Michael Kors shows off opulent restraint at New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Associated Press is all over New York Fashion Week, from its runway fashions to celebrity-packed events. Here’s what some AP writers are seeing:

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MICHAEL KORS: FUR AND FLATS

The ladies on the runway of Michael Kors don’t do lunch. They do business — in fur, Oxfords and sumptuous sweaters and suits cinched at the waist with skinny belts.

Kors, in a backstage interview before Wednesday’s show, described his fall collection as “opulent restraint.”

There wasn’t just men’s suiting. There was men’s suiting in cashmere. There wasn’t just a military coat. There was a military coat with orange spark on the lower sleeve. There was tweed, trumpet skirts and mohair.

In the colours of barley, a young fawn, charcoal and slate blue, Kors had icons on his mind and their yin-yang balance from head to their fur muffs to their shoes.

Go back to the ’30s, he urges.

“You think about the Duchess of Windsor, who certainly was very glamorous and very elegant, but she was very understated, kind of always grabbing from the duke’s closet, too. And when you think about the ’30s, one of my favourite movies is “Chinatown,” and Faye Dunaway in her riding clothes,” he said.

That balance, Kors said, is deeply rooted in American style, stretching through the decades to Babe Paley in the ’60s and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, “looking really chic but being able to jump on a bicycle.”

And after, Kors is ready with sparkly pajama-wear and capes in silver fox.

Michelle Obama picked a Michael Kors suit for the State of the Union. It was a thrill for Kors, who also marvels at the women on the street who tote his bags and wear his watches.

Kors, who heads a global fashion and style empire, said “commercial” is far from a dirty word.

“For her (the first lady) to choose to wear something of ours on a really important night, it’s very kind of gratifying in the same way it is when I see someone walking through the airport and they’ve spent their hard-earned money,” he said.

Kate Hudson, a friend, was on hand, looking springy in yellow on yet another cold winter’s day.

“I feel like Michael does the kind of show that you actually want to wear everything, that you feel like you can wear everything,” she mused.

—Nicole Evatt and Leanne Italie

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