Celebrities center stage at eclectic New York fashion shows

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

Naomi Campbell walks the runway as the Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2015 collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, in New York. AP Photo

Top designers pulled in celebrity guests and models on day four of New York Fashion Week Sunday, with highlights from Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan and Versus Versace.
      
British super model Naomi Campbell and Kim Kardashian's younger half-sister Kendall sashayed down the runway at von Furstenberg's French Riveria inspired 2015 spring/summer collection.
      
Gingham, already on view at Altuzarra on Saturday, made a re-appearance, fashioned by von Furstenberg in black and white, or blue, in cropped shorts, silk jersey dresses, poplin tops and on sandals and handbags.
      
Campbell closed the show. US "it" girl Paris Hilton and sister Nicki sat in the audience, as did actress Allison Williams from hit TV show "Girls" and Chirlane McCray, wife of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
      
Campbell put in a second appearance at the celebrity-studded after party hosted by Donatella Versace to celebrate Belgian-Italian designer Anthony Vaccarello's first runway show for the brand.
      
Donatella, 59, dressed in a little black dress embellished with gold safety pins from the catwalk, entertained Campbell, Barbadian superstar Rihanna and actress Jennifer Hudson.
      
Champagne flowed and candy stations dished out lollipops and chocolates, as paparazzi photographed Donatella's every move and burly bodyguards kept TV cameras from getting too close.
                      
Vaccarello's high-energy show was a study in black and gold, white and silver, leather and meshing in the traditional Versace sexy, slinky, bling style.
      
The little black dress -- a staple of any women's wardrobe -- was the centrepiece, reworked in multiple ways: held together with gold safety pins, slashed at the crotch, slashed at one thigh or given a mesh train.
      
There were sharp black jackets with military-style gold buttons, and gold buckles on wide black belts and black stilettos.
      
Black gowns were cut deep at the chest and held up by the thinnest of gold metal coils and a black leather miniskirt with gold buttons down the front.
      
Gold also played a starring role in the form of a gold leather miniskirt with gold safety pins to one side, and a gold blazer paired with tight black trousers.
      
For men, there was a black leather shirt with gold buttons. Besides the preponderance of black, there were shirts, trousers, miniskirts and bomber jackets in white with black geometric patterns.
      
Earlier, Karan's DKNY line was one of infinite color and texture encapsulating modern classics, sports elements and playful geometry in "a sexy mix of street and chic."       

An iconic New York designer, she paid homage to the Big Apple as "the world in one place" and as multicolored, multicultural and multitasking.
      
Her models strutted down the runway at top speed in blazing red, ink blue, green, mustard, nude, black and white, all mixed up and mixed together in different materials, in a loft above the High Line public walkway.
                      
Across town, Spice Girl turned footballer's wife turned designer Victoria Beckham unveiled a collection showcasing safari chic and her first shoe line.
     
 Husband David, popular in the United States thanks to his retail underwear line and footballing career at LA Galaxy, sat in the front row with eldest son Brooklyn and Anna Wintour, the English editor-in-chief of Vogue.
      
Victoria said the imminent opening of her first flagship store in London had "inspired and pushed" her "to focus on the DNA of my brand more than ever."       

Long a fan of a very precise, tailored silhouette, her spring/summer 2015 collection showcased a safari look.
      
There were mini-dresses with boxy pockets, hopsack-style; a long, belted coat; shirts with shoulder pads; as well as a black jacket with shoulder pads worn over a long white dress with wide black stripes at the bottom.        

There were also some floral prints, a rarity for Beckham.
      
Beckham said she wanted to create "an eclectic uniform in the form of an exact yet wearable wardrobe that embodies the evolution of the collection."       

But the chatter after the show was all about her first shoe collection: towering platform black sandals edged with beige, and white leather flats decorated with flowers.
      
"Creating all the elements of the collection under one roof enabled me to complete and strengthen the silhouette and this has been key in the design journey for me," she said.