Recent consensus seemed to be that the people were growing bored of big buck fashion, and an excitement over mainstream designer houses had stalled – what, with constant changes in creative directors, and a global economy in crisis. Did the Big Apple’s showcase of what is to be worn in 2025, once the ice thaws out, have an exhilarating effect? According to our very own NYFW review: Maybe.
What to make of NYFW? Reviews are in.
Firstly, a major motif of these most recent offerings is the gist that we are getting dressed up again. There were case-in-point instances of this in the dark drama at Who Decides War, the cutesy office sirens at Sandy Liang, and a well of familiar and reinterpreted American iconography – from Hamptons preppy to Spencer’s mall goth – at Ralph Lauren and SP5DER, respectively.
A summon, perhaps, for you to finally allow some fun back into your wardrobe after months and months of logoverkill – yes, I coined this – or austere minimalism.
Generally, it appeared that a lot of what hurried down runways these past days put extra heavy emphasis on whatever the guiding aesthetic principle was. What I mean by this is that we can look at, say, Proenza Schouler and Tory Burch (as well as guest Alaïa), for example, and see they’ve each leaned into intricate tailoring and drapery, but went easier on the color front, for feminine day- and evening wear that was maximalist in creativity and skill, sure, but wearable and elegant no less.
Speaking of femininity: alongside some of the above, Luar also honed in on superlatives, sending out near-satirically gendered prints and silhouettes, on a wildly diverse cast of glamazons – hyper femme, hyper masc, and everything above, beyond, and in between.
Elsewhere, Coach’s clothes remained rather casual, instead taking their mouthwatering accessory game to the next level – once more. Now that the Brooklyn and Empire bags have each set the internet ablaze, Stuart Vevers’ team quite literally dipped their toes into the related charms trend, extending it to footwear however. So, next to purses, sneakers are now, too, dripping with nifty trinkets and doodads.
If there was a conclusion I’d want you to step away from this NYFW review with, it’d be that there are, indeed, plenty of strong currents and energetic forces at play here to shake America’s fashion capital out of its slumber. This latest rendition may not have outdone years’ worth of sloping, but it certainly read as an effort of collective desire and passion toward what might just be a Spring awakening.
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