On your marks, get set, fashion! Last week, New York Fashion Week officially kicked off the upcoming SS25 marathon.
While the city is often roasted for having a lighter schedule – heavyweights Vaquera and Peter Do absconded to Paris and Marc Jacobs has left it entirely – this season signalled something of a comeback. A satisfying entrée before the main course.
The schedule welcomed new additions from across the Atlantic, while disenfranchised designers did their own thing off-schedule. Off the catwalk, models fought for their rights while Haley Wollens’ new magazine, MYTH, launched after a year in the making.
If you weren’t present or only gave the shows a cursory glance and would like to brush up on your fashion know-how, here’s a roundup of everything you missed. Welcome to i-D’s highlights of NYFW SS25.
1. Quicker Than a New York Minute
Bringing a new energy to the schedule, Alaïa and Off-White joined New York Fashion Week for one season only, presenting their collections back-to-back on September 7 and 8. For Alaïa’s creative director Pieter Mulier, the decision to go Stateside was twofold: an obsession with the idea of American beauty and an opportunity to stage the show in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum. A hushed silence fell as models slowly descended the spiral staircase, eventually making their way to the ground floor to a FROW boasting Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Rihanna, Liv Tyler and a host of fashion students personally invited by the designer. Reimagining American classics, the collection (intentionally) looked like art that belonged in a museum – the meeting point of dynamism and simplicity. Doing away with zippers, buttons and fastenings, the sculptural draped exits that closed the collection curved around the models’ bodies, bobbing like deep sea creatures as they floated by. America through the Alaïa lens.
Similarly inspired by all things Americana, at Off-White, creative director Ib Kamara also put his own twist on recognisable sporty silhouettes, staging the SS25 show on a basketball court in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 2. The US segue was a first for the brand – its founder, the late Virgil Abloh, opting for Paris since its inception in 2014. The collection drew inspiration from a trip he took to Ghana, from which Abloh’s parents emigrated – a ‘homecoming’ it infused sportswear with vibrant prints that were created by Ghanaian artist Nana Danso. Over in a New York minute, both brands will head home to Paris for AW25. Bon voyage!
2. Off-Schedule Must-Sees
Only presenting collections intermittently since their runway debut in 2019, Sophie Andes-Gascon and Claire McKinney returned to NYFW to present SC103’s latest collection. Chimera, the label’s recent exhibition, was the starting point for the collection honing its chic-cycling approach – repurposing vintage finds and giving them a new lease of life with smatterings of buttons, sequins, ribbons and licks of paint.
Sexy menswear label Palomo Spain also returned to NYFW after a hiatus, presenting All of Heaven’s Parties. An indulgent feast of opulence, the collection comprised oversized fur chubbies, navel-revealing scoop necks, glittering black togas and a herdful of ostrich feathers. Everything to prepare you for a fab party – unless you fancy popping to the supermarket in a sheer Y-front exposing bridal gown.
Taking it to the streets, Batsheva threw a guerilla-style event after the city refused Batsheva Hay’s request to close a stretch of Elizabeth Street in SoHo for a show. A stone’s throw from the brand’s flagship store – which opened in March this year – models included friends, customers invited by Batsheva herself and the show’s make-up artists who were led in a procession by a violinist playing a rendition of Shania Twain’s ‘You’re Still the One’. A mix of cutesy floral dresses and comfortable plaid tailored two-pieces, the looks were accessorised with old-school numbered paddles so that the show’s attendees – a mix of invited press and regular New Yorkers happening to be passing by – could pop in-store to place their orders right off the ‘runway’.
3. Who’s That Girl?
As always, this season was full of unexpected surprises to keep attendees on their toes. On the opening day of NYFW, the Green Lady of Brooklyn – 83-year-old Elizabeth Sweetheart who has become synonymous with the colour after donning it every day for the past 24 years – turned up at Collina Strada, marching alongside models like Aaron Philip and Jazelle. Toting a life-size iguana-shaped clutch, Sweetheart donned a shirt, hoodie and over cargos in her signature tone. A day later, Wu-Tang Clan jumped out of their seats at the end of the Tommy Hilfiger show – hosted aboard the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry, now owned by Pete Davidson – to close the show and perform a mash-up of hits. But, Eckhaus Latta took cameos to the nth degree. After launching its new collection via a lookbook, the brand invited friends to celebrate for a dinner – with designers collaborating with each of them to put together a look. As Ella Emhoff, Julio Torres, Jemima Kirke and King Princess settled into their seats, design duo Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta revealed that they were all the models for an impromptu SS25 show – each taking their turn sashaying between the tables in their EL looks.
4. MYTH Magazine Launches
Tired of traditional fashion media, earlier this year Haley Wollens announced an alternative and new venture: MYTH. Described by the stylist and creative director as “an editorial platform evolved for our time”, you won’t find this ‘magazine’ at your local newsagents, existing only online at mythmag dot com. Part Tumblr, part digital art, the conceptual publication officially launched with a debut issue fronted by Mariacarla Boscono and Anok Yai. A vibe shift from stories you might recognise, the digital offering is a mix of mad memes, lo-fi collages and reimagined ads for NYC icon Chloë Sevigny’s Little Flower fragrance – i.e. whatever Haley wants it to be! We’re already waiting for issue two.
5. Models Fight for Their Rights
Taking a break from shimmying down the catwalk, on September 10 a horde of models pounded the pavement outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s office, accessorised with placards demanding much-needed labour rights. Backed by Model Alliance, the demonstration aimed to get The Fashion Workers Act over the line after it passed the New York Assembly and Senate in June. “The Fashion Workers Act validates the basic premise that models are workers, deserving of the same rights and protections as anyone else who works for a living,” said executive director Sara Ziff. Applying pressure to Hochul to sign before the end of the year, the group hand-delivered over 100 letters signed by models Amber Valletta, Irina Shayk and Karen Elson. Once enacted, the legal loophole allowing models to be exploited will be eradicated, protecting them from wage theft, abuse and trafficking. As the Fashion Workers Act still waits to be passed officially, New Yorkers can contact their local representatives to continue to apply pressure.
Text: Dominic Cadogan
Photography: Darrel Hunter