Kanye West has been served a platter of real talk. Renowned fashion critic Cathy Horyn blasted the rapper’s sophomore Yeezy collection — and his supporters — in her New York Fashion Week review published Thursday, Sept. 17.
The former New York Times fashion critic, whose review was posted to New York Magazine’s The Cut, thoughtfully dissected West’s ambitious endeavor and admitted she “was embarrassed to find” herself running to the show due to worries of “panic at the door.”
West’s second season featured his “army” of models in flesh-toned leggings and leotards, and military-inspired utility jackets. Horyn, like many others, found similarities between his first line and his second. “Yeezy Season 2 was kind of amusing,” she wrote. “Again, West worked with the performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, and again, he showed hoodies, baggy pants, and beige under-things, as if time these past six months had stood still.”
Horyn also ripped how the clothing was shared with his guests during the show. “The presentation was in a white-walled basement in Chelsea, with the audience sitting on either side of a wide floor. As a drill sergeant barked out commands — ‘First row!’ — a line of models appeared, followed by a second and a third, all of them in tights or leggings or stretch shorts and tops that looked a lot like Spanx,” she continued. “Those models exited and another batch came out, now dressed in woebegone fatigue jackets and pants, and, I might add, looking rather downcast. They made me think of POWs. The military conceit was apt, given the mind-lock that Kanye has managed to put on the fashion world.”
Nothing, however, irked Horyn more than the clothing — and those who continually encourage his fashion aspirations. Among those who’ve continuously supported West publicly at his shows include Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, and his fashion-focused wife, Kim Kardashian.
“This second round of drab, broken-down basics proved he can’t be taken seriously as a designer,” Horyn concluded. “But nevertheless many people in fashion do seem to take West seriously — they keep showing up expectantly for his performances — and that makes them fools. Because they wouldn’t bother with this stuff if it were offered by an unknown, and if it’s the spectacle they seek, it changes as little as the clothes.”
Horyn isn’t the only member of the fashion community to recently rail against West. Prior to the show, designer Anne Bowen slammed the star as “Goliath” after a NYFW scheduling conflict that caused her team to scramble for a new time slot.
This past February, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis also made headlines after she commented that she was “kind of over Kanye” in an interview. “I mean, I’m not a fan of his music, and the attitude and agenda is not my style,” Mallis noted.
