Some weird and wonderful moments of NY Fashion Week

What, really, is a fashion show? Discuss.

Of course, there's the well-worn formula: People wait in line for ages, sit down, wait some more, look at clothes for about 10 minutes, spend another half-hour greeting and double-cheek kissing, then go do the same thing somewhere else.

Honoree Thom Browne attends the 2017 Couture Council Award Luncheon honoring Fashion Designer Thom Browne at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017 in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP)

But lately, fashion shows have been stretching those boundaries. It's not a totally new trend, but the New York Fashion Week that ended Wednesday saw a fashion show as a dance performance, a fashion show as a vintage car exhibit, a fashion show as a rap concert/burlesque show (together!), a fashion show as an excuse for a big party, a fashion show as a female empowerment group and more.

Leslie Jones attends the Christian Siriano fashion show as part of NYFW Spring/Summer 2018 on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Some of it was weird, some wonderful, some both. Here are some notable moments of the week:

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FIRST: LESLIE JONES

If there's any justice, actress Leslie Jones will now be invited to every designer's front row until the end of time. She will also be dressed by every designer. This is because she was the most entertaining and supportive fan of all time at Christian Siriano's show, whooping and hollering her pleasure at her favorite designer's garments. (Samples: "Work it!!" and "I want that!" and pretend-fainting.) You'll recall, Siriano was the designer who stepped up to dress Jones when she complained on social media that she was having trouble finding a designer to dress her for the "Ghostbusters" premiere. Good move, Mr. Siriano.

Kaia Gerber models the first look at the Alexander Wang Spring 2018 fashion show held on a street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

THE DANCE OF FASHION

A chocolate wall (as in oozing chocolate), a celebrity beauty pageant, a martial arts display: the Opening Ceremony label has done all that, in the name of creative fashion shows. This time, the label presented a 40-minute dance piece, directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze and starring film and TV actors Mia Wasikowska and Lakeith Stanfield. The show was a touching exploration of relationships and monogamy. But where were the clothes? It was hard to get any sense of a coherent collection. And nobody was too fussed about that.

Kim Kardashian poses for a photo before the Alexander Wang Spring 2018 collection is shown in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

WAIT. WAS THAT THE SHOW?

It's an unwritten rule: If you're going to make the fashion crowd travel far — as in, out of Manhattan — it had better be worth it. A few years ago, Alexander Wang brought crowds to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on a frigid Saturday night. All was fine until the post-show traffic jam, but the show was good. This season, Wang brought masses of people to a dead-end street in Bushwick, Brooklyn. They stood behind metal barriers for more than an hour, and some resorted to sitting on garbage dumpsters to get a view. When the models finally arrived, on a bus, they were gone in a flash — the show lasted for less than five minutes before devolving into a chaotic after-party.

The Alexander Wang Spring 2018 collection is modeled on a street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn during New York Fashion Week, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MARTINI

Then there was the simultaneous show from German-born designer (and showman) Philipp Plein, who at the same time was keeping a couple thousand people outside his Manhattan venue. It was overcrowded both outside and inside, where the rapper Future performed while an eclectic group of models — including Snoop Dogg's father — modeled the strappy leather designs. Dita von Teese did a burlesque routine that included writhing inside a giant martini glass. "I think fashion is changing, especially in this moment, yeah?" Plein said. Maybe not THIS much. VA VA VROOM!

The Public School Spring 2018 collection is modeled during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

THEN there was Ralph Lauren, who brought people out to suburban Westchester County. But wait. First, he ferried his guests in a fleet of cars playing calming, Lauren-provided jazz music. When they got to the destination — Lauren's own garage, where he keeps his enormous vintage car collection — they were offered Champagne and pigs-in-a-blanket and fried olives (and later, dinner). In between there was a fashion show, a real one. The theme was James Bond — and of course, the cars. The clothes were cleverly synced with the aesthetics of both. In all, the luxury on display was stunning (one car alone, a Bugatti 57SC, is estimated at $40 million). Whatever you felt about the whole vibe and what it signified, it can be said that the mood was much happier than at Wang or Plein.

