New York, New York, it’s a hell of a town, but with so much going on in the Big Apple, figuring out where to start can be a bit overwhelming – and that’s especially true during fashion week, when figuring out what day it is can feel like an uphill battle. Lucky for you, though, we’ve collated all of our top tips, amassed through years of slogging through the chiffon trenches, to bring you a handy crib sheet of our go-to spots for whenever we’re in town for the shows. From the best hotels to book to the top shops to stop by if you’re in the mood for an all-out spree, the ideal spots for a post-show martini to the best dumpling spots, here’s the i-D guide to New York Fashion Week.
WHERE TO STAY
The Standard, High Line
The Meatpacking District’s most iconic hotel – and located a stone’s throw from the neighbourhood’s brand new Gucci and Hermès flagships to boot! – The Standard’s original New York location has been a fash-pack favourite since opening its doors in 2009. Sure, its 338 rooms are chicly fitted-out with made-for-’gramming vistas of the mighty Hudson river and the Manhattan skyline, but what really draws people in are the legendary fashion-week soirées that take place at its two legendary party venues – The Boom Boom Room and Le Bain. Pair that with its generously flexible check-out policy, and it makes for the perfect spot for anyone looking to party on into the wee hours without dealing with the penalty fare of a yellow cab ride home!
The Roxy
Nestled amid the refined art galleries of Tribeca’s upper reaches, The Roxy is ideal for any nostalgic bon vivant. With rooms extending over 8 floors around a Art Deco-style vaulted central atrium, it oozes Jazz-era decadence – a fact perhaps compounded by the fact that the hotel puts on live jazz performances 7 nights a week with no cover charge – a miracle of a find in a city where nothing is free! At the heart of it all is the Roxy Bar, a capacious lounge fitted out with sumptuous velvet and leather seats, tranquil lighting, a delectable cocktail selection and an adjoining oyster bar. More than a just a spot for decadent indulgence, though, during the day, it also serves as one of the cosiest nooks to chill out, catch up on your emails over a coffee and panic-write show reviews – a necessary oasis of calm for when fashion week chaos well and truly descends.
The Soho Grand
One for those keen for a shopping spree, The Soho Grand is located right where you think it is, at the heart of New York’s chicest shopping districts (5th/Madison Ave girlies, stay pressed!). One of the city’s original boutique hotels, it’s garnered a fair amount of fashion world clout as a go-to for international editors in town – with that for its generously sized rooms at prices that are eyebrow-raising for all the right reasons (they’re very fair, basically). Throw in its incredibly chic bar area and newly renovated Club Room (more on that to come!) and it all makes for a top-marks fashion week stay.
The Freehand
Midtown, we have heard, is currently having something of a moment. If you’re in the mood to verify that claim, then one place well worth staying while you do is The Freehand, a recently launched property from the Generator group just around the corner from the iconic Flatiron building. Rooms are tastefully decorated with enlivening artworks, but the real draw here are the incredible prices, with the hotel offering some of the best deals you’ll find in New York’s flagship borough.
The Carlyle
If money’s no object, or whoever’s covering your stay has the sort of budget Vogue used to have in the 90s, then do consider The Carlyle – a hotel so chic that perfumers-of-the-moment even dedicated a scent to it. What the rooms are like is a mystery to us, as it is, admittedly, a bit beyond our budget, but our hack for getting a whiff of what life at this Upper East Side stalwart might look like is to head to the Bemelman’s Bar for probably the best martinis of your life, and try to seduce one of your neighbours into letting you spend a night upstairs.
Aman New York
If money’s even less of an object, then a stay at the latest ‘urban resort’ from über-luxe hoteliers Aman is a must. Given that rates at the lower end start at $1750, it’s perhaps better suited for those attending fashion week to shop the runway rather than, you know, for work, but if you’re reading this and that’s you, then we wholeheartedly encourage you to live it TF up book a stay and just so that we can live vicariously through you.
Hotel Chelsea
One of the westside’s most iconic (and notorious) properties, there are few places that have the celeb factor of the newly renovated Hotel Chelsea. The former home of icons like Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell and Robert Mapplethorpe, the property’s an essential fixture of New York’s cultural lore, and, accordingly since it’s re-opening, a newly-minted NYFW hub.
