NYFW Final thoughts
No matter what’s happening in the world—and these days it could be any horror beyond your wildest imagination—we have to get dressed. We have to get out the door, and make our way through the world. And, well, you might as well feel good about what you wear to do that.
New Yorkers are particularly adept at keeping on, no matter what the day may throw at them: a sardine-packed subway ride, some interminable delay of some sort, really just name-your-Mayor-Adams-induced chaos. And New York’s designers are especially skilled at outfitting them for whatever the moment may call for. That’s the legacy and promise of American sportswear.
Michael Kors’s fall 2025 collection delivered on that promise with his signature swaggy uptown finesse: slouchy oversized grey suiting, tough black leather trenches and jackets, cozy jewel-toned monochrome knit ensembles, touches of fluffy faux fur on vests or bags, and a bit of shine by way of loose sequin gowns at the end. Some of the camel-colored looks—like a coat worn over a high-neck turtleneck and trousers—recalled Kors’ memorable designs (then while at Celine) for Renee Rousseau in The Thomas Crown Affair, which is always a reference worth revisiting.
Downtown at Bortolami gallery in Tribeca immediately after Kors’s slick runway show, Daniella Kallmeyer presented her fall 2025 collection that felt in conversation with Kors’s citified wardrobe (especially when Sarita Choudhury walked the runway in a cinched, ankle-length black leather coat) but also offered a downtown counterpoint. Suiting, her sweet spot, was languid and sensual; trousers and slinky dresses were done in shiny, slippery silks. I loved the ties tucked behind a few looks—having become so used to seeing blazers styled open, and often with half-buttoned shirts worn underneath, it’s refreshing to see it all worn buttoned up, particularly when the vibe is anything but.
Tory Burch presented what she called a “twisted” take on American classics. “I love sportswear, and I’m amazed that it was created here. We should celebrate that,” Burch told Bazaar’s fashion news director, Brooke Bobb, post-show. With Burch’s finely-tuned eye, even the humble sweatpant was elevated, made from Japanese brushed jersey and rendered in off-kilter two-tone color combinations like pistachio and cream or brown with a nubby oat strip down the sides. If the pieces were classic—boxy blazers, cropped leather jackets, sporty quarter-zips, swingy full skirts and sweats—the colors, textures and the weird details added the satisfying twist. I stared at the models stockings as the walked past, fixated on a print that appeared at the ankle. It was a little white mouse. How very New York. Knits were chocolatey brown and marled. One standout coat was shiny and padded and held together by a long hat pin that looked like it had been jammed there with aggression. Elsewhere brooches were affixed on draped knits or slashed through near the lapels of a jersey top; a reference, Burch said, to former Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s famous broach collection and how she used them as commentary.
At Coach, Stuart Vevers doubled down on his charmed-out accessories; this go round, bags even wore pre-pilled sweaters wrapped around their handles in addition to the bits and bobs. A front row with a cumulative social reach well into the tens of millions (including JT, Halle Bailey, Sophie Thatcher, and Emily Ratajkowski) reflects Vevers’s canny appeal to the viral and very online. For fall he is outfitting them in skater-inspired wide leg jeans worn hanging off the hips and cinched with an extra long belt. These were paired with cropped leather jackets with shearling collars or worn-in baby tees. Alternately, there were plenty of floor-length ‘70s inspired duster coats or oversized blazers to toss over your jeans.
Some of the strongest statements came from independent designers creating a design vocabulary all their own. Rachel Scott, who won the CFDA award for designer of the year last year, exceeded all expectations with her latest showing, a collection that was deeply personal, highly emotional, and thoughtfully wrought. Her collection, dedicated to the idea of the matriarch, was inspired by photos she received after she posted a call to her community: “I am researching images of the black women that came before us and paved the way: the auntie, the trans mothers, the grandma, the matriarch.” The resulting clothes designs evolve her ruffled and ruched embroidered knitwear into a more sumptuous offering: a fluffy knit collar that could pass for shearling; quilted jackets and skits meant to evoke a duvet; drop-waist dresses embroidered with beads and worn over pants. Even before I read the inspiration behind the collection, the emotionality could be felt in the clothes.
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