Fashion Week may set the trends, but not everything shown on the runways is likely to catch on.
In New York, some designers really pushed the limits of what can be considered ‘fashion’ — or at least, what most people would wear — sending out styles that ranged from seriously quirky to the totally insane.
As New York Fashion Week comes to a close, FEMAIL rounds up the strangest, craziest, and most questionable clothing and accessories to hit the catwalk — from the bishop hats shown at Vaquera to the S&M pieces that dominated Gypsy Sport.
Babydoll: The Lou Dallas at New York Fashion Week was a head-scratcher — including this dress that looks a bit like one of the too-big ones Goldie Hawn wore in Overboard
Artsy: Raffaella Hanley, the designer behind the brand, has an art background
Unfussy: Vogue said the lines has a ‘homespun aesthetic’
Rough: The show was a mix of clashing fabrics, rough hems, and loose fits
Lou Dallas
Raffaella Hanley, the designer behind the brand, hails from the art community, and her Fall 2018 collection certainly has some art school vibes.
Dresses, tops, and pants were made from a mix of fabrics that appeared to be hastily sewn together, leaving rough edges, clashing colors, and oddly-placed embellishments to combine for an incredibly busy effect.
Vogue generously called it a ‘homespun aesthetic’ — which makes sense, since most of the collection is made using deadstock fabric, the extra fabric made by a mill that goes unused.
Hence the patchwork of mismatched pieces, unfitted silhouettes with uneven hems, slipper socks worn as shoes, and an overall feeling that Hanley grabbed whatever was within reaching distance and simply sewed it together.
Fashion sinner: Vaquera went for a corrupted Catholic theme this fashion week, with one model appearing to wear deconstructed priest’s robes
The Vatican is SO in this season! Hats were designed to look like clergy hats including mitre caps (left) and birettas (right)
Catholic school dropout: Other models were dressed in worse-for-wear Catholic school uniforms and dresses seemingly inspired by nuns’ habits
OMG that’s bad! This model’s dress might be a cross between a Communion dress and a Victorian nightgown
Aha — found the culprit! These outfits may have been corrupted by the devil — who also walked in the show
Get ’em outta here! Other models wore enormous oversized bows and facial expressions that seemed to say ‘save me’
Vaquera
The religious inspiration for the Vaquera collection hits you over the head in such an obvious way that one thing seems clear: Designer Miguel Adrover must have heard this year’s Met Gala theme and wanted to make his brand a red carpet contender.
(The theme for the May event and corresponding fashion exhibit is Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.)
Male and female models wore birettas, square caps worn by Roman Catholic clergymen, as well as pointed mitre caps, which are worn by bishops and the Pope. Some were dressed as worse-for-wear nuns, and one woman walked in a set of deconstructed priest’s robes.
Several seemed to be wearing Catholic school uniforms that had been put through the ringer, while others donned crosses and clothing with angel wing embellishments. One even carried a piece of rope with fringe that evoked a thurible.
And while the message may have been that the models were corrupted by the devil himself — or herself, as a model dressed as an actual devil, with horns and all, took to the catwalk too — what may have actually been corrupted is good taste.
Snack time! Chromat designer Becca McCharen-Tran told Vogue that her latest collection was about escapism
Yes, feed the models! Several models wore Cheetos as accessories (and ate them, naturally)
Yum! While wearing food and energy drinks as part of your outfit isn’t exactly chic, it is kind of genius
Take a peek: Other odd looks included this romper, which had a cut-out just over the chest
Cover up? Impractical cut-outs made many of the looks mostly unwearable in public
Chromat
Chromat designer Becca McCharen-Tran told Vogue that her latest collection was about escapism, or ‘my way of finding joy when the world is spiraling.’
Certainly, one could imagine the models trying to escape when they saw what they were set to be dressed in: rompers with cut-outs just over the chest, a crop top connected by two single strips of fabric to what are essentially leg warmers, and a pair of crotchless, butt-less pants held up by rope.
But Chromat did introduce one particularly genius innovation, which is certainly intriguing if not exactly chic.
Several models walked the runway with bags of Cheetos and cans of energy drinks on their person.
While one simply carried a bag of the cheesy corn puffs, another had it firmly tied to her shorts, like the delicious accessory it is.
We guess it’s cold in outer space… Calvin Klein models wore colorful knit balaclavas — and some, like this one, added metallic space gloves
Odd match: The knit hats looked entirely out of place with the sheer, ruffled dresses
Pray for no wind: Anyone wearing this dress — which has odd bib-like flaps over the chest — would be in a lot of trouble on a windy day
Heard of day-to-night dressing? These hats are perfect for anyone going from desert-to-spaceship
Protection against toxic fashion critics? The odd toppers seemed to belong to part of a a HAZMAT suit
Calvin Klein
For a design house that is usually incredibly wearable — and definitely iconic — Calvin Klein wasn’t entirely on-the-mark this season.
