Hillary Clinton May Have Secretly Inspired New York Fashion Week

As New York Fashion week closed, the Washington Post's Robin Givhan posed an interesting question: "Hillary Clinton, style icon?" Givhan's point is not literally about pantsuits and tailored jackets. She is talking about fashion that speaks to independence, confidence, and, in her words, "power." Designers such as Michael Kors and Derek Lam showed collections that spoke to this theme. Lam told the Post that his muse was the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, a woman not recognized for traditional beauty, but talent and strength. So what does this have to do with Clinton? For the first time in history, a woman is making stump speeches for a major party. Whether you support her or not, she represents that mood that Givhan describes at NYFW. "[Designers] have refused to be caught up in all the old clichés of polished jackets and below-the-knee skirts," she writes. It's not just isolated to New York or Fashion Week. In our F*CK The Fashion Rules series, we have been examining how women are dressing today, despite, or in spite of, the so-called rules. We showcased a group of women in Florida knocking it out of the park with fantastical handbags. Our staff got in on the act by talking about what fashion rules it breaks on the regular. Denise Bidot, a model and actress, took aim at this piece of conventional wisdom: "One of the most bogus rules I've ever heard is that a woman must always be on-trend to be considered fashionable." That brings us back to Hillary. She's out there doing her thing. She has her own style and she owns it. Isn't that what we all want to do?