Diane von Furstenberg Puts Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and Girl Power Center Stage at New York Fashion Week

Karlie Kloss leads the powerful supermodel squad at Diane von Furstenberg’s fashion show (Photo: Getty Images)

Diane von Furstenberg’s fashion show are always a celebration of women, and her Spring 2016 presentation on Sunday afternoon kicked things up a notch with serious supermodel star power. Karlie Kloss, Kendall Jenner, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, Lily Aldridge, Binx Walton, and Anna Cleveland — daughter of Pat Cleveland, one of the first black supermodels — all graced the runway, giving DVF perhaps the best squad of the week.

As a veteran designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), Furstenberg’s show always commands attention and enlists the hottest models of the moment. But more importantly, her shows, garments, and overall vibe are about empowerment.

Karlie Kloss opened the show in a red and pink printed wrap dress — the iconic, flattering style that put Furstenberg on the map in 1974. (She originally invented the dress as a way to quietly sneak out the next morning without waking a sleeping man — forgoing noisy zippers. Talk about progressive!) Gigi Hadid closed the show, strutting down the catwalk in a black and gold plunge-neck maxi dress. The models wore beautiful flowers in their hair that Furstenberg sourced from a merchant while on vacation in Ibiza with Sarah Jessica Parker.

Supermodels Jourdan Dunn, Karlie Kloss, Kendall Jenner, and Gigi Hadid celebrate girl power and femininity at New York Fashion Week. (Photo: Getty Images)

The overall look was feminine and confident in part to the hair as well. “Whether in Ibiza, Portofino, Los Angeles, or Bali, I love seeing all the girls head out at night with their natural waves fresh from the beach, just tucked behind their ear with a flower, it reminded me of how I used to wear my own hair back in the 1970s and I wanted Orlando [Pita] to inject that carefree vibe into the show,” says Furstenberg. Prepping for the show, Orlando Pita told Yahoo Beauty that he spotted a photo of Diane von Furstenberg from the ‘70s when she wore her hair curly for the first time —finally embracing her natural texture. He said, “Why don’t we do it like that?” So Pita styled all the models in a similar fashion, using TRESemme Runway Collection Make Waves Shaping Gel to create waves that he pinned up, took down, and brushed out into a perfectly undone coif with a side part. The look is very ‘70s DVF, but it’s also a celebration of natural beauty with a diverse cast of models. “There are shags, afros, and all different textures and hair types [in the show], but all have curls and waves.”

Diane von Furstenberg takes her bow at New York Fashion Week. (Photo: Getty Images)

Furstenberg also enlisted another female powerhouse — legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath — to create a bold makeup look. The inspiration? The makeup McGrath herself did for Sophie Dahl’s February 2000 Italian Vogue cover shot by Stephen Meisel. “She was obsessed with this beautiful butterfly-like eye we’d done years ago and she wanted to do it again this time,” McGrath told Yahoo Beauty. “Today we used a blue and green shimmer slightly wetted for intensity.” McGrath said the rest of the breakdown included: “Skin natural and fresh, beautiful glowing cheeks, lip balm on the lip, a little bit of highlighter on the cheekbones, eyebrows groomed perfectly, tons of mascara on the top and bottom.

Makeup artist Pat McGrath did this Italian Vogue cover in 2000. She recreated a similar eye look for Diane von Furstenberg’s show. (Photo: Vogue Italia)

Another awesome power move? Flats on the runway. In partnership with Caleres, Furstenberg sent her supermodels down the runway in comfortable, walkable footwear. “This is the first time I’m showing flats on the runway,” Fustenberg told Footwear News. “Flats are ‘in’ right now, and I think it’s very much about comfort [being so important]. Comfort has to be a big part of it. What does this brand do? We celebrate freedom. We empower women. We better deliver this promise in our shoes.”

With punchy colors and gorgeous, strong female icons on the runway, it’s hard not to feel a sense of girl power at Furstenberg’s fashion show. She’s also bringing that energy to the small screen on her House of DVF reality show (the second season premiere Sunday night), serving as a mentor to young women in the fashion industry. “I really focus on an individual relationship with each girl rather than getting involved in the group dynamic,” the designer recently told Fashionista. “I try my best to share what I have learned and to use the show as a forum to empower young women.“ Given her track record, that should be a cinch.

Related:

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