Kors keeps it country cozy for fall 2020 at New York Fashion Week

[February 13, 2020]   By Tara Cleary and Chris Michaud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Michael Kors looked to the country to find inspiration for his fall 2020 collection, showing a host of luxuriously oversized looks on Wednesday that the designer said were meant to evoke coziness as well as glamour and confidence.

"I think the world is a confusing, difficult place, and I think that the best fashion makes you feel confident so I really wanted this whole thing to have a coziness to it," Kors told Reuters before his presentation.

Accordingly, the veteran designer presented a largely neutral palette using plaids and paisleys, with voluminous, unstructured looks of mostly mid-calf length.

Poncho and cape-style coats featured enveloping, oversized scarves, collars and lapels.

Earthy, autumnal tones were offset only by the occasional pop of red or hit of black and white, while turtlenecks were pulled high and widely flared coat sleeves ran long. High boots with low heels added to the laid-back yet elegant look.

"We all want to escape to the country," Kors said, speaking of fashionable urban dwellers. "But of course we can't, so I wanted to take that cozy kind of laid-back attitude that you would find in the country and merge that with an urban polish."

Owing to the Internet and smartphone revolution, designer collections can be duplicated worldwide within hours of runway shows, but Kors, approaching 40 years of presenting collections, said that hasn't rendered the runway tradition irrelevant.

"If designers didn't have a show, I have a feeling most designers would never finish their collections," he observed. "They would just keep designing."

But he added that "ultimately, it really is the best way, in the shortest amount of time, for me to tell my story for six months to that many people. And as far as copying it, you can't copy quality, you can't copy tailoring.

"I think my customers want the real thing."

He also contended that "these are the kinds of accessories and clothes that I think people will want to keep in their closets for 20, 25, 30 years."

Kors' show featured Canadian country musician Orville Peck and his band playing foot-tapping country rock as models strode down the runway, which was augmented by a barn-style wooden stage and set.

(Reporting by Tara Cleary and Chris Michaud, writing by Chris Michaud, editing by)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.