What good is the warmth of summer
Without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.

Many crave summer and celebrate it’s scintillating sizzle, but I choose to side with the colder months when the world is more beautiful. Sparkling snow, sensual styles, and steaming culinary experiences gaped at from beautiful eyes. And further, the fashion styles are all the more alluring. Which is why New York Fashion Week (NYFW) for fall and winter is one of my favorite times to ogle at clothed and fuzz lined collections.

Son Jung Wan called her collection ‘Playing with Fashion’, which while literally fitting, was too literal name for a series of outfits that evoked sensory revelations and soothed the eyes. With pastel hues, a plethora of baby blues and pinks, and midnight black and furs, it was an evocative, almost literary take on fashion.

My favorites were the soothing baby pinks. In luscious pastels, furs, trims and wools, she draped these as capes with fur lining or longer dresses and jackets on her damsels. And with her boys, she dressed them in wool blazers with a vinyl strip and oversized turtlenecks. The color itself was very trendy on runways, owing to Pantone stamping it as Rose Quartz, an official hue of 2016.

There was an element of Alice in Wonderland style puzzles in her work, juxtaposing windowpane check or tablecloth gingham prints into jackets, interlacing furs with knits and cottons, making for a fun vibe in the wintry ambiance. Mostly in pastels and chocolate browns, there was a hint of my favorite animal print in the mix. Accented on collars, backs of dresses, and full on vertical patched jackets, the leopard prints in blues and oranges and the zebras in a variety of hues were like cotton candy for the eyes.

The textures were mostly furs for these, bringing a comfortable, plush look to all designs. There was also a heavy use of Pantone’s other color Serenity, aka baby blue, which added to the icy winter looks that were disparately warming to ogle at.

The third palette utilized was inspired by the night: whites and greys and blacks, once again in juxtaposed patterns of checks and stripes, with fur and fuzz linings, trims and glitters, making both men and women shine in the darkness. The rugged sheep wool jackets worked plain, or with oversized turtlenecks and hefty checkerboard detailing, a pattern applied in grey tones to a cape with a fur trim. I loved the playful lining of vinyl shining squares on menswear trousers, a much needed break from the prominently cut plain black pants.

Many womenswear staples paid a tribute to the night, with cropped black full sleeved dresses with hints of pink or striped shards of white, accented with studded and shimmering accents and knits, reminding us that this was a collection that paid a tribute to the beauty of winter. All fur jackets with exaggerated necklines for men and oversized renaissance collars and stoles for women ensured that we would be both warm, stylish and undeniably sexy for the upcoming season.

Lastly, one could not overlook the glass heeled shoes, a modern day Cinderella of sorts, and a radiant distraction if one made it past the gorgeous canvases of fuzz. I took a closer look with exclusive backstage access.

The NYFW venue was ablaze with the proceeding Pirelli calendar launch, displaying past renditions of the photographer’s famed work over sexualized women and men in various stages of seductive undress.

Almost an antithesis to the clothed collections at the shows, and owing to New York’s freezing temperatures, most of us attending the launch clung on to our furry hats and velvet accents and warm sweaters as we indulged our eyes in these works of nude art.

A plush lounge with haute designs and and accessories ensured that tired feet could rest, and succulent conversations could continue till dusk and beyond.

So why be bashful towards a beautiful season,
When it brings you nothing but warmth and sparkle?