Oh, for a day of shopping at Barneys New York. The simpler times, wandering the floors, trying on the wares of new, hard-to-find designers instead of browsing them at 70 percent off on Ssense. Taking in the store’s witty displays without feeling compelled to film it all for content, lunch at Fred’s—wouldn’t that be nice?
Michael Kors got the nostalgia going, staging his fall 2024 show in Barneys’s original flagship, on Seventh Avenue and 17th Street, its famous spiral staircase put to effective use as the models descended it to walk the floor. They were all ultra-luxe New York swagger, the kind it feels like we don’t see much anymore. Julia Nobis opened the show in a double-breasted hourglass blazer over a pencil skirt with a generous slit, a prelude to the collection’s sculpted tailoring and maximal minimalism.
The luxury was not quiet. Rather, Kors summoned ’90s power-bitch banker garb with seductively tailored coats in menswear fabrics, cashmere galore, white shirts, perfect tanks, and slouchy trousers. Pointy black pumps, oxfords, work bags big and small, and thick black glasses meant business. All the extreme office-chic was broken up by fabulous faux furs, fearsome shearlings, ’30s-inspired lace slips, and sequins fit for a night at the Carlyle (before the TikTokers took it over!).
Kors conjured an idealistic picture of the New York he happens to like—cinematic, fantastic, glamorous, big. Does that place still exist? Did it ever? Maybe this show was a manifestation exercise. In New York, anything is possible. Except maybe Barneys reopening. But we can still dream.