11 Howard
Is there anything more ‘fashion week’ than a stay at the hotel Anna Delvey famously racked up a $30k bill at? No, we didn’t think so. On pulling up to the SoHo boutique hotel, though, you’ll see why the notorious scammer – and subsequent fashion world icon –- was so reluctant to leave. With each of its 207 rooms fitted out in tasteful Scandi decor, and lymphatic drainage and infrared sauna treatments available on site, this place was basically built with us prissy fashion girlies in mind!
WHERE TO EAT
Balthazar
A restaurant that needs little introduction, Balthazar is a New York institution, serving caricaturistic French fare on red leather banquettes. Paris Fashion Week vibes without actually having to deal with being in Paris during fashion week, and impeccable people watching to match.
The Odeon
The new Balthazar, by some accounts, this Tribeca haunt serves up a similar offering of Gallic grub, though with a slightly celebier crowd. If it’s not already booked out by a brandfor the night, come here for a chance to see Mary-Kate and/or Ashley Olsen picking at a wedge salad and a side of french fries.
Estela
A self-described purveyor of ‘Modern American cuisine’, Estela is the sort of chicly understated spot to take anyone you’re trying to impress, whether a date or a discerning client.
Cervo’s
A must for any fans of the fruits of the sea, located at the heart of Dimes Square, Cervo’s is one of Lower Manhattan’s best-loved seafood spots, focussing on the quality ingredients-led recipes of Spain and Portugal’s Atlantic coastlines – with a naturals-focussed wine list to match. They also typically offer a wide selection of oysters, which, as everyone knows, are incredibly fashionable and chic.
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou
Ok, so this one may not scream ‘fashion week!!’ from the outside, but when you inevitably find your bank balance drained by, like, day three of the week and you’re after a heartwarming meal that won’t break the bank, you will need this Chinatown institution. Serving up six of the best dumplings you’ll find in town, a plate of peanut noodles and a can of Diet Coke for less than $10, Shu Jiao Fu Zhou really are doing God’s work.
Sweetgreen
As everyone knows, fashion people run exclusively on Diet Coke (Coke Zero at a push) and salad. While you won’t find any of the former at this über-healthy chain, Sweetgreen is a mecca for the latter, serving all the kale-oriented concoctions your heart could desire.
Scarr’s Pizza
New York is a city widely acclaimed for its by-the-slice pizza, and while it isn’t necessarily a food you’d typically associate with fashion girlies, a late-night trip to Scarr’s on the Lower East Side, mobbed by people in new-season Prada gagging for a pepperoni slice, will prove you wrong. They also do steezy merch, which is telling.
The Standard Grill
Located on the pavement level of The Standard, High Line’s sprawling hospitality complex, the hotel’s cosy grill specialises in decadent, yet refined American cuisine – from lavish brunches to multi-tiered raw bar towers, flame-kissed, bone-in sharing steaks and jumbo prawns to sinfully chocolate-y desserts, all washed down with lashings of champagne. A fashion week must for filling your boots before heading up to Le Bain for a few more drinks and a dance before stumbling back down to your room.
Taqueria Ramirez
As and when you inevitably end up in Greenpoint (gasp!) for a late-night show, consider yourself lucky solely for the fact that you will be within biting distance of the heaven-sent Taqueria Ramirez. With a terse list of options – succulent suadero, tripa and longaniza among them – struck through the moment they’ve run out, this Brooklyn taco joint serve up what are widely deemed some of the city’s most authentic and best, making the trip across the bridge well worth it.
Popular
Calling a restaurant ‘Popular’ may seem pretty conceited, but for this ritzy restaurant nestled beneath LES hotel Public, it’s fairly warranted. Set in a spacious, plant-filled environment, Popular offers a refined introduction to Peruvian cuisine, with highlights including an extensive selection of ceviches, and a whole bar dedicated to Peru’s (very potent!) national spirit, pisco.
