Michael Kors pays tribute to Broadway in 40th anniversary show

By Alicia Powell and Marie-Louise Gumuchian

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American designer Michael Kors paid tribute to Broadway in his 40th anniversary show on Tuesday, with a collection that celebrated a night out in the New York theatre district.

Kors' presentation began with the designer greeting fashionistas from Times Square, where as an avid theatre fan he spoke about the hit Broadway has taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a short film, Broadway stars raised awareness of the Actors Fund, a charity supporting performers and behind-the-scenes workers, and introduced a pre-recorded runway show in which models including Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Bella Hadid strutted down a street in Times Squares at night.

The autumn/winter collection mixed sleek work looks as well as sparkling evening wear. Kors said he had reissued a selection of his brand's "most iconic looks", with each piece including a QR code revealing its story.

"This past year, I got time to actually think about the 40-year career, the journey that it has been, the people I've met, the places I've gone, all of the collections, it's a lot to process," Kors told Reuters in an interview.

"But I'm happy - it was one of the rare good things about lockdown that we all, I think, really got a greater sense of appreciation about so many things."

Kors opened his runway presentation with a white coat over a black shirt and trousers, before presenting buttoned, checked skirt suits, animal print designs and all-red outfits.

Rollneck jumpers were worn with furry coats, dresses had cuts at the waist and A-line skirts were slit at the front. Outerwear included wool and sparkly coats, shiny rain macs and puffer jackets.

For the evening, models wore shimmering dresses and sleek high heels.

"I wanted to talk about, hopefully if we are optimistic but realistic, that when this collection arrives in the stores starting September, October, November, December, we're all going to crave going out and getting dressed and kind of strutting our stuff," Kors said.

"Theatre will reopen and we won't go to the theatre in just a hoodie. We're going to get dressed up. When we can get back into our offices and we have a meeting we're going to want to get dressed up. When New Year's Eve rolls around next year we're getting dressed up. So, it's very much a celebration of big city life, hitting the streets, the theatre."

(Reporting by Alicia Powell and Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alex Richardson)