New York Fashion Week: Highlights from the Fall-Winter 2024 runways

New York Fashion Week: Highlights from the Fall-Winter 2024 runways



CNN
 — 

Across Manhattan and Brooklyn, designers have been offering enticing twists on familiar dress codes at New York Fashion Week, which concludes Wednesday.

Inside the neoclassical Williamsburgh Savings Bank, Peter Do rethought “protective” fashion for his sophomore showing at the helm of Helmut Lang, sending out silk bubble wrap trousers, knit balaclavas emerging from smart suiting, weathered sand-colored denim and soft armor in the form of slouchy puffer jackets.

Soon after, in Rockefeller Center, models pumping gourd barbells showcased Collina Strada’s delightfully femme take on sports uniforms and gymwear, wearing “elegantly beefed-up silhouettes” — per the show notes — that included lace-trimmed boxing shorts and voluminous jackets mimicking bulging deltoids and biceps.

“Collina’s Gym” championed the belief that “femme is flex,” and was sustainably minded with deadstock fabrics and corn leather UGGs.
Throughout the collection, bubble tops and outerwear echoed beefy musculature.

Then there were the designers updating American dress codes more broadly, whether in their own contexts or anew. Tommy Hilfiger’s return to the runway — attended by the brand’s ambassador Sofia Richie Grange, among other celebrities, and ushered in with an opening performance by Jon Batiste — showcased new takes on prep classics that the brand itself established in the 1990s, with boxy tweed coats, varsity jackets, cashmere dresses and long, bulky scarves.

And Willy Chavarria, who previously held a top spot at Calvin Klein in addition to running his own namesake label, brought a bold vision of American power dressing to the runway through layers and structure, with exaggerated shoulders, sharp lapels and sweeping coats offset by ruffles and sculptural florals, all with Chicano-influenced flair. Chavarria’s runway show was accompanied by a fashion film presentation, with a rich, frenetic visual narrative which spoke to community as a respite from the world’s ills.

Like Chavarria, designer Prabal Gurung also took inspiration from community and family, mining his childhood diaries and heritage to create looks — which were richly colored in hues of saffron and vermillion, and embellished with crystals and gold embroidery — that paid tribute to his father’s family in Nepal.

In one of the week’s most anticipated shows, Paris-based designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin made his New York debut with an enchanting collection inspired by the once-taboo photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe, progressing from applique florals and wispy transparent fabrics to shimmering crystal mesh gowns to full-on leather bondage styles.

De Saint Sernin’s designs have often rewritten gendered dress codes, and he told CNN that his clothes show how “the evolution and competence you can gain with your gender and your identity is an exploration that you do your whole life.”

Scroll down to see this season’s runway highlights, which will be updated throughout the week.

