Opening Ceremony SS14 Presentation
The brand’s first runway show wows with zooming luxury cars and a colorful collection
Every fashion week, editors and stylists take their seats to watch the unveiling of hundreds of designers’ upcoming collections. There is variation in the style of runway shows and standing presentations—and certainly variation in content from season-to-season and style-to-style—however, attendees generally know what they’ve signed up for. Last night, Opening Ceremony managed to change all of that.
Attendees gathered at Opening Ceremony BTW—a mega pop-up shop and exhibition situated along the Hudson River at the future retail space recently dubbed SuperPier—where they could shop the FW 2013 DKNY Exclusively for Opening Ceremony collaboration and the Rihanna for River Island collection. Asiadogs and other specialty food vendors like cronut-creator Dominique Ansel Bakery had set up shop in repurposed shipping containers, and Cool Hunting even had a booth, showcasing wearable technology curated by Dr. Sabine Seymour’s Moondial.
An hour after doors to Opening Ceremony BTW opened, crew members wearing “Opening Ceremony Established 2002” T-shirts escorted guests to a cavernous warehouse space out on the pier, just behind the shopping area. Bleacher seating, drinks and gift bags lay waiting as attendees took their seats to wait for Opening Ceremony’s premiere runway show.
After the lights dimmed, a 20-strong fleet of luxury automobiles zoomed into the monstrous center space. An Aston Martin, a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, an Audi, a Bentley, a Mercedes-Benz, a pack of Land Rovers and a muscle-y Toyota wove about and took position amidst collective awe from the audience.
These vehicles were transporting the models—upon stopping, each car released a model wearing items from Opening Ceremony’s debut catwalk collection, which was reminiscent of Kenzo. This makes sense considering Carol Lim and Humberto Leon—founders of Opening Ceremony—have second jobs designing for the fashion house.
With streetwear references, the collection was full of vibrant colors and multiple patterns—from cute daisy prints to a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. Elaborate and ornamental, the collection was an exciting mix of unexpected elements. Each model wound around the entire arena of autos, ultimately coming to rest after a lap, to show off their ensembles while standing in place.
OC’s show didn’t end there: Another mob of models, both male and female, burst forth in a giant troupe. The clothes were as explosive as their emergence, with loud patterns and variations on bulky and more refined silhouettes. A bike-helmet visor provided a to-the-point accessory component and was certainly a highlight.
The OC debut collection was filled with surprises and matched the grandeur of the overall experience. This was no staid and stagnant runway show; this was innovation, and it reflected an understanding that appealing to the lifestyle of this creative-yet-jaded audience was as important as a fantastic new line.
After the presentation, guests were invited to stay at the SuperPier for celebration, and the excitement—from so much unexpected wonder—carried over. Opening Ceremony had more than just a runway show—they had a night. And it was a night that their audience truly understands: hip clothes, interesting guests, great food, spectacular cars and a place to talk about it all. It was a wild success, especially for a debut presentation.
Images by Josh Rubin
