Americana: what went down at Raf Simon’s debut for Calvin Klein

As America struggles with it’s own identity, this show was an ode to the many facets of America, from the Western culture to Art Deco styles and the urban city.

Sitting front row were some of the countries biggest Hollywood stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Bosworth A$AP Rocky, Amber Valetta, Julianne Moore and Sarah Jessica Parker, who along with the fashion world, have waited with bated breath to see what Chief Creative Officer Raf Simons would do at the iconic American brand. Brooke Shields was also there, you’ll recall that a coy teenage Sheild’s in just a pair of jeans starred in one of the Calvin Klein’s most XXX ads in the 1990s.

“Not one era, not one thing, not one look. It is the coming together of different characters and different individuals, just like America itself. It is the unique beauty and emotion of America,” says Simon’s in the show notes.

The setting inside the venue was a colourful, specially commissioned installation artwork by Sterling Ruby - an American artist using mixed materials from painting to sculpture and video to explore themes that range from subcultures to American dominance and decline.