The mood during day two at New York Fashion Week on Saturday was somewhat dampened by the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, though London Fashion Week, which starts on Friday, is expected to be affected to a greater degree, the schedule at the New York contingent was largely uninterrupted.
Big names mixed with newcomers to offer fresh ideas for spring/summer 2023.
Here are some of the highlights.
Anonlychild
Newcomer Anonlychild is headed by Public School's Maxwell Osborne, marking his return to New York. With its second season, the collection is shaped by Osborne's own American-Jamaican upbringing, as seen in the vivid jewel tones of mustard, purple and dark forest green.
Best of all, it also offered an easy, almost relaxed take on luxe, with glossy satin blouses tucked loosely into trousers, and lace bodysuits worn under suiting separates. Laid back, well-cut and with that vivid palette, it is a great start.
Prabal Gurung
Nepalese-American designer Prabal Gurung made his name with skillful cutting that reflects social issues and he has once again delivered a starkly beautiful collection, one that nods to the recent overturning of Roe v Wade in the US.
Gurung offers sharp silhouettes that follow every curve of the female form, contrasted against loose, diaphanous chiffon that is left to slide off shoulders and expose skin. Taken separately, there are some lovely pieces, such as the super high-waisted, wide-cut trousers worn with a crisp bolero jacket, yet as a whole becomes a critique of the power of the male gaze.
Thakoon
With a presentation rather than a runway show, Thakoon delivered a concise but thoughtful collection. Using masculine codes, such as striped shirting, throughout, this was given a new twist via smocking and the summery holes of broderie anglaise.
The result? A light, loose fitting array of shirt dresses worn semi-open over pyjama trousers, off-the-shoulder tops teamed with wide shorts, and shift dresses that feel relaxed and summery.
Tibi
For its 25th anniversary, Tibi embraced pastel, ice cream tones for pieces that are wonderfully laid-back. Offered as simple solutions to the matter of how to always look on point, this materialised as a loose-fit, matching pistachio boxy top and culottes, a plum-toned jersey top worn long over an even longer skirt, and slip tops worn tucked into ankle length skirts in coloured denim.
Dion Lee
Another new name, Australian designer Dion Lee fused club and sportswear in a show that depicts what the cool kids wear for day-to-night dressing.
Brazen and chic, it combines slick tailoring with something softer and more feminine, such as a draped minidress underneath an oversized leather jacket, and loose-on-the-hips cargo pants worn with tiny, neon green cropped tops.
A Swiss cheese plant theme seemed to run through everything. Sometimes it was subtle, such as fitted trousers and cropped jacket with holes neatly carved into the waist, and other times it was also too overt, like in a green leaf dress. It also manifested as full-length, cut leather boots worn folded double.
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
