New York Fashion Week Spring '09: William Rast
NEW YORK—William Rast made an impressive debut on the runway during New York Fashion Week. Justin Timberlake and business partner Trace Ayala decided it was time to seriously present the brand they have been building for the past four years. “It’s kind of like ’go big or go home’ time, you know?” said Ayala after the runway show. Staged at the Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan, the show kicked off with a video presentation of the William Rast campaign, starring Timberlake as Rast. The runway show followed, and an after-party went late into the night. Inspired by Timberlake and Ayala’s Tennessee roots, the collection merged a Southern gentleman–meets–rockabilly look for men and a really sexy feminine tomboy look for women. Think cars, guitars and a cabin set in the woods. It was Americana with a rockabilly attitude and European fit and flair. In its second season under the creative direction of Johan and Marcella Lindeberg, the collection has become a true fashion lifestyle brand. “It was easy to design the collection when you really understand the DNA of the brand,” Johan Lindeberg said. “We tried to create all the ingredients of Americana with a new modern tweak,” he explained. Though these styles may be too chic for the backwoods of Tennessee, they are undeniably hip and very wearable. Models wore moto jackets, army vests, plaid shirts, distressed denim and tuxedo jackets down the wooden runway set made to look like a ramshackle cabin in the woods. For women, the sexy Americana look included a fringed dress layered with a sleeveless blazer, jean shorts worn with a studded-leather biker jacket and a sexy fringed bodysuit paired with an army jacket and fringed booties. —N. Jayne Seward
