This year’s Fall/Winter New York Fashion Week was a chock full of surprises. From new and established designers skipping traditional runway shows in favor of less conventional presentations (Kanye’s Yeezey Season 3 concert/fashion show at MSG, John Varvatos’s “Rock is Dead” CBGB outpost experience, etc.) to the arrival of cannabis-inspired pieces on the runway, there was chatter and conversation beyond just hoodies and handbags at every turn of the catwalk, and we teamed up with Nolcha to help capture it all.
If you’re not familiar with Nolcha, they’re an award-winning fashion events company that produces breakthrough shows for up and coming designers. The shows take place every year during New York Fashion Week and serve as a venue for independent artists and designers to showcase their collections to a global audience of press, bloggers, retailers, stylists, and industry influencers. Over the past 7 years, Nolcha and their shows have become an established platform of discovery, earning a highly acclaimed reputation as one of the hottest incubators of new fashion and design talent in the process.
So who better for The Hemponair, an independent, up and coming fashion and cannabis lifestyle magazine, to partner with? And partner we did.
It all started at Nolcha’s opening runway show on a Monday evening in Chelsea, where attendees got a first look at the 2016 Fall/Winter collections of independent designers like JUNGWON, Acid NYC, and Planet Zero Motorsports, just to name a few. The models kept strutting and the designs kept coming, with unique spins on both classic and modern wares popping throughout.
The festivities continued the following Wednesday evening at an exclusive VIP dinner held at popular NYC nightlife eatery Bagatelle, where guests were treated to a special prix fixe menu designed exclusively for The Hemponair and Nolcha. Sadly, the only thing infused was the citrus-laden salmon (this being New York and all), but guests did leave with some cannabis-friendly treats—an exclusive gift bag filled with premium cannabis accessories from luxury brands like Cannador, Kannastor, Rodawg, Shine Papers, Pufftec, and Genius Pipe. A truly unique and eclectic mix of cannabis-friendly items that guests were pleasantly surprised to see.
Finally, the shows and events came to an epic finale the following evening at the official afterparty at New York City’s famed Queen of the Night, a venue filled with dancers, artists, musicians, trapeze acts, and other eclectic performers. Sorry, no fire-breathing carnival acts, but we certainly came close with all the heady buds we were stealthily sampling in and around our tables.
All in all, the partnership, shows, and events were a great success. The designers impressed with fresh takes on classic clothing staples and The Hemponair introduced glimpses of what a cannabis-friendly (and legal) New York could look and feel like, with kind reactions and lasting impressions permeating the airs throughout.
Events and partnerships like this are vital in helping to reshape the negative image that cannabis unfortunately still carries in the minds of many. If we continue to work together and show people that cannabis, just like alcohol, caffeine, and other recreational pleasures, can be enjoyed responsibly in a mature, adult environment, then we’ll slowly chip away at the negative perception surrounding cannabis and hopefully, one day, eradicate the stigma for good.
Photography by Nolcha, David Dupuy, and glass/foto
