Everything You Need to Know About New York Fashion Week
Every New York Fashion Week feels like a fresh start. With their singular points of view, the many talents set to show in the coming days are sure to offer exciting proposals for ways to dress and ways to dream.
Of course, there are the established names—those like Marc Jacobs, who showed off schedule this past Monday, and Christopher John Rogers, who returns to the official calendar tomorrow after nearly two years off the runway. But this season, there are also several newcomers to the calendar, including one who is taking the reins at an iconic American fashion house. Other emerging designers packing the schedule this season include LVMH semifinalist Jacques Abobly and CFDA Emerging Designer–nominated brand Tanner Fletcher and jewelry label L’Enchanteur.
The lineup, which ranges from these newer brands to stalwarts of the industry like Tory Burch and Thom Browne, showcases the unique tapestry of American fashion and will shape the conversation for months to come. Read on for all the highlights you won’t want to miss.
A Creative Director Debut
People are once again buzzing about Calvin Klein—and, no, a steamy Jeremy Allen White campaign is not the culprit. Rather, the hype surrounds the recent appointment of designer Veronica Leoni as creative director and the return of the Calvin Klein Collection label, which has been dormant since 2018.
Leoni’s CV includes positions at Jil Sander, Phoebe Philo’s Celine, and the Row; she also launched a line of her own called Quira in 2020. In 2023, Leoni was an LVMH Prize finalist, and you can see hints of Philo-esque construction in Quira pieces like a sleeveless bouclé column dress and a loosely fitted suit that strikes the perfect juxtaposition between pristine and undone. With her stealth command of tailoring and her history at brands hallowed for their mastery in minimalism, perhaps Leoni will reinstate a sense of Calvin’s heritage. This was, after all, the brand that revolutionized the slipdress in the ’90s.
In Rare Fforme
Just when quiet luxury began to take off, Fforme came to New York Fashion Week in 2022 with a debut collection under the creative direction of Paul Helbers.
After Helbers’s departure from the brand was announced this summer, Frances Howie was unveiled as his successor. Howie comes to Fforme with more than a decade spent at Stella McCartney as a design director and, before that, three years at Lanvin, where she cut her teeth as a right hand to Alber Ebaz. During Howie’s tenure at Stella McCartney, she was part of crafting collections that incorporated soft pastel suiting, classic trenches, and plush faux-fur coats. Other memorable pieces included poppy-red leather trousers and watercolor floral prints.
With Howie’s résumé and Fforme’s reputation as a beacon of elevated minimalism, we are locked in to see how her creative direction will take form in just a couple of days.
A Joyful Homecoming
Christopher John Rogers Prefall 2024
Christopher John Rogers Prefall 2024
At long last, New York Fashion Week’s ray of sunshine, Christopher John Rogers, is back on the calendar. Since his NYFW debut in 2018, Rogers has pumped his collections full of life with irreverent uses of color and volume. Former vice president Kamala Harris wore a deep-purple coat and dress by Rogers to the 2020 inauguration. Other famous fans of his include Doechii, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Chloë Sevigny. Rogers’s return to the runway comes at a time when we could really use a celebration of all that he has championed since he brought his magic touch to the runway years ago. Of all the principles that come through in Rogers’s clothing, the chief one is joy.
New York’s New Guard
Diotima Spring/Summer 2025
Zankov Spring/Summer 2025
Rachel Scott of Diotima is a quiet force. She won the CFDA’s Womenswear Designer of the Year award last fall for her handmade crochet, created in Jamaica where she grew up, as well as her eyelet motifs, distinct tailoring, and delicate beadwork. Set to present her Fall 2025 collection on Monday, Scott is sure to offer one of the highlights of the week. Standouts from her last collection included a slip trimmed with gold beading and a cutout linen dress frosted with clusters of silver and gold paillettes.
Fellow CFDA Award alumnus Henry Zankov will also show on Monday. Zankov, who launched his label in 2020 and took home the Emerging Designer of the Year Award in 2024, has inspired a spirit of play with a delicious array of knits hued in a refreshing lexicon of color palettes and textures. One look from his most recent Spring 2025 collection featured a rugby-striped mesh polo paired with a “midnight” pencil skirt inlaid with “espresso” paillettes.
Another label that is high on our radar right now is Kallmeyer, showing on Tuesday. Before designer Daniella Kallmeyer’s NYFW debut in 2023, she spent nearly a decade building a loyal clientele. While Kallmeyer has blossomed in popularity, with celebrity clients from Cynthia Erivo to Katie Holmes, her namesake brand still possesses an IYKYK spirit. With measured details, like a cinched drawstring on a crisp trouser or a pristine row of jet-black buttons on a collared leather jacket, her thoughtful pieces leave everyone wanting more.
Kallmeyer Spring/Summer 2025
Kallmeyer Spring/Summer 2025
The Ones to Watch
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen Spring/Summer 2025
Campillo Spring/Summer 2025
This season, there are plenty of tremendously talented newcomers on the schedule.
One such designer is Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen, who staged her first show in Bushwick, Brooklyn, last year. Called out by Rosalía as one of her favorite designers in a recent interview, Whalen flatters the feminine form with waif-thin textiles and a delicious mix of sculpted and free-flowing silhouettes. Her most recent collection featured structured bodices made of papier-mâché and handkerchief dresses fashioned from deadstock fabrics. With Whalen’s knack for crafting unconventional textiles into works of art, we anticipate her first on-calendar runway show will be a highlight in the group chat.
Another on our radar is Patrico Campillo, who made his New York Fashion Week debut last September. The first Mexican designer to be shortlisted for the 2024 LVMH Prize, Campillo weaves touchstones of his heritage into his designs.
Making a return to New York Fashion Week is Meruert Tolegen. For those of us who long to exist in a Brontë novel or hold the unpopular opinion that Little Women was Greta Gerwig’s best film adaptation (sorry, Barbie), Meruert Tolegen’s upcoming collection stands to be a must-see. First debuting in Paris in September 2022, Tolegen’s dreamy pieces own a romance reminiscent of another time. Sweeping taffeta coats dusted with floral prints and tiered midi skirts with structured corsets offer a modern-day salve for period dressing and embrace a divinely feminine spirit.
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