U.S.A.
February 20, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7
Tadashi Shoji embraces love, ’70s youth style
LOVE, LIBERATION, UNITY. Fashion de-
signer Tadashi Shoji waves to the audience after un-
veiling his latest collection during Fashion Week in
New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
By The Associated Press
EW YORK — New York Fashion
Week kicked off in the middle of a
snow storm that had some of the
swans donning parkas, snow boots, and ski
caps instead of the usual sky-high heels
and fashion finery.
The crowds hopped over snow banks and
splashed in slush as they turned out at
more than a dozen shows that began the
eight-day event featuring designers’
collections for fall and winter. Some
stealthily swapped their messy boots and
warm gear once they made it to their
destinations, cramming boots and hats in
bags as they took their seats.
Ruth Sutcliffe, who works for a company
that developed a scent for Tadashi Shoji,
made her way into town by commuter train
from Greenwich, Connecticut, then
hopped a subway and trekked through
snow on foot to take in the action backstage
before his show. She changed into a dress
and heels in a bathroom.
“I walked in my Uggs and my fleece
pants and my down feather coat,” she
laughed. “It is what it is. You have to brave
the cold. I’m not going to wear high heels in
the snow and sludge.”
N
Fashion blogger Lindsi Lane, who lives
in Manhattan, didn’t have far to go to
make it safely inside fashion week’s official
Clarkson Square venue, but she was
weather-ready, big labels and all, in fluffy
ear muffs, a warm cabled sweater and a fox
fur vest to go with her skinny black
Missoni patent leather pants and Louis
Vuitton snow boots.
“At the end of the day, like any true
fashionista, we pull it together,” she said.
“We gotta bring it.”
Shoji wasn’t sweating the blizzard
ahead of his 1960s and early ’70s collection
of sensuous velvets and brocades inspired
by youth revolutions around the world.
He lives in Los Angeles, but his team
was ready for snowmaggedon. Besides, the
Japanese designer said in an interview
backstage, all the swirling, white, wet stuff
was “pretty, and traffic was so quiet. It’s
good.”
On the runway, Shoji worked in vibrant
forest green, deep reds, and splashes of
purple. Floor-length gowns with keyhole
necklines had long bell sleeves, lace insets,
and velvet ribbon detail. He and some of
his models wore white bandannas,
embracing an effort by industry watchers
at the Business of Fashion to acknowledge
President Donald Trump’s immigration
ban under the moniker “#TiedTogether.”
“More than 50 persons in my company
are immigrants,” Shoji said.
The message, Shoji said, was simple:
love, liberation, unity.
-- Leanne Italie
Alexander Wang goes back to black, Siriano does desert
BAD TO THE BONE. A model exhibits the fashion col-
lection of Alexander Wang during Fashion Week in New York.
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
By The Associated Press
EW YORK — Alexander Wang went
back to black in a crumbling old
theater in Harlem and Christian
Siriano provided a pop of politics in a single
t-shirt that read “People are People,” choosing
instead to focus on a dreamy copper-colored
collection of velvet and satin at New York
Fashion Week.
Among the day’s highlights:
N
Wang feeling bad to the bone
This girl’s going to get it done. Wang’s models,
including Bella Hadid and a freshly bobbed
Kendall Jenner, wore mostly black on Wang’s
raised runway at the abandoned RKO
Hamilton Theatre, theatrical fog and a
mosh-like pit setting the tone after a DJ and a
couple hip-hop dancers entertained before the
show.
Hadid donned leather mini-shorts and a
long-sleeve “Night of Treason” top, while other
models walked in leather skinny pants, a few in
checks and some in deep blue lingerie looks.
Little silver balls provided edgy detailing on
boots and seams for some. Others carried bags
with chain-link straps.
Jenner sis Kylie and on-again, off-again
boyfriend Tyga, Ansel Elgort, Teyana Taylor,
and A$AP Rocky were among Wang’s guests.
The crowd, wending its way uptown through
traffic from the usual lower Manhattan venues,
was led to the dystopia through a narrow
walkway with black-plastic lined walls past
shelves of Peroni beer kegs. People were greeted
by waiters offering glasses of the brew.
Wang does know his way around a neckline.
There were some in form-fitting black with
bustier bodices and off-the-shoulder sleeves. A
black jumpsuit went off the shoulder in long
sleeves but also included thin dainty straps that
showed off heavy chunk chokers in silver.
He also knows how to cut a blazer, providing a
few worthy of work or the club, though his
tousled-haired models may need to pull out the
straightening iron before heading to the office.
