It was a fashion fest at The Rink at Rockefeller Center Monday night, where leading American designers gathered to celebrate the United Flags of Fashion.

The designers were asked to choose the states and territories in the U.S. they were most interested in, and some designers were assigned states. Each participant reimagined one of 50 state flags, five territory flags and Washington, D.C., offering their interpretation reflecting the nation’s diversity and cultural breadth. More than 120 custom flags are being flown on the flagpoles framing The Rink at Rockefeller Center through Sept. 4.

The display honors the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and was put together by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Vogue, Rockefeller Center and national nonpartisan organization America250.

Among the participating designers and brands are Altuzarra, Amiri, APL, Bode, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Chloe Gosselin, Christopher John Rogers, Coach, Cult Gaia, Diotima, Donna Karan, Gabriela Hearst, Gap Inc., Kenneth Cole, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Thom Browne, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Cynthia Rowley, TWP and Willy Chavarria.

Anna Wintour, Karlie Kloss and Tory Burch at The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

Lexie Moreland/WWD

America250 chair Rosie Rios said she had reached out to Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the CFDA, and said: “I want to do something in fashion. Obviously fashion is, in my opinion, one of the leading pop culture influences in our country. You can’t have a celebration of 250 years of this country without thinking about the impact of fashion on our culture.”

Kolb said, “Originally we had talked about doing quilts, and then I think Anna [Wintour] just came up with flags.”

The designers were excited to talk about their designs and the reasons why they chose the particular states and what they created with their flags.

Rowley said she chose her home state of Illinois.

“The cool thing about Illinois is that it’s very rural, but it’s also very sophisticated and cultured. There’s the art-filled, music-filled city of Chicago,” she said. On her flag, she has a penny for Abraham Lincoln — “Honest Abe,” who was also from Illinois. Rowley’s Illinois flag also has a corn stalk; the state flower which is a violet, and a deer, a nod to the white-tailed deer, which is the state mammal.

“It has a scarf border, we thought it would be pretty to look almost like a beautiful silk scarf. And all the icons in the middle forming a beautiful boutique of Illinois,” said Rowley. She said she just had to design it, and they manufactured it.

Stacey Bendet of Alice + Olivia said she was assigned Washington, D.C. “We had done this dress in the spring that was embroidered cherry blossoms, so when D.C. was our state district, we thought that it would be really cool to take that design and use it as a flag and cover it with cherry blossoms,” said Bendet.

“We thought D.C. was good for Stacey because she’s all about women and empowerment,” added the CFDA’s Kolb.

Tommy Hilfiger, an Elmira, N.Y., native, chose New York as his state. “It’s the Tommy Hilfiger flag with a New York State insignia in the middle of it. I would like to be able to use it on something,” said Hilfiger.

Michael Kors, Lance LePere and Prabal Gurung at The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

Lexie Moreland/WWD

Michael Kors, another New York native, said he also selected New York. “I loved the optimism of the New York flag, but I always think New York is about reinvention. I wanted to take all the elements that celebrated Lady Liberty, celebrated the city, celebrated the beach, celebrated the mountains, but doing it in a totally graphic, modern way,” said Kors.

“I loved doing it, it was so much fun for this New Yorker to have New York, I was thrilled,” said Kors.

Tory Burch chose Pennsylvania, her home state. “I started with Pennsylvania Dutch quilt as the concept. To me, it’s about bringing people together, craft and liberty. We have the Liberty Bell, agriculture, everything that’s beautiful about Pennsylvania. It was really fun. I actually took time and did it myself and really worked on it myself because you usually get your team in. I’m friends with different people in Pennsylvania that I ran it by.”

L’Enchanteu’s Soull and Dynasty Ogun, identical twins born and raised in Brooklyn, created a flag inspired by Montana’s indigenous heritage and landscape featuring elements like the buffalo, the Blackfoot and Chippewa tribes, and a gold coin. “We wanted to keep the landscape, so we kept the water scenery and mountains,” said Soull.

Soull said she enjoyed the project and was inspired by the TV series, “Yellowstone,” set in Montana, that resonated with her due to its themes of land disputes and early settlers and how they tried to keep working.

Stirling Barrett, owner of eyewear brand Krewe, said he chose Louisiana, his home state.

“I did an interpretation of the pelican, which is our state bird. We did the green and the pink. Eyewear is what we do, so we put some eyewear and jazz, and we tried to represent the culture both in French and English.” His company is based in New Orleans and New York.

Adam and Ryan Goldston, owners of APL, chose Tennessee for their flag.

While the Goldstons’ hail from Los Angeles, Adam said, “We felt like our outsiders’ perspective was pretty valuable.” Their flag was inspired by the University of Tennessee Vols [Volunteers], bringing their sports heritage into the design.

As the skies started to get darker and rain was imminent, Thom Browne, chairman of the CFDA, addressed the crowd.

“I think we all should be proud to be Americans and American designers here in Rockefeller Center, here in New York,” Browne said. “It’s a moment to celebrate creativity in America on its 250th anniversary at a time when it’s never been more urgent to tell important stories.

“Looking around me, I’m reminded that creativity comes in so many ways, through diversity, equality and pure individuality,” he said.

Browne said the project was to show that these stories are here to stay, “elevating our voices to be seen, heard and never erased.

“A lot has changed since Betsy Ross created one of the first flags in 1776, and now our stories are sewn into the fabric of America, here to stay and serve as a reminder that America is not made up of one voice, it’s made up of all of our voices,” said Browne.

All the flags.

Courtesy of Dave Krugman

The CFDA’s Kolb thanked their partners America250 and Rosie Rios for supporting this project, Vogue for helping to bring it to life and for sharing it with a wider audience, and Rockefeller Center for hosting the CFDA and American fashion in this “incredible public space.” He also thanked all the designers who contributed their time and creativity.

Wintour thanked the designers “who always, always say ‘yes,’” and her team at Vogue, led by Chloe Malle, who made it all happen. It has been in the works for over a year and a half.

As the flags were unfurled, Tony nominees Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty performed.

Ryan Goldston, Adam Goldston, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Thom Browne, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang, Jasmin Larian Hekmat, and Danielle Frankel at The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

Lexie Moreland/WWD

The United Flags of Fashion will be featured on a special microsite developed by design agency Porto Rocha. Upon the close of the United Flags of Fashion initiative, all flags will be donated to SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Ga., for preservation and future public exhibition.

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