NYFW: Sisterhood of the Traveling Jacket
The girls are HERE! Khaite, Maria McManus, Fforme, Ruadh, Colleen Allen, and more.
Texture is my primary takeaway from this week’s runways and presentations. There was fur, fringe, fuzz, velvet and velour, braiding and beading—absolute loads of texture.
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I’m going in-depth on the shows and presentations that stood out to me most, plus there’s a market edit for implementing seconds-old runway ideas into your wardrobe right now.
Let’s talk about it all more in chat and comments. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Brands that typically live within the neutral confines of minimal modernity turned up the volume on basic black. Maria McManus invited us into her chic Tribeca loft to present silks that mimicked speckled Ostrich leather and textural shoulder shrugs to elevate your trusty black coat. Showed salon-style, there was a beaded cap that begged for white blonde hair and glinty, glassy carcanets from Don’t Let Disco that dangled from trouser loops as carefree as skaters’ carabiners.
Fforme debuted an entirely new direction that I wasn’t surprised to see but delighted by nonetheless. Last year, I visited brand founder Nina Khosla in the Soho Studio she shares with my friend Talia Levy of EREDE. I was petting and cooing at Fforme’s Van knitted jacket. “There will be a lot more of that kind of thing soon,” She told me then. That promise was delivered by new-to-the-house designer Frances Howie: suede fringe pants swished confidently down the runway, peppered by blasts of black feathers and massive tassels.
It made the hooded down puffer I wore to the show — a beloved gift from the brand last season — feel downright dowdy by comparison. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be so pragmatic in my sensible leather clutch and Carven cashmere. I wanted to be a Magpie, stomping down the street in clothes that beg strangers to pet me.
At Khaite, Catherine Holstein kept punching up. Last season’s collection was a surprising blast of light from a brand that typically keeps things moody, with lots of crocheted and knit bits set off by beaded shoes and (of course) lots of leather.
But tonight, it was a big cat and a huge orb that stole the show.
A huge commitment to leopard print hair calf marched around Holstein’s ring of fire, a circular runway theatrically lit in the designer’s signature, cinematic style of presentation. A familiar affinity for ruby red was present, and the funky heavy knit thru-line from her last collection continued into this one.
For a designer made famous by a cashmere cardigan, she certainly took the sweater and turned it on its head tonight. Textures were super-sized and splattered across otherwise easy pieces like a t-shirt, grounded by utterly classic cashmere coats.
There was even more fur and fringe, especially on collars and skirts, and I saw my second showing of opera gloves in a week (the first pair was a red leather mitten at Colleen Allen). Lots of over-the-knee boots marched around the uplit loop, which reminded me of Toteme’s showing last week — think it’s safe to say you’ll be pulling your boots up over your jeans next fall.
It’s always so damn dark in there that it’s pointless to take photos of your own, so you’ll have to trust me until more runway images go live (which I’ll update here).
I kept thinking how great the reverse shearling coat Holstein showed would look with a pair of black Ruadh Kerr jeans I’m eyeing. At a Moda Operandi party to fete designer Jac Cameron last week, I wore a bushy shearling coat that a friend endearingly complimented as “freaky .”I laughed, thinking I would have never worn it even a year ago. But the hum-drum minimalism of the past few seasons makes me want to use the more grounded pieces I’ve bought from those collections and amp them up with something weird.
At a point in my life, a black blazer was just that, and I only needed one. Now, I have several, and they all serve a purpose. Edie Parker threw a rager at Brass (set off by silver trays of their “Seedie” edibles, “petal puffer” vapes, and a performance from Countess Luann).
I wore my black blazer in a shiny black silk, oversized enough to skim the hemline of my mini dress. At one point, I leaned over to Real Housewives of Salt Lake City newcomer Bronwyn Newport -- notoriously a fearless dresser -- and told her how much I was enjoying her as an addition to the show. She complimented my (freaky) huge Schiaparelli earrings.
At the same party, I found myself in a long chat with a chic woman in a wildly textured knit cardigan that looked like felted dreadlocks. It was a really, really good sweater, and she noted she’d had it for decades. I noticed people kept coming over to pay their respects to her as we chatted about how we’re both craving wacky textures right now. At one point, I leaned over to Christina Grasso and asked why people were kissing the ring.
Turns out it one of the most successful supermodels of her era, who ruled the runways in the 1970’s and 80’s. But that’s New York for you. You’re feeling chatty from a passed-tray THC gummy and later learn the lovely person you were talking to is a living legend.
At a party for Aligne, a different black blazer came up again and again — I counted fifteen girls in the brand’s Daphne Waisted jacket, all different heights and body types, who styled completely differently.
Vanity Fair Editor Kia Desiree Goosby wore hers styled with trousers and a newly-shorn bob. Mega-influencer Danielle Bernstein styled it with big, silver statement jewelry. My seatmate Laura Jung threw hers on with a cherry lip from Hourglass. I thought of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, replaced instead by a magical blazer that looks good on everybody.
This is all to say there is grandeur in the air, excess, and frivolity. Even those of us who live in The Row find our eyes traveling to things that look more overtly sumptuous and tactile.
Yesterday, I found myself in Toteme almost instinctively gravitating towards a marled, wooly silk sweater. At the Colleen Allen showroom, I beelined for a rich velvet dress in a crave-able shade of celery and immediately clocked the smell in the air as Maison d’Etto’s ultra-rich Verdades because I wear it often myself. Objett Studio, a newly-launched jewelry line I visited, boasts hefty medallions that you can personalize with your choice of luxe stones. Even Sloan, a new(er) New York-born line of minimal “capsule” pieces, expanded beyond the basics, playing with volume and scale to include a Philo-esque puffy scarf.
And while I don’t see myself in head-to-toe feathers at any point soon (that would indicate a lobotomy), I’m craving a rich bit of flash. Just a tiny bit — enough to perk up sturdy, minimal basics and awaken the quiet nature of my wardrobe.
In that sense, maybe all this texture is fashion telling even the most restrained among us that our wardrobes need a shot of espresso. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of the collections that have resonated with me thus far — from Ruadh, Calvin Klein and Maria McManus to Khaite, Colleen Allen and Fforme — were all designed by women. A man inviting such tactility doesn’t feel quite as appropriate or resonant.
Quiet Luxury has come and gone. You’ve spent the last few years being pragmatic and sensible, building your arsenal of quality basics. And while there will always be room for a great pair of jeans, now it’s time to ice the cake, light the candles, and dress every day like you have something to celebrate.
A little sparkle, a bit of fur, a glossy red shoe where there was once a black one, a heady spritz of perfume: it doesn’t take much. All that matters is that you experience it on the streets, not through a screen.
So happy to wear my fur again! Okay, I actually never stopped wearing it but … 😉
I do want to see more color though.
Hedonism within ur codes is baaaack bby!!!!!! Loved this <3