NEW YORK — Kaia Gerber walked the runway and brand ambassador Kendall Jenner sat front row at Longchamp’s celebrity filled show Saturday, that included model Coco Rocha and actresses Ashley Benson and Storm Reid.
It was all about the boots and bags for the Paris fashion house where creative director Sophie Delafontaine sent models down the runway in uber shiny, patent leather knee-high boots in eye-catching red, green, yellow, silver and black, all adorned with silver balls and chains across the toe.
“I wanted to push a little bit more the Parisian vibe. I was happy to bring the femininity, but with a lot of character,” Delafontaine said during a backstage interview.
The show featured bomber jackets with pronounced shearling collars and chunky knits over flowing, gauzy printed dresses.
Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, walked the show in an olive green suede military style suit and cropped jacket with silver boots.
“It’s amazing. It’s so pretty,” Gerber said of the collection during an interview backstage with The Associated Press.
Jenner, who didn’t walk in the show, but sat front row dressed in black leather gaucho style shorts and tall black boots, said “I always have a (Longchamp) bag with me.”
The brand revived the Roseau bag this year, updating it with larger, more modern portions, while keeping the bamboo hardware. Longchamp is known for its iconic nylon Le Pliage bag, which also featured heavily in the show, in various sizes from teeny tiny to oversized.
Delafontaine said she uses the arm candy “to finish the silhouette and give the attitude of strongness.”
The collection also gave a nod to the athleisure trend with the sneaker boot, a cool black and white sneaker base with a sock-like texture that came to the knee.
“It’s the shoes of our century, I think. I really wanted to have high boots in the collection because I wanted it to feel warm and confident, so the sneaker became a sneaker boot.”
Jenner said being the face of Longchamp and several other major labels is “definitely a dream come true. These are designers and creatives that I’ve been seeing since I was born pretty much so to be a part of it, to see their creative process behind the scenes is really cool.”
The model said she’s fueled by the energy surrounding fashion week and especially enjoys travelling with her pals.
“It’s like a little world tour I get to do with my friends because we all have similar jobs. We get to just hang out in different cities,” Jenner said.
Longtime fashion model Carolyn Murphy, who also walked in the show, described the collection as having “a modern folk vibe. I would steal a few pieces for sure.”
Model Coco Rocha, who walked in Christian Siriano’s show earlier this week, sat in the front row lamenting the future of fashion week.
“I feel like fashion is kind of transitioning into something else. I think in a few more years I don’t know if we’re going to have runways and fashion shows. I don’t know if it’s e-commerce and how online works and live streaming,” she said. “This is the slowest it’s ever been.”