Creative director Raf Simons turned out a few truly odd pieces, like a dress that looks like a bib connected to a high-waisted skirt by a strip of fabric (which, incidentally, shows plenty of underboob and threatens to blow upward and expose everything at the slightest move).
But it was the accessories here that were the real oddballs. Many of the women wore colorful woven balaclavas, even with sheer prairie dresses and dainty ruffles.
Other models took a turn for the space-age foil metallic gloves and shiny hats that looked like a cross between astronaut helmets, HAZMAT suits, and neck-protecting desert sun hats.
Supermodel don’t! Even model Kaia Gerber couldn’t make this Marc Jacobs ensemble wearable
Womanspreading? Such a bulky ensemble would certainly take up too much space on public transportation
Stop clowning around, Marc! This model seems to have forgotten her red nose before she hit the catwalk
Marc Jacobs
Considering Marc Jacobs is celebrity favorite, it’s especially mindblowing that his collection would be so, well, unwearable — even on boundary-breaking red carpets.
Even with Kaia Gerber and Co. showing off the looks on the runway, it’s hard to imagine any star wearing these incredibly bulky outfits in real life.
While individual pieces — a skirt here, a coat there — are likely to work well on their own, they were all layered together in a massive, piled-on cluster for the show this week.
Models wore oversized pants and coats with bow belts bigger than their faces, and and hit even more underneath huge ruffled scarves and wide-brimmed hats.
Starts off strong…The Coach show has a chic Western vibe, with neutrals and touchable fabrics… just don’t look down
Yikes! Some of the shoes looked like they were made of scraps glued together
Ditch ’em: Fluffy, furry shoes with leather belt straps made for odd finishing touches
Actually, that’s kinda cute… The collection also included a quirky sweater with a woven football player wearing a sequined helmet
Coach
At first glance, Coach’s latest collection is pretty, chic, and on-trend — and certainly, many of the pieces are likely to end up in spokesmodel Selena Gomez’s closet.
Even a couple of the quirkier pieces — like a sweater with the image of a football player in a sequined helmet — are pretty cute.
But look down at the feet of some of the models and you may notice a mis-step — and not the kind that leaves a 5’10” teenager falling on her butt.
Several models wore some very questionable western-inspired sandals, which look like they were messily glued together using scraps found on the garbage bin on a Native American reservation.
The shoes are a tangled mix of leather, studs, feathers, fuzz, and scrap metal.
Fun! Libertine was bright, sparkly, and playful, with plenty of quirky pieces for fashion fans looking to make a statement
What time is it? Showtime! Coats featuring wristwatches stood out among a sea of embellishments
Has he got a deal for you! The glitzy fake watches dangled off the fabric, looking like the inside of a sketchy jewelry salesman’s trench coat
Libertine
In some cases, a ‘more is more’ approach can be fun — as was the case for Liberine’s latest show. Designer Johnson Hartig went over-the-top with embellishments, patchwork, and fringe — but most of it ultimately reads as playful and quirky, even if it would take a confident person to pull it off.
‘I am a maximalist. I am a maximalist in personality. I am a maximalist emotionally… i’’s just what I am,’ Hartig told Vogue.
Of the quirkiest and most eye-catching details, though, were a handful of coats and dresses with wristwatch-shaped embellishments.
Both men and women wore the style, which featured watch patches made with rhinestones and metallic embroidery, which hung off the fabric — and brought to mind sketchy watch salesmen who open their trench coats to reveal the offerings inside. Only this case, the watches are on the outside.
Look closer… This dress looks totally traditional at first glance
Truly bananas: But bring your eye in close and notice the pattern, which is off a woman straddling a giant banana
The cherry on top: Another model wore a shirt that said ‘banana split,’ which seems to be what the woman in the other print was doing
No one’s done this! A few other strange brings, like a hand covered in slime and a couple sharing gum, also turned up
Adam Selman
There were a few unusual prints at Adam Selman, including a hand covered in green slime and a pair of faces sharing green slime bubblegum.
But the most stand-out piece required a much closer look: One model wore a shirtdress covered in a pattern of a woman straddling a giant banana.
A non sequitur of a dress pattern if there ever was one, the banana-riding lady seemed to be partially explained by the T-shirt of another model — which had the words ‘banana split’ written all over it.
