After spending years exhibiting mainly in Paris, designer Thom Browne officially returned to New York Fashion Week with an otherworldly runway presentation to showcase his women’s and men’s fall/winter 2023 collection on Tuesday evening. All eyes were on the prolific fashion designer, eager to see what he would unveil on the runway now that he is chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Over the course of 35 minutes, Browne delivered a theatrical and extravagant spectacle inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved 1943 novella, The Little Prince, which tells the story of a young boy traveling the universe seeking wisdom and discovering the unpredictable nature of adults. Browne’s collection not only displays his masterful and fantastical prowess as a designer and tailor but also evokes deep emotion about loneliness, loss, determination, and exploration.
“I was really inspired by how The Little Prince tells the story about how kids understand everything and see things more clearly than adults do,” Browne told Vanity Fair immediately following the presentation. “And that adults hopefully don’t lose that sense of innocence that is so beautiful in kids. It’s a powerful and important story. That was really the idea, to show a fantasy that makes the world a better place to live in like the way kids see, and I like to see things like that with my designs.”
Staged at The Shed, the theater space in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, the presentation greeted the 450 guests with a large white airplane (similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s crop duster in North by Northwest) stuck in real sand to recreate the plane crash in the Sahara from Saint-Exupéry’s story. Etched in the sand were large numbers, suggesting an hourglass and a clock. High above the plane, planets and stars hung suspended from the ceiling. The show began with a model portraying a disoriented crashed pilot wandering in the desert dressed in a white voluptuous jumpsuit with articulated sleeves in white cashmere styled with a mini button-back dress in hand-dyed blue seed beads and green silk thread fringes. She then encountered the Little Prince, wearing one of Browne’s signature gray flannel tweed jackets with a four-stripe band on the arm. Then came a string of models representing the dangerous baobab trees that grow on the prince’s planet. They were styled in sheer white organza dresses with high white hair buns and creepy long curled fingernails and toenails.
Lil Nas X and Erykah Badu.By SINNA NASSERI.
The following act highlighted a parade of adults who, in the words of the prince, see only what is in front of them. These models showcased a series of tweed coats and jackets, all with large exaggerated shoulders, with suits and ties underneath. They carried briefcases emblazoned with clock faces, and the heels of their chunky shoes were composed of round clock faces. The models walked to the orderly ticking of a clock’s second hand.
The next group of models represented the children, wearing reconstructed and deconstructed looks in mixed pinstripe wool flannels with elaborate gold hats adorning their heads. For the finale, all the models walked back onto the sand-filled catwalk as couples, holding hands to represent unity, to the accompaniment of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Broadway musical Carousel.
“To step into Thom Browne’s world really is a trip,” said Queen Latifah moments after the show. “I have never seen anything like this. I’m feeling really inspired. It’s great for a creative person to be in this environment and see all the imagination, diversity and the beauty he creates with his designs. I’ve really enjoyed this time.”
Erykah Badu shared the same sentiments, remarking about how donning the designer’s clothes can make one feel powerful. “Thom has poked a little hole in the dam and all of the art came flowing through,” said Badu, who was dressed head to toe in his designs with gold rollers in her hair. Her look was inspired by Lucille Ball from I Love Lucy. “He’s an innovator. It’s always totally different at his shows and he has the wildest imagination. I feel I can be anyone by wearing his clothes.”
