Newsflash! Riccardo Tisci will present his next womenswear collection in New York. Double newsflash! Marina Abramovic with help creative direct the show. All signs point to a Givenchy US takeover, with the presentation of the brand’s spring/summer 16 collection also coinciding with the opening of its new Manhattan flagship store.
As WWD reports, the show will fall on September 11th. New York Fashion Week has regularly overlapped with the anniversary of the attacks. But, as Vanessa Friedman wrote in the New York Times today, “In the past, few New York Fashion Week designers whose collections have been shown on the 11th have [recognized the significance of the date], and it has always felt jarring, a kind of denial.” By way of acknowledgement, Tisci said: “It’s a very delicate day for America, and so the show is going to be a celebration of family and love.”
In that spirit, he’s invited his friend Marina Abramovic to help creative direct. Marina’s celebrity friend circle already overlaps considerably with Tisci’s, most notably in the case of Jay-Z. Tisci designed the cover artwork for Jay and Kanye’s Watch the Throne in 2011; Marina performed with Jay in the cool-then-controversial video for his song “Picasso Baby.” It was only a matter of time before their worlds collided.
The show will also mark Tisci’s tenth year at the helm of Givenchy. And as a part-time New York resident and hardcore fan of all things Americana (he used to collect US flags as a child; cute), Tisci will no doubt use the anniversary to pledge his allegiance. “It gives me so much energy, and I’m very inspired by the culture,” he told WWD of the States. “I feel free when I’m there.”
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson
Photography Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Styling Panos Yiapanis