Boy Meets Girl presented their Spring/Summer 2016 collection during New York Fashion Week, the way many celebrate a show – in true after party style. Creative director Stacy Igel had performances by Justine Skye, Randy Jackson’s International music artist Wil, and non-profit Subway Talents, Extreme Kingz, while decked out in her 2016 collection. (Smart, right?) Plus, the guest list included Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Randy Jackson, and Orange is the new Black’s Emma Myles, Kimiko Glenn, Joel Marsh Garland, Laura Gomez, Sophie Elgort, Warren Elgort, and many more. Kimiko and Joel even took the time to chat with us outside while we waited for our UBER to arrive that evening.
Before the party started, Stacy and I talked about her history in fashion, her insane partnership with Shopify, and why she changes up the way she presents every year.
Tell me a bit about your history in fashion.
I started my brand in 2001. I launched in Bergdorf Goodman. As Isaac Mizrahi said, “If you were in Bergdorf Goodman, the rest is history.” They put me on the map. Here I am 14 years later in a little intimate setting showcasing the underground talent and actually artists, known artists, and merging all the work I’ve done all these years – fusing everybody together to show my collaborations. And what I love when I’m in fashion, it’s music, art, dance and putting it all in a small room where 120 people are going to see it tonight.
I worked for Elie Tahari, Donna Karan, Izod, and then I started my brand. That’s a long story that we’ll get to later post-show.
What can we expect from this collection?
Tonight everybody who is performing is wearing a piece from the clothing line. The guys and the women, the backup dancers, the main artists. We have some of our mannequins on display as well. We’re showing really the core and the heart of the brand. Boy Meets Girl is the name. The logo is the iconic logo. We’re really going hard with just who we are, what’s the ethos of the brand.
You’re seeing shirts that say “Boy Meets Girl” in different ways, different variations. Our athleisure looks, dresses, and shorts that they’re wearing. Everything has sort of just the vibe that I sort of call it seasonless because, yes, it’s spring ’16, but at the same time it’s timeless pieces that we do. Justine Skye is wearing a whole tracksuit and it’s looking really cute on her with her high heels and her sports bra. It’s street slash leisure and performance gear, right? She’s performing tonight in it. It’s a mix of really going home on the brand and who we are. That’s what it’s all about.
And you’re launching the site as well?
Yeah. It’s going to be powered by Shopify. Shopify is backing the whole website. I’m the first designer where they are doing a partnership with me as a designer partnering. A Shopify partner not me paying to do Shopify as a brand, but actually them coming as a partner to power the engine so we have the best technology and the most amazing advancements. It’s so exciting. It’s the first time they’re ever going to do this with anyone.
How did the idea of Boy Meets Girl actually come about, then?
Boy Meets Girl was a crazy story. I was dating my boyfriend at the time, who’s now my husband, we both had silhouettes from when we were younger. I went to his home to have dinner and it was up on the wall, his picture. I remembered my picture, I was like, boy meets girl. That time in your life, that reflection. The first concert you went to, your first boyfriend, your first ex-boyfriend, your first best friend. I was like, “There it is. Boy meets girl.” We are married and I had a baby 11 months ago. That’s, like, 15 years ago. That’s how it came about.
Really the evolution of the brand has grown over the years of just who we stand for. It’s not about … It’s our silhouettes, it’s about this time. What everyone feels when they see it. Again, the ethos, what you’re going to see here tonight, the collaborations with underground artists from the subways to Justine Skye and more known artists. It’s about those moments. Meeting someone on the subway. Rubbing shoulders at the coffee shop. Seeing your coffee shop guy every morning and he knows your drink. That kind of vibe. That’s Boy Meets Girl.
Right now in fashion there’s been a lot of people trying to find their own or people getting lots of backlash for the same ideas in presentation, how do you set yourself apart?
Yeah, all my shows have been completely different from show to show because of that. I think that traditional runway is so outdated, with technology and everything going on. I wanted to bring a whole new concept to New York Fashion Week, which is this club within the club, a VIP area, but at the same time bringing the heart of New York inside this space.
I got inspired on the subway seeing the artists down there. I partnered with Subway Talents,which is a nonprofit organization to bring these streetwear, these street dancers, Extreme Kingz, above ground. It’s a really infused collaboration part of it. Then bringing New York artist Justine Skye, and then Wil, who is the first time performing in New York, brought here by Randy Jackson. He’s from Singapore and a very well known artist there, but this is his first time performing here.
What are your favorite pieces that we should look out for this season?
I think what Justine’s wearing is really just, like, this tracksuit. Kind of girls running around in these cool, old school, Nike, Adidas looks. I think that that’s really still going really strong for the future if people want to be comfortable. That’s really our sweats, our hoodies, our tees, our tanks, our dresses. I think florals are really strong for spring, stripes are really strong. Rompers are doing a lot of that.
I don’t have the full collection on display because it’s all about looking at these performers and giving you a performance of them wearing the clothes. Then we’re got our mannequins up there to show you just a little bit of the piece of the clothes, but they’re all wearing it tonight. I wish I had the space for a full runway show. Again, I wanted to change it up.
Are there any emerging designer that you feel has something special, or from the past?
From the past, yeah, I love everybody. I think emerging … Gosh. Who’s some good emerging designers I really love? Well, Kat Maconie is the shoes we’re doing tonight. They’re out of London. I really love their shoes. We also are working with Koio. K-O-I-O. They’re our sneakers that the girls are wearing, the backup dancers. I think as far as designers I want to answer that question, but I love so many emerging talent.