Runway looks from Karen Walker’s Fall/Winter 2014 collection. Images from Style.com
New Zealand has a proud history in women’s rights, being the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote was a thoroughly modern achievement in 1893.
Now in 2014, Karen Walker is celebrating those Sufragettes in a contemporary way with her latest collection for Fall/Winter 2014 entitled ‘The League’.
A chic crowd of fashion influencers and New York’s cool kids gathered at Pier59 Studios for the afternoon runway presentation, which also marked Walker’s sixteenth New York Fashion Week show, a pretty impressive achievement in itself.
Gracing the front row again were the wonderful elderly women who featured in the brand’s sunglasses campaign last year, enthusiastic in their support of the new collection.
Walker’s unique brand of quirky cool lent itself well to the Sufragette theme, with a collision of vintage and modern inspirations making for utterly charming looks in very wearable silhouettes.
Femininity was celebrated in the form of sweetly collared dresses, fuller skirts and tailored shirting that hinted at their Victorian roots but were cleverly balanced by masculine-style blazers, over-sized coats and fuller trousers.
Beautiful burgundy velvet-burnout evening pieces and full-length black silk sleeveless dresses upped the elegance factor of the range too.
Updated versions of some of Walker’s previous slogans including ‘Young, Willing and Eager’ and ‘Liberal, Miserable and Cynical’ featured on t-shirts and accessories adding a tongue-in-chic streetwear appeal to the collection.
This new season again sees the label collaborating with handbag designer Benah and footwear brand Beau Coops with wonderful results.
This was one of Walker’s best collections to date in my opinion, cohesive and utterly appealing. I’m sure the witty prints, divine fabrications and winsome silhouettes will mean this range finds many fans when it arrives in stores later in the year.
By Evelyn Ebrey
Imagery: Style.com