MONDAY FEB. 12, 2022 3:11 PM NEW YORK.
Hey, Upper East Siders. On Monday afternoon, our editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg and Interview consigliere Jeremy O. Harris went to the Coach FW24 show at the Great Hall, right by the steps where Blair and Serena used to convene every morning before school. It made sense, then, that the new collection from Stuart Vevers was igniting our chic schoolgirl fantasies. “It felt like I was watching some new version of Gossip Girl,” said Harris, who recapped the show afterwards over chicken salad sandwiches at Three Guys Diner.
———
MEL OTTENBERG: Alright, we’re at Three Guys Diner. You’re eating a chicken salad sandwich.
JEREMY O. HARRIS: It feels too chaotic to eat food, but I needed it. I’ve had too many coffees.
OTTENBERG: We had to go to the most “New York” place possible to digest.
HARRIS: Yeah, It was very Upper East Side, You know?
OTTENBERG: Where was it?
HARRIS: It was called the Marica Vilcek Great Hall.
OTTENBERG: I really liked the cut-up dresses.
HARRIS: It felt kind of like what it felt like to see some of Alessandro’s really fun shows. Like, a group of kids who have raided their grandparents’ closet and re-positioned some old staples into new staples. There was a really delightfully fun “I just woke up, threw this on and I’m walking to get my coffee” energy about it all.
OTTENBERG: Yeah. And I like the barrettes. Have you ever worn barrettes in your hair?
HARRIS: I have. I actually wore some barrettes when I went with Coach to the CFDAs. It was very very fun.
OTTENBERG: I like barrettes.
HARRIS: You know, something that Stuart [Vevers] did with the show that I think has sort of eluded a lot of people is that he made wearability still have a strong story.
OTTENBERG: Yeah. Well, that’s missing in fashion right now. Wearability and desire can go hand in hand as opposed to like, “I don’t know what the hell’s going on.”
HARRIS: Well, I think a lot of people are just saying, “Let me put on Zara and call it a day, but with a more expensive price tag.” And they don’t realize that, yes, people might really just want a nice trench or a nice pair of pants. But they also want to be asked to dream about what those things might look like or feel like. And something about this felt like you had stepped into a dream of New York and not the reality. I think there’s been too much reality. And I want more fantasy.
OTTENBERG: Okay. How do you think it’s been this week? It’s either been too much reality or just like, real clown town?
HARRIS: Actually, New York is doing a really good job with this fashion week. We are having a lot of fantasy, someone’s actual fantasy. Whereas I think that a lot of the luxury houses in London, Paris, and Milan sort of abandon that, outside of the people who you saw on your timeline all week: Galliano, Simone Rocha, Danny Roseberry.
OTTENBERG: Yeah. What do you want from this collection? Do you want a hoodie? Do you want a giant coat? Do you want a Chanel outfit?
HARRIS: I want that huge weekend bag. I wore two bags today because that seemed to be the journey. Everyone had like, three bags, like they were bringing their dad’s suitcase out with them or their dad’s weekender, and then they picked up their girlfriend’s purse and ran to the coffee shop to meet them because they had forgotten them there.
OTTENBERG: What is in your bag today?
HARRIS: All that’s in my bag is American spirits, blue, and my cell phone.
OTTENBERG: What about the other bag?
HARRIS: A pair of sunglasses and a pink lighter.
OTTENBERG: Is the lighter Coach?
HARRIS: It is not Coach.
OTTENBERG: They should make a lighter.
HARRIS: I also have four photographs from the photo booth at Coach. I will say that they also had a very good front row.
OTTENBERG: Who was that girl you were obsessed with?
HARRIS: That was Nymphia Wind. She’s the new queen on Drag Race. Her clips have been constantly so good that it’s made me want to watch this season of the show.
OTTENBERG: Which you’re not going to.
HARRIS: I’m going to. The running joke about her is that she constantly says she’s not gonna be very good at something and then like, completely destroys it. Tommy Dorfman looked amazing, by the way.
OTTENBERG: Tommy Dorfman looked great.
HARRIS: Stormy Reid, too. And then the always stunning, consummate Coach girl Camila Mendes also sort of thrills me. There’s a real star quality about her. And she brought her mom.
OTTENBERG: Wait, I recognize her name. Where would I know her from?
HARRIS: Riverdale. Can we talk about the glam?
OTTENBERG: Yeah.
HARRIS: Pat McGrath, once again, always reinventing what it means to look a certain way. Everyone looked fresh, frayed hair, which was kind of sexy. Oh, it helped tell the story. It felt like I was watching some new version of Gossip Girl, like they were all about to go sit on the steps.
OTTENBERG: I thought the look was very restrained, actually. She’s a cool girl.
