Trendspotting and Screenshotting NYFW, Part I
It's all in the (chic) details.
It’s New York Fashion Week, and that back-to-school feeling is in the air. Everyone’s pulling out their best first-day outfits. After my first year in the city and a couple of mentally draining fashion months, I realized I needed to reconfigure how I approached the season so that it worked for me instead of working me over.
That began with spending the summer away by the water, which, in a way, felt like camp. Coming back to the city a little tanner, my soul a little more at rest, to a little nip in the air, reinforced my excitement to return to Manhattan and see my friends again for the new “school year.”
That optimistic feeling of renewal coincided with the third anniversary of The Love List. I was feeling the pressure to plant my flag in the ground with some sort of party, but I also shy away from the camera and don’t love being the center of attention, so I thought hard about how we could celebrate in a way that didn’t feel like it was all about me, me, me.
I was having dinner with a group of friends last spring, many of whom happen to be designers, when someone suggested gathering everyone for a trunk show hosted by The Love List. I thought that was a perfect way to celebrate three years: by honoring the people whose stories we’ve told and doing something special for our reader community to hang out IRL.
Even better, I thought, to kick it off with our kinda-infamous annual game of “Fashion Uno,” where we gather women in the industry for a high-stakes card game (with New York Happy Meals, a.k.a. martinis and fries). ShopMy helped us up the ante by pitching in a Bottega Andiamo as first prize, and we hosted the whole affair in the private dining room at Raf’s over a long, languid, and indulgent dinner.
This year’s invite list was comprised solely of the founders and designers we’ve written about over the last three years in our “Designer Dossier” and “Boxcutter” (formerly “Add to Cart”) series. It was the ideal way to ring in the next chapter of the newsletter because these women inspire me to keep going every day.
The following day, everyone got back together to hang out all day, sell their pieces, and meet with our community to shop, sip, and fill their cup with good vibes and positive mental energy before barreling into the rest of Fashion Week.
My sister told me once that when you’re going in exactly the right direction, the Universe will send you a test, usually something sexy that tempts you away from your path.
Right after we confirmed the event details, I got a coveted invite to the Ralph Lauren show in Bridgehampton—a runway show, cocktails, a glittery seated dinner, car service, and all—on the exact day of our pop-up.
I cursed the timing briefly but remembered my sister’s sage advice. Today, after sleeping 13 hours and recovering from what feels like the marathon of a lifetime, I know she couldn’t have been more on point. I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
If you couldn’t be there yesterday, I encourage you to peruse our “Shop the Pop” letter from earlier this week, where I spotlighted my favorite items available for sale.
I did plenty of shopping myself. I walked away with a black woven clutch from Underwater Weaving, a pair of stud earrings from Erede, sumptuous Plum Oil from Kindred Black, a gorgeous Zebra haircalf bag from Esha Soni, and of course, our collab shirt with Chava Studio. I am also down one Don’t Let Disco necklace because I sold it right off my neck to one of you!
Speaking of you, wow. I was beaming with pride all day — this community of women is FUCKING CHIC. Every last one of you who I met yesterday was kind, funny, and absolutely killing it in the outfit department. Prada! miu miu! Chava! Tibi! The Row! The watches, the jewelry, the nails, THE SKIN!
The designers themselves looked incredible, too, as did some of our other guests, who came in with things that will be burned in my brain for months: Janessa Leone in her own long belt (I need it), Rachel Tashijan’s color-blasted Hermes bag,
’ megawatt smile, and Cecilie Bahnsen in her own signature, a perfectly puffy frock.Erin was in the backyard weaving pieces for the Maria McManus show this morning, one of the few runways I’ve been able to skip amid all this anniversary hullabaloo.
ShopMy threw a party on the roof of Zero Bond, and the outfits were great. I particularly liked
’s little black Row clutch, ’s huge gold clutch, ’s penchant for rocking a coat the second the temps dip below 75, ’s slinky white dress, Kyle’s perfectly-unbottoned button-down, Jalil’s black sequin look, ’s monster Bottega Hop bag, and Tiffany’s leather skirt.I also swung through a preview for a new brand, Literary Sport, which, to steal a friend’s words, felt like very Row-coded activewear. It's well-styled and marketed, but I'm curious to see prices and try it on myself.
I was five minutes away from a dinner to launch Diptyque’s new fragrances, “Les Essences de Diptyque”, when I got an emergency phone call and had to turn my car around, but I want you to see the product regardless because it’s really special.
At that exact time downtown, Barneys pop-up launched, a revival spurned by Hourglass. As Lauren put it, “the mix of designers on display was what might be stocked today at Barneys, if only Barneys still existed.” God, I miss Barneys.
We are barely at the beginning of the “official” calendar, and I’m already tired. But onward we go. Let’s talk in a few days. ‘Til then, see you in the chat (a chat y’all have made so powerful that it sent the Alex Mill barn jacket viral) and on IG. LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!
Event photos were taken by Kelsey Cherry.
I too so miss Barneys - the SF location had the best fragrance/candle offerings ever
Can I kindly ask you which camera you used to take these snapshots? I love the look of them ❤️ thanks a lot