NYFW Day 2: Tom Ford’s Fashion Crowd Film Screening, COTW’s David Lynch Mood

New York Fashion Week really got going Thursday with the opening of the official venues, and a full slate of shows beginning with the budding Newport Beach-based label Brock, which is among the nominees for this year’s CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund Awards, and ending with Thakoon’s first ever ‘see now, buy now’ outing.

Here are my takeaways from Day 2.

Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals Left Me In Knots

At 2 p.m., I caught a screening of Tom Ford’s upcoming film, Nocturnal Animals at Soho House. Ford hosted editors from Vogue, the New York Times and other publications at two screenings throughout the day, and pal Julianne Moore even stopped by to take in the film.

“I’m not going to say much because I believe films should speak for themselves,” the designer/director told the small group beforehand. “But I hope you enjoy it, I’m very proud of it.”

Ford being Ford, Noctural Animals, like 2009’s A Single Man, is hyper stylized. Amy Adams’ slick wardrobe of perfect pencil skirts and killer heels is something to behold, and very Tom Ford, even though the costume designer is Arianne Phillips and Ford told me earlier in the week not one piece of his branded clothing is in the film. “I want to be taken seriously as a filmmaker,” he said. “This is not an ad for Tom Ford.”

Interestingly, Alessandro Michele at Gucci, the label Ford helped to revive the first go-around, was one of dozens of luxury brands thanked in the end credits. Adams plays an art dealer and there’s also a staggering number of artworks credited–by Mark Bradford, Jeff Koons and the like.

In this week’s cover story, Ford told THR that Nocturnal Animals is about, “the world of absurd rich [people], the hollowness and emptiness I perceive in our culture.” It is. But beneath the surface, it’s also full of edge-of-your-seat tension and violence–a West Texas nightmare that stirs up thoughts about bullying, self-blame and remorse. There had to be a lot of personal stuff in there, and Ford, who wrote the script, was brave to let it all hang out. It’s not perfect, but it still left me in knots.

Creatures of the Wind Channeled David Lynch

Earlier in the day, I caught the collection by New York Fashion Week’s reigning masters of quirk, Shane Gabier and Chris Peters. Their label Creatures of the Wind is a favorite with Lena Dunham, Elle Fanning and other Hollywood stars who like to go their own way.

The designers tapped David Lynch muse Julee Cruise, who famously sang the “Falling” theme song to Twin Peaks, to perform at their runway show and set the mood for their wonderfully weird collection of rockabilly-tinged suits and asymmetrical dresses, embellished with a patch of crystal embroidered lace here and there, and OpArty metallic coats and rocker boots. “Music is so tied to atmosphere, in the development of our collections, we’re always thinking about the sound,” Gabier said backstage. (He and his partner were out in L.A. last month to launch a denim collab at Just One Eye in Hollywood.)

David Lynch muse Julee Cruise serenading us @CreaturesOTW #NYFW pic.twitter.com/qYVGpGi9Xh

— @Booth (@Booth) September 8, 2016

Turns out, it was not Cruise’s first fashion show. She sang from a Cadillac on a rotating stage at the Detroit Auto show one year, while models walked a runway around her, she told me.

“But I think this may be the last time I sing,” she said, dressed in a silvery dress and boots by COTW. “I’d like to do theater,” Cruise added. “Where you make the real money.”

Thakoon Tried On See Now, Buy Now

I watched the sunset underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, taking in Thakoon Panichgul’s first ‘see now, buy now’ show, which was full of snuggly, fall season capes, chunky knits and wooly side-slit miniskirts bursting with ruffles, that you can purchase at his new Soho store now (never mind that Manhattan in September is still stiflingly hot, that’s a problem for another day). Thakoon, who has dressed Michelle Obama, Emma Roberts and many others, has given up wholesaling and taken his business vertical, with the help of a new backer, and he came out strong. I hope it works for him. He’ll be dropping new merchandise deliveries every few weeks and selling through his store and online.

Think you might like to buy this @thakoon @nyfw runway look? You CAN! Now. #seenowbuynow pic.twitter.com/mgRgiwxQw0

— @Booth (@Booth) September 8, 2016

Before the show, I bumped into Priyana Chopra and her stylist Cristina Ehrlich. The “Quantico” actress is attending just two shows during New York Fashion Week, Thakoon and Joseph Altuzarra. On Saturday, she heads to L.A. for the lead up to The Emmys.

She loves Thakoon’s clothes, she said, but the two really bonded over Pokemon Go.

“I’m on level 21 now,” she said. But will she play on the Emmys red carpet? “I could,” Chopra answered. “While I wait!” 

Priyanka Chopra and @THR power stylist Cristina Ehrlich @thakoon #NYFW pic.twitter.com/oH9NdqZnb6

— @Booth (@Booth) September 8, 2016