Lauryn Hill Vamped in Woolrich to Kick Off NYFW

A brand that has been serving up a reliable, somewhat utilitarian product for nearly 200 years would be forgiven for sitting out fashion week. But Woolrich, the country’s oldest outerwear manufacturer, is remarkably spry for its age. Last night, the makers of flannel-driven gear kicked off fashion week with a packed performance by Lauryn Hill, star of its much buzzed-about American Soul campaign.

Ms. Hill, who is on tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of her iconic album The Mis-Education of Lauryn Hill, proved that, much like Woolrich itself, some things only get cooler with age. Rocking electric orange eyeshadow and blue Woolrich check, part of a capsule collection she created in collaboration with the band, Hill charged through a litany of mostly new music, before introducing her rapper son Josh Marley.

The collision of classic and modern was a running theme; the event, which took place in a firehouse wrapped with the signature Woolrich tartan, and was attended by Hill’s daughter Selah Marley, as well as Onyx Collective, an ever-expanding New York-based jazz ensemble fronted by Isaiah Barr, who opened for Hill and co-starred in the campaign. “We're young guys living an old man's dream,” said Barr of continuing on the jazz genre.

Of sharing the campaign with Hill, Barr, wearing women’s Woolrich pants, added, “We're all so admiring of Lauryn Hill.” But he stopped short of comparing his group to the Fugees, the iconoclastic collective that launched Hill’s career in the 90s before messily disbanding. “We've never had a ‘Fugees’ moment.”

The Woolrich American Soul collection is available in stores on September 20.

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