New York Fashion Week occupies a unique place in the fashion world.
Paris is usually seen as the pinnacle of the fashion week circuit — all roads lead to Paris, with both the menswear and womenswear calendars culminating in the French capital. New York, on the other hand, combines both menswear and womenswear for two showcases a year, compared to Paris and Milan’s four. While that European duo might be synonymous with the glamour of couturiers and centuries of know-how, New York, as a city, is where things happen. It’s where many of the world’s pre-eminent fashion publications are headquartered and it’s arguably the world’s cultural hub. Here, fashion week feels perpetually present, even without shows on the calendar. People are always inclined to dress to the nines — especially in menswear — and the spotlight extends beyond the runway to what happens off it.
New York is the world’s moodboard, doubly so during fashion week. Big, celebrated brands make grand returns to the city’s fashion week. Thom Browne has made homecomings in the past and, this past week, Off-White did the same, bringing Virgil Abloh’s brainchild back to the city where his streetwear-inflected wares first started influencing the world of capital-F fashion.
Ib Kamara, the celebrated stylist turned creative director, spoke about New York’s cultural melting pot being important to the Off-White ethos. The city’s gritty nature — and the inherent, perpetual hustle of New Yorkers — certainly rubs off on NYFW, where smaller, independent brands like Collina Strada are given a platform to shine. There’s a particular authenticity to New York fashion, visible not only on the runway but in the crowds, from off-duty models to stylists, photographers and partygoers. New Yorkers take pride in expressing their individuality and the people and brands that define NYFW embody that spirit.
Bottom: Photo by Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images.
This season’s shows offered a quintessentially New York blend of tradition and modernity on the calendar. In addition to Off-White, highlights included upstarts like Who Decides War and KidSuper, who are well-received abroad and are helping shape the future of American fashion. The latter has become famous for over-the-top shows in Paris in recent years, and founder Colm Dillane brought a similarly grandiose vision to New York Fashion Week, with a star-studded front row — but used the platform to highlight five emerging designers, rather than showcase his own collection.
There was also a sense of renewal for storied, blue-blooded brands like J. Press — which, if others are shaping the future of American fashion, can lay claim to have shaped American menswear over the last century. The clothier appointed Jack Carlson, founder of Rowing Blazers as its new creative director. His debut collection featured a modern take on classic American prepwear, distilling heritage staples for a younger clientele.
The beauty of New York Fashion Week is its trend-proof nature. Anchored in the city’s ethos and identity, NYFW blends reality with authenticity, honouring classic American labels while amplifying the voices shaping fashion’s future.
