All the Best Moments from New York Fashion Week

Off-White Makes Its New York City Debut

Usually part of Paris Fashion Week, Off-White traveled to the States for its New York Fashion Week debut. For his Spring 2025 collection, called "Duty Free," creative director Ib Kamara was inspired by a trip to Ghana, where Virgil Abloh's family was from which that he referred to in his work. Born in Sierra Leone and raised London, Kamara felt a similar experiences to the late founder, particularly in what New York represented for Africans: a place of opportunity. "This collection oozes the inclusive spirit of New York as the place where dreamers gather," he said in the show notes. "It is grounded in reality, with a dash of magic."

Photography: Wojciech Christopher Nowak

Coach Rethinks the Meaning of "Luxury"

Coach debuted its Spring 2025 collection with a runway show on the Spur of New York City’s High Line, the part of the park that's adjacent to the brand's global headquarters. The clothes itself offered a new interpretation of what "luxury" can really mean, as creative director Stuart Vevers has consistently experimented with as he continues to explore youth culture in New York City. Classical tailoring and couture-inspired cocktail dresses were mixed with more casual pieces inspired by skate, heavy metal and new wave cultures. The brand expanded Coach’s (Re)Loved program, which restores and resells vintage Coach pieces, and introduced the Chain Tabby 26 bag and the Soho Sneaker.

"My vision for Spring was to show real clothes in a real, relevant, urban environment,” said Vevers. "But we’re redesigning these clothes, keeping in mind the values of a new generation that is discovering these pieces for the first time. So many elements of this collection come down to personality. We’ve taken very archetypal pieces and made them unique to the wearer, with the proportions, with the styling, and with very playful embellishments that call into question the idea of traditional ‘luxury.’ I think what’s more valuable today is something that’s personal."

Area Celebrates Its 10-Year Anniversary

In honor of its 10-year anniversary, Area showed a collection that embodied its creativity, craftsmanship and unconventional beauty by diving into themes of individuality. First, it explored uniforms as symbols of conformity that were subverted by punks and club kids. Then, the brand took identity plaques like name plates, dog tags and door plaques and reimagined them face shields and brass plates decorating tailored pieces. Next, fingerprints, a literal marker of individuality, and made them into carved hardware encrusted with crystals and embroidered onto felt and jacquards. Fingerprints were also blown up and woven into jacquard fabrics to make a new pattern reminiscent of leopard print. Hands were a central motif for Spring 2025, with beaded and screen-printed and embossed hands placed throughout the collection. Most notably, Area partnered with Tinder for the runway to show both of their commitment to reproductive health and rights.

Collina Strada Touches Grass

In true Collina Strada fashion, founder and designer Hillary Taymour went outside and touched some grass, or threw grass, rather. With this election year weighing on everyone, she found herself simply wanting to reconnect with what really matters with things that ground her and bring her comfort and joy. For her Spring 2025 collection, those were ruffles, the muted elegance of a soft palette, historical smocking and a lot of long hair.

"I wanted to reduce the noise of all the news and speak with quiet confidence," Taymour said. "This collection embodies that vision — toned down yet dressed up. Demure yet mindful. With all the heavy headlines, a fashion show can feel as insignificant as a single blade of grass in a big-ass lawn. But when these single, simple joys — a floppy hat, fluttering sleeves, breeze in the trees — all come together, they create something vital: a beautiful, lush, and flourishing meadow.

Photography: Charlie Engman

Grace Ling Gets Paleolithic

For Spring 2025, Grace Ling was thinking about a more primitive time, when humans first used fire and made tools out of stone. The collection, called "Neanderthal," was a mixture of ready-to-wear and couture looks: tailoring and knitwear that appeared scorched, torn, burnt and windswept, as well as surrealist metal sculptures. On the runway, the Grace Ling x Humane Handaxe bag also debuted: an AI device with Stone Age design inspiration, remembering humankind's past while looking into our future.

Wiederhoeft Presents "Manifesto"

Jackson Wiederhoeft put on a show for his Spring 2025 collection, called "Manifesto." Rather than just a traditional runway, the designer and founder told a story that opened with a dancer in the first look — a sheer corseted gown with exposed rusted metal boning, shredded invisible tulle sprays, mother of pearl shells and corded and Chantilly paisley lace — being pulled in different directions. After the dramatic opening, models walked the black box space in evening, bridal and ready-to-wear looks before the final act: a flock of brides all in the same exact white bridal look in various sizes 00 to 28.

Photography: Daniel Roa

Untitled&Co Brings Hollywood to NYC

Untitled&Co debuted with its collection called “Made in Hollywood," delving into the duality of the Los Angeles experience: the hopeful and the disillusioned, the stars and the strugglers. Direct inspiration included celebrity pop-culture, West Coast rock and roll nostalgia and tragic Hollywood glamour.

Photography: Randy Brooke

John Varvatos Is Back After Five Years

John Varvatos returned to New York Fashion Week after five years to debut its Spring 2025 collection, called “Kiln & Craft” in Upper East Side mansion. Under the creative direction of Karl Aberg, the brand showed 25 looks that celebrated the beauty of imperfection, emulating the natural qualities found in ceramic techniques.

Photography: Andrew Segreti

Custo Barcelona Brings Spanish Flair

Designer Custo Dalmau of Custo Barcelona brought color to an alleyway filled with graffiti behind the Walker Hotel. The Spanish designer’s return to NYFW featured silk short swing dresses in a fuschia, lemon-lime, black, turquoise and white. Oversized bombers and exaggerated cargo pants brought streetwear to the collection. And graphic jumpsuits “inferred a rocket ride to a planet ruled by love and beauty.”

Photos courtesy of Custo Barcelona