Diane von Furstenberg likes to party. That much was clear from her fall collection, which showed at Lincoln Center on Sunday afternoon, and which was themed simply “GLAM ROCK.” “Life’s a party!” proclaimed the show’s program, whose cover featured a gold silhouette of the designer that evoked her famous Andy Warhol portrait.
Despite the post-Nemo slush blanketing the city, the crowd filled up with the usual notables: a mix of fashion and media moguls, with a few downtown cool kids thrown in. There were Diane Sawyer and Charlie Rose next to the artist Anh Duong, a few seats down from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the rapper Theophilus London. “I have worn a dress a few times, but never anything as classy as a wrap dress,” Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers told reporters before the show.
The lights went down, and a thumping remix of the disco special “Love to Love You Baby” began. Giant panel mirrors spun forward, spitting out—in a cloud of smoke—jaunty model of the moment Cara Delevingne, in one of von Furstenberg’s signature wrap dresses. The crowd was instantly bobbing in their seats, transported back to Studio 54.
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And what came down the runway looked fit for Studio 54, too: a blazer and skinny pants in “fetish pink,” gold lamé jackets, a turquoise floor-length halter dress, a rabbit-fur black vest, and a dress made of chain mail. Dizzying black-and-white prints were inspired by graphic artist M.C. Escher. Von Furstenberg described her woman for next fall: “Wrapped in a swirl of twisted chain link, she steps into the night. With an effortless glamour, she winks at herself and smiles at her shadow ... In sky-high metallic heels, she swaggers across the cityscape ... She is the rock star and the muse of her own life. Her clothes are her friends. Life is a party.”
The best moment, perhaps, was the last, when the designer herself emerged to take a final spin down the runway to the tune of Chaka Khan’s 1978 classic “I’m Every Woman”—which sent a strong message about what the DVF brand is all about. The designer wasn’t halfway down the runway before she was singing and dancing along with the tune—and the audience was too. Indeed, as long as you’re at the Diane von Furstenberg show, maybe life really is one big party.
