MICHAEL KORS FALL 2022

“We could all use a little froth,” Michael Kors announced at a showroom preview. He was talking about a recent trip to Broadway to see Six, the feel-good musical about Henry VIII’s six wives. But he might as well have been talking about his new collection, which in another quotable moment he called the “antithesis of sad slipper life.”

Kors is determined to put the pandemic behind him and give his clients a good time. In his 42nd Street design room and in his customers’ closets at home, that means not overthinking things. Major impact à la MK means head-to-toe monochrome, be it in a cool neutral or an electric jolt of coral, yellow, or shocking pink; suiting in classic menswear materials and shapes; and athletically inclined eveningwear. A pair of over-the-knee suede stocking boots give the short lengths he showed here year-round viability. But the absolute non-negotiable is a statement piece of outerwear. “In New York, it’s your calling card,” he said.

The inspiration for his clutch coats was Marilyn Monroe. She could make a beach towel look like a million bucks, but Kors’s came in double-face cashmere or faux fur. The shoulders were a key erogenous zone; underneath those clutch coats were racerback shifts or one-sleeve dresses in clingy sequined jersey. Clearly, Kors has dinner dates and nights out at the theater on the brain.

First time Best Supporting Actress nominee Ariana DeBose was in the front row near Blake Lively and across the way from Brooke Shields, but if Kors is working on an Oscar dress for the West Side Story star, he’s keeping it under wraps. “There’s not a single full-on evening look that’s not as easy as a T-shirt,” he said. That’s the formula for 2022 glamour—you can cut a dress with knock-people’s-eyes-out curves, but you can’t forget comfort.

Images courtesy of Michael Kors.