-- Leanne Italie
w
Siriano’s windswept copper, luxe velvet
The designer said he was inspired in part for
this fall collection by beehive sand formations in
Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. The shapes
he was referring to were created by wind,
providing a layered effect that impacted his
silhouettes and a fiery copper color that
dominated.
From the park, he said in a backstage
interview: “We took everything. We took colors,
we took textures. I felt like when I was there I
literally felt like I was in a dream.”
His setting: The Grand Ballroom of New
York’s storied Plaza Hotel. Some of his guests
were treated to box seats above his rows of
chairs. Mega-model Karolina Kurkova was
among his walkers, while Juliette Lewis and
Janet Mock were among his front-row guests.
Considering today’s contentious political
climate, Siriano said, “I think it was important
to kind of take everybody out of their element
and just be in a dream.”
Last season, Siriano made a point of mixing
all shapes and sizes among his models. Many of
the same plus-size models walked this time
around as well.
He showed gold-and-black velvet looks with
bustiers and Victorian sleeves. A strapless
dress had gold crystal tassels and a maroon
bell-sleeve gown was fringed. He cut trousers
wide in metallic copper and added a touch of
faux fur on wool coats.
Among his desert tones was a touch of mauve
and coral.
Siriano’s “People are People” t-shirt was
about as overtly political as he got. The black
top was paired with a long, pinkish satin skirt
slit high on one side.
The thing that matters to Siriano, as a gay
man who married just last year, is this:
“We have to do something to make sure that
we’re all comfortable in our lives,” he said.
-- Leanne Italie and Nicole Evatt
My Turn: A history of exclusion and resistance
Continued from page 6
came together during the Los Angeles riots in
1992 to create one of the largest ever peaceful
demonstrations by Asian Americans. According
to the Los Angeles Times, an estimated 30,000
people, mostly Korean Americans, showed
support for merchants affected by the riots and
called for reconciliation and an end to the
fighting.
Further, Crossing East told the stories of
people who were not passive victims, who took
action by organizing and protesting mistreat-
ment. In the final hour of the series, listeners
heard about Japanese Americans — once
imprisoned in internment camps during World
War II — who came to the aid of South Asians
and Middle Easterners who were unjustly
detained after September 11, 2001. Our
producer, Robynn Takayama, interviewed Yuri
Kochiyama, a civil-rights activist since the
1960s, who organized vigils against racial
profiling after 9/11.
The series also highlighted the 1998 New
York City (NYC) Taxi Strike by South-Asian
and Middle-Eastern drivers who fought against
unjust fines directed solely at them. More
recently, NYC taxi drivers staged an organized
protest to the executive order signed on
January 27, 2017 that banned travel from seven
mostly Muslim countries. Despite losing a lot of
revenue, they made a statement by temporarily
halting rides to the airport.
Asian-American activists and community
members have also taken active stands and
protested against the January 27 executive
order, which affected Lawful Permanent
Residents (holders of “green cards”); people
travelling on student, work, medical, and other
visas; immigrants and refugees; and others.
In a ruling upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals, the ban was temporarily blocked
and the government suspended its enforce-
ment.
History teaches us where we’ve been and can
hopefully inform a better future. As human
beings we want to learn, adapt, and move
forward. We remember our past so we don’t
repeat it. Equally it’s important to stand up and
speak out against unfair treatment. Hopefully
history can help us realize that policies directed
at people because of their race, ethnicity,
gender, physical ability, or sexual orientation
have to remain in the past and not be part of our
future.
To learn more about Crossing East,
visit <www.crossingeast.org>.
People vaccinated
during hepatitis A
outbreak need
second shot
HONOLULU (AP) —
Hawai‘i’s Department of
Health is reminding people
who
were
vaccinated
during last year’s hepatitis
A outbreak that it’s time for
a second dose.
The department said
data shows there were
about 90,000 hepatitis A
vaccines administered in
Hawai‘i between July and
November.
In August, state health
officials identified frozen
scallops imported from the
Philippines served at a
sushi chain as the probable
source of the outbreak.
The outbreak sickened
hundreds of people.
State epidemiologist Dr.
Sarah Park warns that
outbreaks continue to
occur worldwide and that a
local
outbreak
could
happen again.
She says while one dose
of the vaccine provides
good protection, two doses
are necessary for lasting
immunity.
The second dose must be
administered six months
after the first one.
Give blood.
To schedule a blood donation
call 1-800-G IVE-LIFE
or visit HelpSaveALife.org.
TALKING STORY IN
ASIAN AMERICA
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