Designers Dao-yi Chow, left, and Maxwell Osborne greet the audience after the Public School Spring 2018 collection is shown during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

BON VOYAGE

All the week's showmanship — and attempted showmanship — made it especially sad to see the departure, for Paris Fashion Week, of Thom Browne's women's show. The designer was known for his endlessly creative runway shows in a Chelsea gallery, often based on other-worldy themes, but always grounded in the highest-quality craftsmanship. He didn't show this time, but at the beginning of the week was awarded with the prestigious Couture Council award from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Whoopi Goldberg, dressed in a fanciful Browne ensemble from his "bathing beauty" show, gave a heartfelt speech about how he'd made people like her, who dressed "different," feel good about it.

Models present the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

I AM WOMAN

Speaking of Goldberg, she was also on hand for a presentation by designer Tracy Reese that sought to give voice — in a literal way — to her models. Reese's models did something models never do on a runway: speak. "I am strength, I am grace, I am a woman," one was said softly. "A woman is strong, a woman is love, a woman is beauty," another said. Another spoke of how she admired her mother. "Often when you come to these, people don't look at the women, they're looking at the clothes, and that why we're doing this," Reese said. "I wanted people to see the woman in the clothing, and hear something about who she is."

Singapore-born designer Prabal Gurung acknowledges the crowd at the Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show during Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

A FIRST FOR STEINEM

There wouldn't seem to be much that Gloria Steinem, the feminist activist and author, has yet to accomplish. But it turns out that until this week, Steinem, 83, had never been to a fashion show. That changed when she sat in the front row at Prabal Gurung. "There is a first time for everything, even at 83!" Steinem posted on Instagram. She called Gurung "a kind man doing great work in fashion and beyond." It seemed like a dream come true for Gurung, who had made feminism a theme of recent seasons, and at his February show — soon after the women's marches — came out in a T-shirt saying: "This Is What a Feminist Looks Like."

Feminist Gloria Steinem takes a seat at the Prabal Gurung Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show during Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

CELEBRATING IMMIGRANTS

Though there was generally less political talk this season, the Public School designers, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, made sure that immigration was on everyone's mind. Their designs were meant to evoke everyday items often tossed aside — like plastic bags — because, Chow said, "When you think about immigrants and their contribution, they're overlooked." And Chow wore a cap that said: "DACA Dreamers," expressing solidarity with the young immigrants who came to the United States as children and are living in the country illegally. Finally, they held their streetwear show in what was once the 19th-century Five Points neighborhood, home to waves of immigrants. "It was symbolic that we meet here to celebrate the immigrant experience in New York," Chow said, "and their contributions, what they bring to New York and to the world."

Actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg appears at the Tracy Reese Spring 2018 collection during New York Fashion Week, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Noveck)

In this Sept. 10, 2017 image released by Opening Ceremony, actress Mia Wasikowska, center, appears during the Opening Ceremony and & American Express presentation, "Changers", A Dance Story," during Fashion Week in New York. The presentation, directed by filmmaker Spike Jonze, was a 40-minute dance piece. (Erin Baiano/Opening Ceremony via AP)

LONDON (AP) — With one puff of a cigarette, a woman in Canada became a global symbol of defiance against Iran's bloody crackdown on dissent — and the world saw the flame.

A video that has gone viral in recent days shows the woman — who described herself as an Iranian refugee — snapping open a lighter and setting the flame to a photo she holds. It ignites, illuminating the visage of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest cleric. Then the woman dips a cigarette into the glow, takes a quick drag — and lets what remains of the image fall to the pavement.

Whether staged or a spontaneous act of defiance — and there’s plenty of debate — the video has become one of the defining images of the protests in Iran against the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy, as U.S. President Donald Trump considers military action in the country again.

The gesture has jumped from the virtual world to the real one, with opponents of the regime lighting cigarettes on photos of the ayatollah from Israel to Germany and Switzerland to the United States.

In the 34 seconds of footage, many across platforms like X, Instagram and Reddit saw one person defy a series of the theocracy’s laws and norms in a riveting act of autonomy. She wears no hijab, three years after the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests against the regime’s required headscarves.

She burns an image of Iran’s supreme leader, a crime in the Islamic republic punishable by death. Her curly hair cascades — yet another transgression in the Iranian government’s eyes. She lights a cigarette from the flame — a gesture considered immodest in Iran.

And in those few seconds, circulated and amplified a million times over, she steps into history.

