On West 45th Street, in the heart of New York’s Theatre District, the American designer encapsulates his long career through 63 looks and a call to save the stage.
Michael Kors celebrates his ruby year in the industry through his two favorite art forms: fashion and musical theatre. On April 20, before the Fall/Winter 2021 digital presentation, Kors announced a drive to raise money for the Actors Fund, This is his way Broadway, which, like many in-person-dependent industries, has been languishing because of COVID-19.
ALSO READ: Michael Kors’ Spring/Summer 2021 Collection Is A Sweet, Refreshing Ode To New York City
Big City, Big Dreams
Kors attended New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, but dropped out just nine months later when the Bergdorf Goodman allowed him to sell his designs in-store. The chance to sell at the luxury department store is the dream of many aspiring fashion students, and it prompted the beginning of his namesake brand in the ’80s.
In the Philippines, the band has three stores in Metro Manila, with its flagship Greenbelt 5 store going through a renovation in 2017. “Michael Kors has contemporary styling and great value. It is very up to date with trends interpreted in a way that resonates with every kind of style,” SSI Group president Anton Huang told local media then.
Opening Night
The presentation began with a taped prelude set inside Sardi’s, Broadway’s legendary watering hole. Done with media editing, the framed caricatures of renowned actors, including Chita Rivera, Matt Bomber, Kistin Chenoweth, and Bernadette Peters, adorn the walls and come to life,.
The ensemble of Kors’ thespian friends engages in a conversation on their first Michael Kors pieces, the significance of Actors Fund, and the theatre industry’s importance to New York’s economy. They talked to each other through frames, reminiscent of now-prevalent Zoom calls.
The show opens with veteran model Shalom Harlow in a black charmeuse shirt and trousers, a look that may remind you of what it’s like dressing for the office. Runway models then follow her in a mix of evening cocktail ensembles and formal wear created with leather, metallics, cashmere, and animal prints.
Getting Back To Fashion
In a time when loungewear has taken over women’s closets, Michael Kors puts in a bid to dress them when stepping out is back in fashion. “People are going to want to step out, get dressed up—in certain instances get overdressed. Girls are going out for a hamburger in cocktail dresses and high heels,” Kors tells Vogue Runway.
With the launch of his anniversary collection as an ode to the theatre community, Kors is donating part of the profits to the Actors Fund, it’s also a tribute to his younger self when he was still yet to be known.
Kors shares to WWD about when he was in the beginning stages of his career, “I didn’t have a penny to my name, I lived in a terrible apartment with sewing machines in it. But creative people were finding their way, and I hope we see that again. I think we will.”
