Talk about global warming hasn’t put a kibosh on the resort destination show, which seems to have become a codified part of the fashion calendar. For resort, Naeem Khan played the idea out in reverse, instead of bringing people to the collection, he brought the collection to the people.
The designer chose the Frost Museum of Science in Miami as the location for his first-ever resort runway, on which he worked with mostly local talent. Back in New York the day after the show, Khan said that sharks were swimming in a tank above the audience and that he used whale songs on the soundtrack. It all sounded very Bond, James Bond. The bead-fringed minidresses with cut-outs could easily play to that theme; likewise a series of bias-cut all-over sequin dresses.
Khan’s stated theme was tropical, and this was best communicated in a series of ombre prints made in a fabric that used reprocessed fibers; he used hemp for pieces like the floral embroidered suit that opened the show. Seventh Avenue is coming up roses for resort, it seems, and the designer revisited the flower in prints. There were also “collectible” dresses featuring ribbon work and extensive beading. This collection felt like a greatest hits compilation—played for a new audience.
