Kerry Washington’s NYFW SS 14 Recap

Interviews

Jason Wu SS 14 After Party during #NYFW, 9.6.13.

From Vogue:

Fashion heavyweights were out in full force last night to celebrate the spring 2014 shows. Those gathered at the Electric Room to fete Jason Wu’s collection had high praise for the designer: “His brand isn’t based on some artificial idea of an aesthetic. It’s really based on things he loves most about women,” said Kerry Washington. Which perhaps explains why Wu has such appeal. “It’s so special to be able to work with the real women that inspired me to become a fashion designer in the first place,” says Wu. “They’re the women that have true style, a real sense of themselves.” He was referring to women like Maria Sharapova, Lily Kwong, and Liu Wen, who were all in attendance last night, along with Jessica Paré, dressed in head-to-toe Wu (“Every chance I get, baby!” she enthused). In fact, she’s such a fan, that sitting front row at Jason Wu was the first time she’s ever braved Fashion Week. “I was completely overwhelmed!” she laughed. “There’s such an electricity in the air. There’s a real, tangible excitement.” - Vogue.com

From Women’s Wear Daily:

Washington would have to place her order by skimming the looks online as she missed the show.
“I was sequestered with ‘Project Runway.’ I’m on the season finale,” she explained. “And I swear to you, that is the only thing that could have kept me away from a Jason Wu show!” - WWD

Alexander Wang SS 14 Fashion Show

Across the cavernous space, in a second VIP front row that included Tyson and Kimberly Chandler, Kerry Washington explained that it was her first time at the show. A political cause, however, would keep her from attending its historically raucous after party.

“Well, Glamour’s throwing a dinner for me tonight,” she said. “Then I’m going to go to sleep because tomorrow I’m doing a political rally in New Jersey for [Barbara] Buono and [Milly] silva, who are running for governor and lieutenant governor. Milly Silva’s actually my cousin.” - WWD

Kerry Washington has had a packed schedule this fashion week, between attending shows, appearing as a guest-judge on Project Runway, and scouting outfits for her Scandal character Olivia Pope. Still, she found the time to be Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive’s guest of honor at Carbone last night to celebrate her October cover of the magazine. Of her work with Scandal‘s costume designer, Lyn Paolo, Washington explained, “We really build every single look together.” While the show was on hiatus, she and Paolo took a special trip to New York to meet with designers.

So, what will the forthcoming season’s wardrobe look like? ”There’s a lot more Dior this season,” Washington said. “We met with a lot of gladiators in the fashion industry like Malcolm Carfrae [of Calvin Klein], and the team at Ralph Lauren was amazing because they really love the show. We met with Dior and Michael Kors, so we could be able to pull early from a lot of the collections. At Donna Karan we actually wound up pulling a lot of stuff right off the rack. There’s this beautiful purplish-grey [Donna Karan] coat that I wear, I think in episode three or four, that we just immediately we were like, ‘That’s Olivia Pope.’”

Does Washington get to keep any of the clothes? “No, we wanted to build a wardrobe for her, so we’re always pulling from older pieces and re-using those with a new jacket, or that jacket with a new bottom, because I want women to have a sense that Olivia has a real closet,” she said, referencing those recurring pearls (which are by design). “And all of her bags are Prada,” said Washington. “Every single handbag — unless it’s a flashback episode — every one is Prada. And they’re all stunning.” So did Olivia have some life-changing event that forced her to carry only Prada, or something? “That is actually very true, and you see it happen in this next season,” said Washington. We’ll take one too, please. – NYMag.com

‘Scandal’ star Kerry Washington attended Alexander Wang’s fashion show late Saturday afternoon.

I belatedly came to the TV show “Scandal” after people I follow on Twitter would tweet enthusiastically whenever the show was on. I’m in the middle of Season 2 on Netflix.

The show’s star, Kerry Washington, who has been acting in movies since 2000, when she debuted in a small drama called “Our Song,” attended Alexander Wang’s fashion show late Saturday afternoon. It was her first time to one of his shows.

“I’ve never been able to come either because I was always working or not in town on the day that his show is and everybody always talks about how great his shows are,” she said.

So she, too, knows what it’s like to finally see what all the fuss is about.

Indeed, Mr. Wang is something of an entertainer when it comes to putting on runway shows. Past razzle-dazzle stunts include a runway finale with models who glowed in the dark.

Ms. Washington, who inevitably appears on many best-dressed lists whenever there’s a recap of red-carpet style, was clad in a demure white number (or off-white — the venue was very dark) by Mr. Wang. The outfits she wears on “Scandal” are also heavily remarked on. She’s very stylish on the show, especially by Washington’s standards. But the character she plays, Olivia Pope, is not some clothes horse who is just into fancy labels. The costumes are considered.

“I work very closely with our costume designer to stay true to the aesthetic of Olivia Pope,” she said. “It’s a kind of complicated formula that we came up with for what feels like Olivia and what doesn’t.” She kept the formula close to the vest, just like her character would do with certain information on the show.

Ms. Washington was seated next to Tyson Chandler, the very stylish professional basketball player, and his glamorous wife. Mr. Wang had ’90s-era hip-hop playing before the show began and Ms. Washington, who directed a music video for rapper Common and starred in a music video with singer Maxwell, sometimes bopped her head to the beat or mouthed the words. When a reggae song played, she did a little dance.

So what does a woman who leads a TV show, is a face for a cosmetics brand, a watch brand, and who has starred in everything from “Django Unchained” to “Ray” and “Last King of Scotland” do next? Ms. Washington, recently married, said she is shooting episode five of the new season and is focused on that for now. “I’m working on developing some material on the hiatus.”

As for the more immediate next thing, there was a dinner in her honor hosted by Glamour Saturday evening and then on Sunday she planned to be in New Jersey for a fundraiser and rally for a cousin who is running for lieutenant governor. (Ms. Washington is also known for being politically active.)

I got interested in “Scandal” after seeing the reactions (lots of OMG!s) of people I follow on Twitter. What does she think of the reactions? “The fact that people are watching and are shocked [at plot developments] doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “That’s how we feel like when we read [the script] so when we see the their OMGs [on Twitter], we’re like ohmygod, that’s exactly how we felt a month ago when we read it. We had the same kind of shock and surprise and delight!”

Other stars at the Alexander Wang show included Kanye West, Courtney Love, Solange Knowles, Miguel and Natasha Lyonne. -WSJ

Project Runway Fashion Show

“I’ve had to learn about fashion because as an actor, it’s such a huge part of the marketing,” Washington said in a pre-show interview, dressed in a flouncy floral Stella McCartney dress. “I’m the daughter of a professor, and an A student, and I approach it as a student. I do my research. I stay informed. I communicate with the designers.”

“I told my girlfriends this morning, ‘I’m going to have to be judgmental all day, and I’m not very good at that!’” she said. “But they told me I can be critical without being judgmental.”

Source: ABC News