Tommy Hilfiger’s refigured classics sought to define American prep for 2024.
Hilfiger's collection embodied
As models walked, the Grand Central Oyster Bar’s tiled and arched ceilings, glinting with golden light, amplified Questlove’s high-energy soundtrack — and a performance from Jon Batiste.
For his sophomore show with Helmut Lang, Peter Do continued to form new dress codes for New Yorkers. This collection is “a system of dress” in “a world of chaos,” according to the show notes.
Do mulled on themes of “protection” versus “projection,
Do also revisited Helmut Lang archival pieces from the label's Spring-Summer 2003 collection as jumping-off points.
Prabal Gurung’s collection was both melancholic and dreamlike, with the designer explaining that he had transformation and metamorphosis on his mind following the loss of a family member.
Gurung developed the concept for his show while on a 10-day meditative retreat.
Willy Chavarria introduced handbags this season, pairing them with layered suiting and bold, exaggerrated silhouettes.
Chavarria presented the collection with a film called “Safe from Harm,” emphasizing the importance of community.
Baggy bomber jackets and 1980s-inspired leather jackets were among the outerwear offerings.
Wide lapels and wider shoulders played against bubble hemlines on the runway.
Libertine’s graphics this season were not quite inspired by fever dreams, but a hypnotism session that kept returning to the fashionable late art collector Peggy Guggenheim.
The collection was often matchy-matchy across garments and accessories and played with a number of eye-catching graphics.
Kim Shui’s show celebrated Lunar New Year on the eve of the holiday with vibrant colors and vegan materials.
Shui's collection ushered in the year of the dragon, paying tribute to the mythical creature's “strength and resilience,” according to the show notes.
The runway was on fire at The Blonds, with the incomparable designers showcasing the power of
The collection paid homage both to the designers' roots, and the Latin pop divas they've long idolized, from Charo and Selena Quintanilla to J.Lo and Christina Aguilera.
Across lustrous textiles, sparkling jewels and sinuous silhouettes, the collection showcased fire as an embodiment of
Proenza Schouler creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez offered up ample wintery whites and continued to play with both translucent layers and elegant takes on suiting and outerwear.
The label has taken a more cumulative approach to design across seasons, continuing to build on the same ideas rather than overhaul them for new collections.
Highlights included tall cowl neck collars, asymmetrical cuts, knit capes and long apron dresses.
Every look in Dauphinette's frenetic
Christian Siriano looked to the cinematic world of
Body-conscious draped gowns in rich, burnt oranges represented the movies' desert landscapes; black
Ludovic de Saint Sernin collaborated with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation for his New York debut, and hoped to capture the energy of a late night out in the city.
De Saint Sernin featured Mapplethorpe's floral pictures on wispy tops and sparkling crystal gowns.
The Parisian designer opted to show in New York in part because the US has become his biggest market, he told CNN.
Eckhaus Latta’s earth tone palette included sandblasted denim this season.
Model Alex Wek closed the show in a layered column dress and furry mules.
Irina Shayk walked in Altuzarra’s intimate show, which featured pillbox hats and different plays on draped collars.
At Private Policy, a
Classic denim and workwear pieces were juxtaposed with innovative techniques, including
Christian Cowan translated a star motif across his high-glam, celestial-inspired collection.
After achieving cult status in New York, Puppets and Puppets said farewell to the city with a final ready-to-wear collection before relocating to London as an accessories brand.
Creative director Carly Mark played with color-blocking, transparencies and luxe layering, taking a step back from some of the surrealist motifs of past collections.
In addition to luxury googly eyes (pictured top), Area bedazzled models with oversized gems on retro florals and ruffles.
“Just as our eyes observe, critique and appreciate, our collection mirrors the evolving dynamics of viewership in the digital age,” Area's creative director Piotrek Panszczyk wrote in the show notes.
Carolina Herrera's creative director Wes Gordon was inspired by strong, resilient women, according to the show notes.
His latest collection contrasted architectural shapes with ruffles and swirling embroidery.
Irina Shayk wore a voluminous pink gown on the runway, one of many floral looks in full bloom.
Coach has continued to cater to younger luxury buyers, this season offering distressed bomber jackets, collegiate hoodies and school blazers.
As part of its circularity initiatives, Coach upcycled secondhand materials into denim, leather and shearling pieces, and turned taffeta party dresses into tops and skirts.
Jason Wu dedicated his show to his design team — as well as
LaQuan Smith said in his show notes that, this season, the woman he is designing for is “busy and she is the center of attention.”
Smith’s menswear offered new takes on classic suiting.
Smith was inspired by “the unapologetic strength and glamour of female power brokers,” bringing sex appeal to daywear.
Sandy Liang celebrated her label's 10-year anniversary with a new collection expanding on her own codes for girlhood style.
Japanese manga series
”There’s something so beautiful when girls match each other,” Liang wrote in her show notes. ”In a uniform, there is fantasy and in nostalgia, there is presence.”
Tory Burch held a show at the New York Public Library's grand Astor Hall.
The show marked 20 years, to the month, since Tory Burch founded her label in Manhattan.
The label's latest collection put an experimental spin on classic silhouettes.