Year in Fashion: For Whom Do Women Dress?

WWD asked this provocative question of showgoers during New York’s collections in February. Here are some of their responses:

Anne Hathaway: “Most women dress for their most fashionable friend.”

Isabel Toledo: “Women dress for men. I do dress for myself because it makes me feel empowered, but I’m definitely looking for [husband] Ruben’s expression, not his approval.”

French Vogue’s Carine Roitfeld: “I don’t know for everyone else. For me, it’s for myself. When you feel good about yourself, you feel good about everyone else.”

Designer Tina Lutz: “I would hope women would dress for themselves because you can only feel good about life if you feel good about yourself.”

Marylou Luther, editor of International Fashion Syndicate: “I think younger women dress for men.”

Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology: “Most dress for their cohorts.”

Photographer Nigel Barker: “Most women dress for themselves. Most men don’t realize what’s going on half the time. If their friend at work wears the same thing every day, they wouldn’t notice. It’s not in the gene pool.”

Designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada: “In Spain, women dress for men. I don’t know what happens here. I think it’s very tiring to have to dress to be sexy all day. It’s horrible and exhausting to have to wear high heels for 24 hours.”

Jamee Gregory: “Women always dress for other women.”

Designer Isabella Tonchi: “I would hope people dress for themselves. To be liked by other people, you have to like yourself, feel good about yourself and be confident.”

Sophia Bush: “I dress for myself….You’ve got to dress for you.”