Michael Kors honours feminist icon Gloria Steinem as New York Fashion Week wraps up

"Even though they're strong or they're powerful, and they're smart, they're happy to admit that they love fashion, and they enjoy fashion," he added.

Steinem said in a 2015 interview that she often wore a "concho" belt.

A concho is a metal ornament, often silver and round, that has its origins in the culture of the Navajo Native American nation.

Uruguayan-American Gabriela Hearst is another designer who drew inspiration from non-conformist, pioneering women for the New York parade.

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On Tuesday, she honored Irish architect Eileen Gray, who paved the way for the modernist architecture movement in the 1920s.

Her homage was evident in Hearst's straight, functional cuts of recycled cashmere jackets, trousers and long coats.

Gray's "Dragons" armchair sold at auction in Paris for almost 22 million euros ($28 million) in 2009, more than 30 years after her death aged 98.

It set a record for 20th Century decorative art.

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"She never got to see this reality and, like many women, she undervalued herself and her excellence," Hearst said in her designer's notes.

Meanwhile Philippe and David Blond, the duo at the helm of The Blonds, tinged their collection with references to old Hollywood.

Glittering dresses and fake furs were combined with Louboutin stilettos and a James Bond soundtrack.

Their inspiration was, of course, Elizabeth Taylor, David Blond revealed backstage.