Fashion Week: Face Hunter Touts Middle Class as NYC’s Finest

At the Rag & Bone after-party last night, dozens of fashion industry alum and hangers-on gathered atop the Hotel Gansevoort's picturesque roof to indulge in free booze and a refreshing (pre-tropical storm) breeze. Designers Marcus Wainright and David Neville were all smiles as they greeted family and friends in celebration of a New Wave-themed collection that seemed well received by all. Set to a soundtrack of Joy Division and the Buzzcocks, Rag & Bone's show took place before a celeb-studded crowd that included Charlize Theron (who made her sole NY Fashion Week appearance, save for the 15 minutes she spent two nights prior at Benjamin Bixby's party at Barneys), Jamie Burke, Elettra Rossellini Wiedermann, and Kelly Osborne.

Also taking in the well tailored, extremely wearable collection presentation and after-party was none other than Ivan Rodic, a.k.a. the Face Hunter. Upon crossing the inimitable photog’s path, I immediately asked how the fashion photography and general trendspotting was going. Any shows or neighborhoods particularly of note? “No, it’s not all in one area” he quickly replied, before launching into a lengthy diatribe about why NYC is relatively boring fashion-wise these days. The real gems lie in cities like Stockholm, he added. Or Copenhagen. Ivan went on to explain that what’s lacking in NYC is in part a result of the gap between the upper and lower classes—or, in other words, the difference between someone shopping in SoHo and buying what’s technically “fashionable,” and the hipster living in Williamsburg who rarely showers and slaps on a floral dress, thinking it’s sartorial success. “It’s all about the middle class,” he continued, musing that when you’re in one of the extremes, you don’t (or can’t as a result of limited means) struggle. But then, before the Frenchman could continue his sociological analysis of NY Fashion Week’s sartorial shortcomings, he went off in search of a friend whom he owed a drink.