In 2026, social media is a central battleground for narrative control over conflicts. Protesters in Iran say the unrest is a demonstration against the regime’s strictures and competence. Iran has long cast it as a plot by outsiders like United States and Israel to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

And both sides are racing to tell the story of it that will endure.

Iranian state media announces wave after wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls “terrorists” and also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, the only way to get videos and images out to the internet. There was evidence on Thursday that the regime’s bloody crackdown had somewhat smothered the dissent after activists said it had killed at least 2,615 people. That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the mayhem of the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Social media has bloomed with photos of people lighting cigarettes from photos of Iran’s leader. “Smoke ’em if you got ’em. #Iran,” posted Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana.

In the age of AI, misinformation and disinformation, there’s abundant reason to question emotionally and politically charged images. So when “the cigarette girl” appeared online this month, plenty of users did just that.

It wasn’t immediately clear, for example, whether she was lighting up inside Iran or somewhere with free-speech protections as a sign of solidarity. Some spotted a background that seemed to be in Canada. She confirmed that in interviews. But did her collar line up correctly? Was the flame realistic? Would a real woman let her hair get so close to the fire?

Many wondered: Is the “cigarette girl” an example of “psyops?” That, too, is unclear. That’s a feature of warfare and statecraft as old as human conflict, in which an image or sound is deliberately disseminated by someone with a stake in the outcome. From the allies’ fake radio broadcasts during World War II to the Cold War’s nuclear missile parades, history is rich with examples.

The U.S. Army doesn’t even hide it. The 4th Psychological Operations Group out of Ft. Bragg in North Carolina last year released a recruitment video called, “Ghost in the Machine 2 that’s peppered with references to “PSYWAR.”And the Gaza war featured a ferocious battle of optics: Hamas forced Israeli hostages to publicly smile and pose before being released, and Israel broadcast their jubilant reunions with family and friends.

Whatever the answer, the symbolism of the Iranian woman's act was powerful enough to rocket around the world on social media — and inspire people at real-life protests to copy it.

The woman did not respond to multiple efforts by The Associated Press to confirm her identity. But she has spoken to other outlets, and AP confirmed the authenticity of those interviews.

On X, she calls herself a “radical feminist” and uses the handle Morticia Addams —- after the exuberantly creepy matriarch of “The Addams Family” — sheerly out of her interest in “spooky things,” the woman said in an interview with the nonprofit outlet The Objective.

She doesn’t allow her real name to be published for safety reasons after what she describes as a harrowing journey from being a dissident in Iran — where she says she was arrested and abused — to safety in Turkey. There, she told The Objective, she obtained a student visa for Canada. Now, in her mid-20s, she said she has refugee status in and lives in Toronto.

It was there, on Jan. 7, that she filmed what’s become known as “the cigarette girl” video a day before the Iranian regime imposed a near-total internet blackout.

“I just wanted to tell my friends that my heart, my soul was with them,” she said in an interview on CNN-News18, a network affiliate in India.

In the interviews, the woman said she was arrested for the first time at 17 during the “bloody November” protests of 2019, demonstrations that erupted after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal that Iran had struck with world powers that imposed crushing sanctions.

“I was strongly opposed to the Islamic regime,” she told The Objective. Security forces “arrested me with tasers and batons. I spent a night in a detention center without my family knowing where I was or what had happened to me.” Her family eventually secured her release by offering a pay slip for bail. “I was under surveillance from that moment on.”

In 2022 during the protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, she said she participated in a YouTube program opposing the mandatory hijab and began receiving calls from blocked numbers threatening her. In 2024, after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, she shared her story about it — and was arrested in her home in Isfahan.

The woman said she was questioned and “subjected to severe humiliation and physical abuse.” Then without explanation, she was released on a high bail. She fled to Turkey and began her journey to Canada and, eventually, global notoriety.

“All my family members are still in Iran, and I haven’t heard from them in a few days,” she said in the interview, published Tuesday. “I’m truly worried that the Islamic regime might attack them.”

A protester smokes a cigarette after lighting it off a burning poster of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

CORRECTS MONTH - A protester lights a cigarette off a burning poster of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A protester burns an image of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a cigarette during rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Zuerich, Switzerland.(Michael Buholzer /Keystone via AP)