Habibi The Restaurant
Habibi is the culinary outpost of the Palm Heights Resort in the Cayman Islands favored by the fashion set. Taking the same luxurious design cues you’ll find at the resort, they’ve managed to flip a Bushwick warehouse into a white tablecloth experience, serving inspired, mouth watering Middle Eastern cuisine. Once you board the fright elevator manned by a bartender serving champagne, you’ll see it’s set to be an unforgettable experience.
WHERE TO DRINK
Le Dive
For someone literally called ‘Le Dive’, this Dimes Square mainstay is actually quite chic, offering a comprehensive offering of natural wines, martinis and small plates. The clientele is, as you can probably imagine, concertedly fashionable, and you will probably run into all your ghosted Tinder matches in the first 5 minutes, but that’s all part of the fun.
Clandestino
Just next door or so is Clandestino, a low-lit favourite among Lower Manhattan’s fashion girlies. A similar crowd to what you’ll find next door, albeit with a slightly more raucous vibe – more shots of Stoli than skin-contact chardonnays.
The River
Described by the New York Times as a “saloon for the Downtown fashion set”, this place needs little introduction other than that it’s the bar founded by Emily Bode Aujla’s husband, Aaron Aujla. Replete with tobacco-hued wood furnishings, nostalgic Americana art, and modelesque servers in Bode-designed uniforms, it’s exactly what you imagine it is, and all the more worth visiting for it.
Rhodora
This organic wine bar — nestled on a quiet tree-lined streetcorner stradling Fort Greene and Clinton Hill — is the perfect place to sneak in a moment of relaxation if you have a little extra time to spare in Brooklyn. If you’re lucky enough to make it by dinner time, you just might catch one of their chef pop ups, hosted by some of the most exciting young culinary minds in the city.
WHERE TO PARTY
Soho Grand Club Room
If you heeded our advice above and booked in a stay at the Soho Grand, then a reward in store for you is the property’s recently opened Club Room, a sumptuous, lounge-like space that channels a sense of vintage New York charm replete with plush couchettes, velvet drapes and even a gilded bar. Head down in the early evening for sultry jazz performances, and later one in the night to dance the night away to impeccably mixed disco DJ sets.
Bossa Nova Civic Club
Speaking of DJ sets, though, serious dance music heads in town for the week should hop across the bridge to Bushwick’s renowned Bossa Nova Civic Club, a cozy nook situated below the overhead subway tracks with some of the city’s best house/techno programming.
Basement
If you tire of brand-sponsored after-parties and Berlin-style debauch is what you’re after, then one of the go-to places in town for that sort of affair (think: fetish dress-code nights and nosebleed techno) is Basement in Queens. While it may be a top choice for a big night out, maybe best to avoid this one if you’ve got any shows before, say, 3pm the next day.
WHERE TO SHOP
Dover Street Market New York
If we need to tell you what this is, then girl, you are in the wrong place (but welcome all the same!). The Lexington Avenue outlet of Rei Kawakubo’s legendary shopping concept, this is the place to pick up bits from basically any label worth getting in a tizz about, as well as the host venue for some of the week’s buzziest events.
Beacon’s Closet
If the budget isn’t quite giving DSM, then Beacon’s Closet — one of the city’s foremost thrift chains, is one of the best places to head for second-hand steals that are just as fashion-forward.
James Veloria
Is 90s/Y2K glam is your bag? Then head to Chinatown vintage hotspot James Veloria — it’s an essential pilgrimage for anyone after Gaultier mesh tops, 00s Versace prints or the 90s Miu Miu bits that Mrs Prada had been pulling out of the archive ad references for in her most recent shows.
Maryam Nassir Zadeh
More than just the place to pick up pieces from the designer and Downtown figure of lifestyle aspiration’s iconic namesake label, it’s also a must-visit for its impeccable curation of niche, IYKYK gems – think: Parisian upcycled couture label All-In and Filipino brand Carl Jan Cruz.
Sincerely Tommy
This Black-owned Bed Stuy staple is a must if you’re in the area! The concept shop is replete with a coffee counter, the latest fashions and accessories from independent Black and Brown designers, and a selection of home and wellness goods that will have you feeling centred in inspiration and intention.