Fashion

Cynthia Rowley's Fall 2014 Collection is a Circus

by Tyler Atwood

While most of runways at Fashion Week constitute a pageant of some kind, only a select few actually put on a theatrical show for their audience. This year, Cynthia Rowley turned her Fall 2014 New York Fashion Week runway into a veritable circus. Held in the Paramount Hotel, Rowley's presentation was a visual pleasure in more ways than one. The designer utilized the hotel's newly reopened '40s-style night club, called The Diamond Horseshoe, as the backdrop for an epic extravaganza involving knives, acrobatics, and some serious signature cocktails. A distressed-gilt vibe provided the backdrop for Rowley's show, complete with sunburst-style wall decor and gymnastics performed midair by performers.

Rowley stepped far outside the box with her latest collection, matching the exhibitionist show to her equally adventurous clothing. Color was a focus for Rowley, making a simple shift dress stand out or accenting otherwise subdued dark ensembles. Why settle for your little black dress when you could wear one of Rowley's embellished white ruffled minidresses, coquettishly accented by leather strap bracelets?

Yellow leather skirts and swirling rainbow-dyed dresses were paired with racy patent leather thigh-high boots, and the prints on her numerous ruffled maxi dresses and blouson tops could only be described as spacey. Rowley's trippy, psychadelic mod dress was a standout in the collection, from the flashy embellishments to the bell-shaped silhouette.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

After Rowley's nightclub-inspired extravaganza, we're ruined for other runway shows. Hopefully other designers will follow suit and make Fashion Week into a multi-dimensional party. After all, the white tents at Lincoln Center are another version of the Big Top, and we all love a good show.

Images: Getty Images