Gwyneth Paltrow wants to be the next Ralph Lauren with Gwyn

Earlier in September, as many of her peers were in Los Angeles preparing for the Emmy Awards, American actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow was in New York introducing Gwyn, the reincarnation of her Goop fashion collection G Label, to the world.

- Vanessa Friedman

It was her first time at New York Fashion Week as a founder, not a front rower — and a signal that this time she was serious.

Generally, when celebrities start a fashion line and want to prove their design bona fides and win industry acceptance, they go one of two ways.

They can do an Olsen, which is to hide in the background and try to downplay their presence, and thus their fame, as much as possible (which in an inverse way serves to emphasise it).

Or they can do a Beckham: humble themselves before the gatekeepers by getting up close and personal and explaining it all, as if they had been pinning fabric in the studio until late the night before.

Paltrow chose a third, more signature — even performative — way.

She invited everyone into an apartment (actually a lighting showroom set up to look like an apartment), which she had accessorised to look as if it were her apartment. In the dining room, a long table covered with a peach tablecloth was set with Goop-approved nibbles: slices of thin pink prosciutto; a selection of homemade-looking seed and nut bars; even a plate piled with bright yellow mini squash and emerald zucchini with the brand logo, Gwyn, carved in the sides in a brand-type font.