Global Fashion Collective II
For the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) Spring/Summer 2023 season, Global Fashion Collective (GFC) proudly highlighted 12 international designers across three different showcases. The GFC II showcase featured designers from the United States, Japan, Canada and India. GFC aims to spotlight emerging designers and provide them with a platform during the most prestigious fashion weeks in the world. This organization has previously presented at New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and Tokyo Fashion Week.
LUNALEE was created by Parsons BFA graduate Luna Lee, a Korean-American designer based in Los Angeles. This collection showcases her unique take on American sportswear and features her brand classic padded ZIGZAG panel technique, seen in look one’s tank top dress and look three’s oversized hoodie with chest cutouts. Besides the bright pop of mustard yellow, Lee uses a simple and neutral colour palette. An array of corsets were also showcased, bringing trendy and youthful energy to the runway. This collection is cozy and wearable, pairing baggy tops with shorts or asymmetrical tank tops with a long skirt. The closing look is the epitome of this aesthetic, featuring an oversized brown hoodie with long drawstring ties and styled with white shorts.
Dr. MAAYA is a colourful and happy label created by a Japanese neurosurgeon who later studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins. This collection was inspired by a familiar problem: opening up your closet and wanting to wear everything out of indecision. This inspiration can immediately be recognized from the first look alone, with a poofy dress that uses smaller dresses as a cap sleeve and layered to create a skirt. There were two “clothesline” looks, where the model walked with their arms outstretched to reveal a hanging assortment of miniature hoodies and rainbow garments on tiny hangers. The closing look is inspired by Dr. Maaya’s real closet, which features a circular hanging rack. She also designed special rainbow shoes that pair perfectly with every look. This label’s larger-than-life silhouettes and playful aesthetics brightened up the runway.
Ay Lelum is a Coast Salish design house from Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, B.C., Canada. Aunalee and Sophia Boyd-Good are a sister design duo who hail from a multi-generational artist family. This label consistently highlights the beauty of Coast Salish culture and aesthetics through gorgeous fabrics, vibrant colours and elegant silhouettes. Their flowy outerwear and array of gowns came in muted greys and tans but also hot pink, electric orange and a rich scarlet. The show opened with a fashion film about their label and models strutted to Coast Salish with vocals sung by the designers themselves. The closing look was a stunning yellow column gown that featured a blue capelet.
TheRealB is an India-based luxury fashion label and the brainchild of Binal Patel, who studied at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan. Her brand emphasizes bold styles through bespoke fashion that empowers women. This collection highlights femininity through flowy silhouettes that move beautifully down the runway. Patel is not afraid of colour, using bright reds, pinks and oranges to create vacation-ready maxi dresses and trendy sets. Look four features an electric orange dress that hugs the waist perfectly, with black flowers hand-embroidered on and scattered across the skirt. This collection also features two bags handmade by Patel using khatli work techniques: the shimmering silver clutch in look five and pink-tasseled bucket bag in look seven. Global Fashion Collective produced an amazing show this season.