As one of the pioneers of the see-now-buy-now approach to shows, Rebecca Minkoff went one step further on Saturday, creating an experiential staging of her Spring ’17 collection in L.A. The San Diego–bred Minkoff returned to her roots, setting up an elaborate customer-facing interface at the Grove. The production was a first for the Rick Caruso–owned outdoor shopping venue, allowing a new level of accessibility to Minkoff and her collection and enabling a host of “millennial-focused lifestyle activations” to be staged throughout.
The show was Minkoff’s third in this new in-season format; with 11 stores spread across the globe, she says she has the sales receipts that attest to proof of concept. “I’m really thinking about where my customer is going, what she wants when she’s going there, and listening to her,” Minkoff explained of her somewhat reactive approach. “I’m not letting her design for me, but I’m attuned to what she needs and wants in her life to make sure I’m giving that to her in my aesthetic.”
The designer catered to the blogger-laden crowd and a front row lined with the likes of Jessica Stam, Chiara Ferragni, and many a CW star with breezy floor-length florals, bare shoulders, eyelet smocked numbers, and an on-trend infusion of studded suede, punctuated by the line’s signature bags, which were customized this season by Curtis Kulig. As models including Coco Rocha, Chriselle Lim, and Aimee Song took their final walk through the streets of the Grove, an a capella performance by Milck closed the presentation and throngs of onlookers and shoppers peered through windows to catch a glimpse and connect in real time, exactly as Minkoff intended.
By Alexis Brunswick