zac Posen, Derek Lam, Carolina Herrera and Mary Ping's work.
Posen claims that his key values are glamour and comfort, but is emphatic that comfort comes first. Nevertheless, he certainly showed his fellow designers a thing or two about tactics and perception with his shameless social meanderings early in his career, that showed his designs off to the max. His combination of Practical yet daring is a sure-fire winner for women around the globe, emitting a strong womanly vibe that leaves men (and most photographers) weak at the knees.
The two sides of American life have long been interchangeable, but while in its fashion past sportswear was a staple, New York’s modern terrain now demands the sophisticated touch from it's inhabitants. Proenza Schouler's evolution mirrors that of the duo's home city; starting out with simplistic, practical designs but maturing into a thoroughly grown-up label, producing more feminine and glamorous apparel with each collection. It seems New York is a city which pushes its Designers to keep re-invention alive, ideas strong and calls upon maturity at all times.
This is the crunch with New York: designers have to be acutely aware of just how easy it is to be over-hyped and then just sink without trace amid financial and media disapproval or disinterest, Dream Over. But, once you’re made, you’re in with the pack for life. Americans' love to be loyal, it just would be bad sportsmanship to be anything less. But although the rise is often rapid for The Next Big Thing, staying on that hard-earned pedestal becomes as perilous as falling off it. Something that rules New York fashion is its constant fuel. Its designers have to have a trick or two up their sleeves to keep the fire burning bright because everyone knows that this city is one of the harshest fashion environments to survive in. Beneath the casual, comfy veneer lies a cut-troat street-wise hard edge. Ultimately, it's the need to keep turning out red-hot collections that keeps New York super-cool.