Ski me to the moon! Models and Jeremy Scott rocked these furry neon thigh-high Moon Boots
Kicking it up a notch: They came in a variety of colors and were as far from subtle as a shoe could get
For the VERY experimental fashionista! The Moon boots also came in solid neons and metallics
‘It’s almost like this feeling in sci-fi movies — ridiculous sci-fi movies — where you see people walking around in the background,’ Scott said
Jeremy Scott
Fashion fans can always expect some out-there stuff from Jeremy Scott, the man who brought us Moschino collections with Barbie, Spongebob Squarepants, and McDonald’s themes.
His eponymous line lays the kitsch on heavy, too, with silly prints, fluorescent colors, and in-your face patterns.
But if you can look past the rainbow digi-print dresses, neon fur, and sparkly foils of the new collection, it’s the shoes that are really out of this world.
Thigh-high Moon Boots came in metallics, bold prints, and — of course — that bright neon fur — the kind of thing that could only fit in at an ’80s theme party held on a ski slope.
‘It’s almost like this feeling in sci-fi movies — ridiculous sci-fi movies — where you see people walking around in the background, wearing things where you’re like, “Whaaaaaat! How is this even possible?!”‘ he told Vogue.
She may be bad but she’s perfect good at it… The Gypsy Sport show was heavy on the raunchy S&M themes
Letting it all hang out: Many models may as well have been topless
Eyebrow-raising for sure: It would be impossible to pick the oddest look in this collection
Niche: Pasties, chain bras, and even muzzles were on display
Gypsy Sport
Gypsy Sport shows are consistently mind-boggling and boundary-pushing. But while some of designer Rio Uribe’s ‘disruptor’ status comes from the fact that he casts a very diverse range of models in his shows, it’s also due in part to his, well, the clothes.
It would be impossible to pick the oddest look in this collection, which was heavily influenced by S&M and gave a nod to the Free the Nipple movement.
While one model wore a muzzle, others wore thigh-high patent boots, metal cage bras, and pasties.
It’s not a children’s line… Philipp Plein’s spacey show was fun and sexy — except for teddy bear backpacks
Off to grandma’s! Several models carried the teddy-shaped bags on the fronts of their bodies
The toy trend: There were plain fur ones, leather ones, and rhinestone-embellished ones
Philipp Plein
Plein’s space-age show was spectacular — and even if those skintight leather-trimmed jumpsuits look hard to pull off for non-models, they definitely looked good on the runway.
But for all the sex appeal of the skin-skimming fabrics, Plein also added an odd childlike touch in the form of teddy bear-shaped backpacks.
Models mostly wore than strapped to the fronts of their outfits, looking like children playing dress-up and running away from home.
The kiddie bags were especially confusing given the amount of Playboy imagery also present in the collection, including including a hoodie with one of Pamela Anderson’s covers printed on it.
Oh say, can you see? Oh, you can’t? Models at Alexander Wang wore sequin-covered glasses
Just squint! It’s a wonder they made it safely down the runway in the shades, which had a narrow line to see through along the middle
Alexander Wang
Wang went monochrome for this collection, sticking to an almost exclusively black and white palette throughout — even for the sunglasses.
A handful of models wore cat-eye shades with lenses nearly entirely covered by tiny white sequins, with a minuscule strip of black-shaded glass across the middle to look through.
How they managed to see to make it safely down the runway is anyone’s guess, but we can’t imagine these making it in the real world.
Hmm… If women in polygamists sects were going to buy designer clothes, they might consider this dress by The Row
Figurelss: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s line turned out several roomy, shapeless numbers
The Row
It wouldn’t be a complete list of head-scratching designs without an appearance from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s line, The Row.
The design duo like to keep things simple, minimalist, and roomy, which actually makes them a favorite among the fashion crowd.
But some of their pieces are definitely — less-than-flattering, and would only find their way into the closets of the most committed norm-core dressers.
Take Look 25: a baggy gray dress with a dropped waist, worn over a darker gray long-sleeve turtleneck, which may be the twins’ attempt to break into the Amish or polygamist cult markets.
That your lunch? Monse actually isn’t the first brand to do purses that look like brown paper lunch bags
Durable: These are made of leather, not paper, but could still conceivably carry your sandwich
Catwalk to cake walk: They also did a version that looks like a sack of flour
Monse
For the most part, the new Monse collection is casual, unfussy, and wearable, from the cute boyfriend jeans to the cool trench coats and cozy-looking chunky sweaters.
But Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim are the latest designers to take real-life objects that could be trash and turn them into accessories.
(Flashback: Moschino’s Fall 2017 show had a whole garbage theme including manila envelope bags and paper lunch bag purses, Lanvin had garbage bag-inspired purses in 2014, and Jil Sander put out a $290 brown paper lunch bag in 2012.)
Monse’s leather ‘lunch sack’ is brown and has the brand’s name on the front, and there is also a ‘flour bag’ version that looks like an actual sack of flour.
For that, there is a matching flour company sweatshirt.