Diana Ross to Tyra Banks

Y2K nostalgia: Connor Ives FW22 was a wild 90s fashion mash-up
By Bailey Slater | Fashion | 20 February 2022

In the show notes for Hudson River School, Connor Ives recalls his early teens in a school where “fashion” was a dirty word. It’s through these hallowed halls, filled with angst and rhinestones, that his archetypes of the 21st-century woman come to life, informed at great length by early aughts fashion media such as The Devil Wears Prada, Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model, and Isaac Mizrahi’s seminal nineties fashion documentary, Unzipped.

Of these distinct identities, our first stylish glimpse is at ‘Cool Girl’; a descendant of Amy Dunne (brought to life on the runway by none other than Eddie Campbell) who is every man’s walking wet dream in an illusory-printed trench paired with blood-curdling patent heels. The Carmen Miranda Raver Girl is here too; with her technicolour block fringe and skirt comprised of hand-painted Swarovski crystals. Then there’s the VSCO girl; a simple shopper concerned with an aesthetically curated Insta-grid who ‘The Editor’ would cut down with something as simple as a sideways glance.

Allusions to America’s prevailing pop culture royalty made up most of the lineup in a rimless-sunnied visage of Y2K nostalgia. From Diana Ross and Jackie O, to the dog-murdering Glenn Close and the low-key abstraction of Yoko Ono (OK, reaching a bit further back through time here) – each coloured hair clip and skimpily raw waistband was imbibed with the era’s hedonistic spirit and penchant for all-night club-pop. The show closed with a major satin Bridal gown inspired by Carolyn Kennedy, sliced and diced with a matching headdress that trailed wistfully through the catwalk.

GALLERYCatwalk images from Connor Ives FW22





BACKSTAGE