From Veronica Leoni’s stellar debut at Calvin Klein and Sandy Liang’s nostalgia-infused world to Collina Strada’s “Fempire,” these were the moments that proved NYFW still deserves its flowers.
Christian Cowan bites back with his chewing-gum inspired dress
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and this is certainly the case for Christian Cowan. The British designer took a liking to chewing gum this season, as his off-schedule collection opened with a dress that was littered in silicone chewing gum, bit by Cowan to mimic a good ol’ Hubba Bubba. His collection took inspiration from none other than Gen Z and their ever-waning attention span, a “clash of influences”, the designer explained. With a soundtrack that switched song every 10 seconds (think TikTok sounds meets one of Mozart’s Symphony), Cowan’s 30-piece collection was a smash hit among the Real Housewives crowd.
Veronica Leoni makes her debut at Calvin Klein
After six long years of waiting, NYFW has finally been graced with the return of Calvin Klein on the runway. Now under the helm of its first ever female creative director, Veronica Leoni, her debut was one of the most heavily anticipated moments for the week. The Italian-based designer, who has an arsenal of experience from her time at The Row, Céline (under Phoebe Philo no less) and Moncler, revived the label with much-needed energy, paying homage to the Calvin Klein DNA. Amidst a star-studded crowd – from supers Kate Moss and Christy Turlington, to Calvin Klein himself – Leoni painted a new CK woman, one that oozes seduction and sophistication. We can’t wait to see what she does next!
Sandy Liang toys with nostalgia
If your childhood Polly Pocket dolls could be blown up into life-sized models and sent down the runway, they’d probably look somewhat like Sandy Liang’s AW25 offering. For her first collection since becoming a mother last year, Liang once again dusted off her childhood toy box and dove headfirst into her younger years as her starting point for the collection. Musing on trips to ToysRUs, kitschy pink planners with a lock, or movies like The Snowman and The Parent Trap, the New York born-and-bred designer played on these influences, as Furby-like faux fur skirts and over-saturated colour palettes entwined to create a jovial collection. The highlight, however, was when Liang harked to her Chinese American heritage: the penultimate look boasted a glossy skirt with a calendar graphic on it, filled with doodles that looked as if straight out of a Sanrio store.
Collina Strada welcomes us into her ‘Fempire’
What would the world look like if it were controlled by women? No, it’s not the start to a Chappell Roan song, it’s the question that framed Collina Strada’s fall show. Taking a more grunge turn to her typical collections, Hillary Taymour – the brains behind Collina Strada – instilled the 37-piece collection with dark floral prints, hooded garments and yellow bee-eyed sunglasses. Climaxing towards the finale of Taymour’s offering, the New York-based designer showcased a series of gowns made from vintage wedding and first-communion dresses, as two lace-clad models walked hand in hand down the runway and kissed at the end. One thing here is clear, if Collina Strada is getting down on one knee, we of course scream in union – I do!
Christopher John Rogers returns to NYFW after 5 years
With his first collection since the pandemic, Christopher John Rogers not only reunited with New York’s catwalk, but also opened fashion week with a vibrant bang. Framed under the Brooklyn Fish Transfer building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Rogers’ offering, entitled Collection 015: Exhale, drew from the kaleidoscopic colour palette that is integral to the Christopher John Rogers house code. Exemplified as a celebration of identity, dresses were drenched in rich scarlets and citrus yellows, as they jutted out at the hip and cascaded downwards.
Florals for Spring stays groundbreaking at Carolina Herrera
For Wes Gordon’s AW25 Carolina Herrera show, winter was brought into the skyscrapers that look down onto Central Park, as the Chicago-born designer wired 3,000 individual cherry red ranunculus onto the 48th floor of the Solow Building. As always, florals were in bloom: as they weaved their way around a strapless evening dress, pinned themselves as brooches onto forest green bodycons, and wrapped around monochrome outfits as if a prom queen sash.
Lisa Rinna swaps her housewife duties for the office, as she walks at Jane Wade
Jane Wade knows not of work-life balance, as she took it to the runway for AW25, and left no man behind in the process. This season, the designer took a tongue-in-cheek narrative based on the archetypes that reside in the office: from the unpaid intern, all the way up to the power suit donning CEO (which was played by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Lisa Rinna). Sharply tailored suits with exaggerated shoulder pads riffed off of reworked button-up shirts, wide leg culottes that even featured ID cards on the belt loop as models swapped their luxury baguette bags for fizzy drink cans.
Thom Browne sung his birdsong and we can’t get enough
Thom Browne has certainly been living in our heads rent free recently, what with Grammy-winning rapper Doechiii being dressed in his iconic grey pinstripe fabric as she performed and accepted her award. Since then, we’ve been chirping on and on about how good she looked, and a bit like a flock of birds (pun intended), we nestled into the blocks of New York to obsess over Browne’s AW25 collection. Inspired by his affinity to birds, the designer’s collection hailed to the freedom that they obtain: rounded shoulders, bird embroideries, billowing skirts and feathered shirts were all highlights. We ask you Thom Browne, where are we flying to next?
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Words — Freya Goodchild-Bridge