New York Fashion Week: Spring 2018 Day #1

New York Fashion Week Spring 2018 had a rainy start, but like a wedding, it was a sign of luck. I was honored with invitations to two phenomenal presentations - Im sure my invites to Tom Ford and Donna Karan got lost in cyberspace, but I digress! In lieu of a standard fashion show format, both New York brand PH5 and Toronto based Greta Constantine opted for more informal presentations. Which worked perfectly for me because I got delayed by the subway on my way Downtown for PH5 and was able to grab a Lyft back to Queens and miss the NYC traffic nightmare after Greta Constantine . For an inside look at two brands you need to know about, keep reading.

Androgyny can be sexy, as shown yesterday by PH5. The brands moniker is based on the numeric pH scale, which ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 as neutral. If 7 represents androgynous unisex labels and 1 represents the extreme feminine brands, PH5 leans towards the edgier side while keeping a touch of femininity.

Established in New York in 2014, PH5 is an advanced contemporary womens knitwear brand founded by Wei Lin, the daughter of a large knitwear manufacturer, and created by a Parsons-trained, Kering award-winning designer, Mijia Zhang. The label challenges the conventional vision of knitwear by marrying whimsical designs with architectural dimensions of knitting techniques.

The PH5 presentation blurred the boundaries of real and artificial. And the stripe hype was real, and oh so fabulous!

The Artificial Flowers presentation had a backdrop of produce set against both real and artificial flowers, in a space scented with Joya silken lotus leaves and wild mint geranium rose candles. The collection was bright and bold with color-blocking and white boots that was reminiscent of the sixties. The models were a diverse cast of ages, heights and a single male model. In true model form, they all looked stunning yet bored.

What happens when you combine 20 Canadian Models and 2 Canadian Designers? A sequins drenched high-octane collection filled with patchwork, tulle, classic baseball jackets, boyfriend tuxedo pants, track suits, and 80-s glam. Toronto based, Jamaican-born designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong celebrated 10 years of their womenswear label Greta Constantine with a Canadian-Girl-Gang invasion of New York Fashion Week.

CAFA 2016 Womenswear Designer of the Year winner Greta Constantine is an accessible luxury line of ready-to-wear womenswear based in Toronto, Canada. The label itself is derived from the combination of the name of Stephens mother, Greta, with that of Kirks grandfather, Constantine. The pair works together in their Toronto area studio -- conceptualizing, exploring, and challenging the fashions of today for the women of tomorrow.

Angular references appear also in a sequined jumpsuit whose severe proportions evoke a nod to Grace Jones. By contrast, a chain-linked gold-and-silver jumpsuit over tops black jersey is brash in its pattern but louche in silhouette.