The high street brand moves beyond fast fashion with a brutalist collection, while Paltrow loses the gimmicks
T
he headline act on day four of New York fashion week had all the hallmarks of a typical designer catwalk, including a pulsating soundtrack and a front row peppered with Hollywood stars. However, there was a twist. Instead of a luxury brand staging the show on Sunday, it was the high street label Cos.
The Swedish label, founded in 2007 by the H&M group, welcomed guests including the British actors Jodie Turner-Smith and Naomi Watts as well as the singer Lauryn Hill to a former 1890s rope factory in Brooklyn.
Now used as a warehouse space, the brand had erected a vast cracked concrete-effect catwalk around which were rows of steel benches. The brutalist style also extended to the clothing, with a colour palette of metal greys and charcoal. Oversized coats ranging from cashmere to leather were tightly cinched with skinny belts. Trousers pooled around glove-like leather shoes, while lapels on shirts and jumpers were knife sharp.
