NY Fashion Week: Chromat AW15

On Friday the 13th (of all days), we went to Milk Studios to attend Chromat's Autumn-Winter 2015 Runway Show. The added treat (to put it mildly) was being admitted to a pre-party in the Lexus Lounge by #designdisrupted. In homage to designer Becca McCharen's big night, we both wore Chromat: Jean a conservative black cage collar (with a reddish-black faux fur Ivan Grunvahl muff) and Valerie a not-so-conservative red and black brassiere, black mini-crinoline and black hat atop her red hat.

Food as art was the operative phrase: vanilla chocolate truffle pearls in gilded oyster shells tasted as wonderful as they looked. And flutes filled with bubbly Veuve Cliquot made for a lovely way to start Fashion Week!

Taking a page out of Elsa Schiaparelli's book, Valerie added red nails to her black gloves. All the better to admire the hand-painted macaroons. (Inside was absolutely heavenly sesame-flavored whipped cream.)  More food as art!

Numerous other attendees also wore Chromat. We reconnected with Lolita Bandita who was wearing her golden accented outfit with just the right attitude.

This trio of backstage babes were also enjoying the pre-show festivities.

The party was like old home week! We loved running into stylist Chloe Badawy.  (Looooooong and funny story about how we met Chloe, under far less fashionable circumstances.  But not for this posting.)

Queen of New York Night Life Susanne Bartsch, with hair piled high, and feathery false eyelashes literally down to her nose, accentuated her Chromat peplum bustier with feathered neckpiece, garter belt, black stockings and black wrap.

We received the rare treat of being allowed backstage to watch the models get finishing touches to their hair, makeup and nails.  Swoon!  An added bonus: We got to watch our pal Christine Hahn photograph the models against an interstellar backdrop.  Here, Chromat founder Becca McCharen puts finishing touches on a model's costume, while the make up artist puts finishing touches on the model's manicure.  The model is wearing a playing card pinned over each ear.

Needless to say, we were very taken with this model's headdress and white latex crop top.  Becca trained as an architect.  The model's skirt looks as though it could have been influenced by bridge construction.

The sign of a true professional is to get it all right, down to the smallest detail.  These Chromat rings (made on a 3-D printer!)  are completely in keeping with the brand Becca is building.

OK, probably all models have extraordinary bodies, but Chromat models seem more extraordinary than most, probably because they show so much more.  Note also the big eyebrows.  Big eyebrows are everywhere these days, but Becca has done her own interpretation of the trend.

We met Tayler Smith back stage, wearing a wonderful Chromat headpiece and skirt.  Check out Tayler's posting on us.

We have to give a shout out to Riza Rodriguez.  She worked miracles to get us in to see the show.  We first met her more than a year ago at Screaming Mimi's, when we blogged about our coverage by a Swedish newspaper.  Riza wore one of Becca's cages under an Alexander Wang jumpsuit.

The impossibly tall and thin models looked even more so with slicked back pony tails set high on the head and steeply wedged platform shoes. We loved the AW 15 collection's matte latex shirts and jackets like this grey funnel neck sleeveless top.

Small world!  Model May Hong looked so familiar to us.  No wonder! Turns out she is also a friend of illustrator Joana Avillez. Loved her feathered fascinator and cages around her shoes.

No detail was overlooked. Nails were both minimalist and futuristic. The transparent section mimicked the translucent latex tops and the black lines echoed the black cages on the clothes and the shoes.

This model looked amazing in a white outfit covered with what looked like eider down. The white latex tights and boots elongated her already sky-high legs. (Jean was lusting after her ripple-soled boots!) On the runway, she wore a white cage across her face.

Johnny, the handsome gent in the headset, is the other person we have to thank, thank, thank for our seats at the show.  A man of a dozen or more hats, he made sure all the trains ran on time.  He was grace under pressure. He not only had to track the models but also had to keep tabs on unruly guests such as ourselves.

When we were ushered into the event space to take our seats, who should we run into but Jillian Mercado, who appeared in several of our posts from previous fashion weeks AND our post on her appearance in a Diesel advertising campaign.

When Johnny escorted us to our (ahem, front row) seats, we were thrilled to be sitting next to Arabelle Sicardi, whom we'd run into at previous events and who has the most fabulous hair. The blond lady in the red suit joined us from across the aisle for a photo which was truly a study in red and black! Shortly thereafter, we were joined by Chloe Badawy (whose voice you hear in the background of some of our videos, cheering on the models).

To add to the already outrageous energy level in the city, the NBA All-Star Game and slam-dunk contest and other related events were also taking place in the city this week. Basketball player and ex-Knick J. R. Smith, who was sitting directly across from us, hosted an event with Maybelline upstairs at Milk Studios later that evening.

We can't possibly show you everything, but here are some of the highlights of the show.  We liked this headpiece with matching pants.

Needless to say, latex leggings and bikini bottoms looked amazing on the runway.

Check out this video of the sexiest model in the show! To view it full size, click on the picture frame on the lower right.















A stunning matching bra and skirt in panels of differing materials.

Fierce is a word that gets bandied about rather casually these days, but what better word could you find to describe this gladiator-like body suit?  (We know about the focus issues - we just couldn't get the models to stand still!)  Jean loves these boots!!!

We were wondering if Becca might have taken some inspiration from the late Helmut Newton.

In a rare nod to color, Becca brought out this wonderful piece.

The lights were brought way down for two numbers that lit up in the dark.  One had green lights down the back, along the spinal column.  The other was this extraordinary body suit, which looks like it came from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, updated for the 21st century.  There are green lights on her headdress, one on her neck, one on each nipple and two by her navel.

You can get a peek at the full line-up here:

And we just thought we'd remind you that you may have seen Chromat at the Superbowl without even realizing it.

Stay tuned for more fashion week hijinks!