New York Fashion Week closed on 15 September with a spring/summer 2027 calendar that swung between extremes: American prep revived at the Plaza, sheer lace and gothic romance in Brooklyn, and a runway interrupted by protest at COS. Eleven shows, eleven statements. Here is what happened, and what it means for next spring.
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren, 86, opened the week with an irreverent take on romance, favouring personal style over uniformity. Corseted tops met tailored trousers, pinstriped trousers billowed beneath floor-length overcoats, and slim jackets sat over low-slung, distressed denim. Feathered bolero jackets, fringed waist-scarves and a golden fringed gown finished the story, staged in a minimalist, ivory-benched room. Two pantsuits nodded to his own first women’s suit design.
Tory Burch
Tory Burch staged ‘more is more’ at the Isamu Noguchi Sunken Garden, treating joy as its own kind of opulent femininity. Richly embroidered cardigans and wallpaper-like jacquard sat against hand-painted silk feathers turned into boas and pom-poms, while lightweight chenille stood in for heavier wool. Shark-tooth earrings, chain-link belts and woven leather pumps with splayed fronts rounded out a palette that might have been inspired by the 1970s.
Proenza Schouler
Rachel Scott’s second full collection for Proenza Schouler set sharp tailoring against fluid, draped dresses, in a bolder palette than her debut: cream, red, cobalt, pale blue. Stripes, fringed florals and sequined red evening looks carried the colour through. Off the runway, a redesigned PS1 Walker bag, developed with Reed Krakoff, keeps the original’s silver hardware in a softer, simplified shape, arriving in three sizes in January 2027.
Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger marked his return to New York Fashion Week with ‘Plaza Prep’ at the hotel he once called home. Gigi Hadid opened in a navy bucket hat and coordinated separates, ahead of oversized polo shirts, plaid bucket hats and bright yellow trousers in a red-and-navy palette. Violinists played Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ as Slayyyter performed live, with Camila Cabello, Kate Moss and Karl-Anthony Towns among the crowd.
Calvin Klein Collection
Veronica Leoni pushed Calvin Klein Collection’s American minimalism further, stripping away anything non-essential to put the body first. Slim three-button suits and broader-shouldered layering jackets sat beside slip dresses reworked into full bias evening gowns, in scarlet, royal blue, cherry and citron. A check pattern nodded to Georgia O’Keeffe’s own wardrobe. Three Walter De Maria floor sculptures lined the runway at Terminal Warehouse.
COS
Karin Gustafsson set corporate modernism against 1920s decadence at COS, with dropped waists, irregular hems and fringe layered over the brand’s usual elongated coats. PETA activists protesting wool sourcing tied to an H&M Group supply-chain probe interrupted the presentation midway; CFDA chief executive Steven Kolb physically held back two protesters, later apologised, and has since been placed on leave pending review. The disruption overshadowed Gustafsson’s more considered proposition.
Khaite
Catherine Holstein marked Khaite’s tenth anniversary at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with Kaia Gerber opening in a turn towards gothic romance. Sheer tulle appliquéd with 3D flowers, trapeze skirts and cropped black skinny trousers carried through corsets and vintage bras worn as tops, high-waisted briefs layered under sheer fabric. Every look came down to a point – sharply pointed-toe pumps and sandals throughout, with messy bouffants and dark nails to match.
Area
Nicholas Aburn built Area’s ‘Trust Your Gut’ around instinct rather than technique: bleached and ink-blotted denim, shredded T-shirts pulled from his own 1,000-plus-piece archive, and bonded foil jersey dresses that caught the light and made a sound with every step. Jump ropes became graphic orange-and-blue dresses, shells and pearls stood in for beach memories, and a men’s tuxedo jacket stretched to five yards trailed asymmetrically across the floor.
Magda Butrym
Magda Butrym marked her first New York runway show, on 13 September, with the opening of the brand’s first city flagship. ‘Natalia’ set tailoring against lingerie: broad-shouldered leather blazers over sheer dresses, trench coats layered over lace, and florals drawn from the designer’s childhood memories of women dressing elaborately at home. Signature rose motifs and Polish references ran through buttoned leather, feathered texture and crochet edging, in white and beige.
Carolina Herrera
Wes Gordon marked Carolina Herrera’s 45th anniversary with 63 looks and a direct nod to the archive: covers from Mrs Herrera’s 1981 debut show embroidered onto a marigold mini dress with The New Yorker, and Andy Warhol’s 1979 portrait of her reproduced on handbags. Cookie earrings and frog motifs nodded to her favourite restaurant, La Grenouille. ‘She’s an icon,’ Gordon said, ‘and it’s my great honour to get to be a caretaker of her legacy.’
Thom Browne
Thom Browne closed New York Fashion Week on 15 September, in the final slot of the official calendar – a fitting bookend to a week that opened with Ralph Lauren’s own take on American tailoring. A full review of the collection was not yet available at the time of writing; watch this space.
Coach
Stuart Vevers marked Coach’s 85th anniversary on 9 September with a collection built on sharp tailoring, patinated leather and reworked archive pieces, threading festive whimsy through the house’s own history. Elle Fanning watched from the front row in a leopard-print coat, red skirt and black beret.
Diane von Furstenberg
Henry Zankov made his runway debut as Diane von Furstenberg’s creative director on 10 September, staged atop the High Line above the label’s Meatpacking District store to open New York Fashion Week. Gauzy maxi dresses, bias-cut silks and crinkled chiffon moved through archive prints and the label’s signature wrap dress, in an update Zankov said was ‘more about pushing it into the future and making it appealing to a new generation.’
Michael Kors Collection
Michael Kors staged his spring show in MoMA’s sculpture garden on 11 September, filtering mid-century modernism and abstract expressionism through his own American wardrobe: micro skirt suits with Peter Pan collars, tulip-shaped dresses and optical black-and-white stripes ran through a primary colour palette. Alex Consani closed the show.
Monse
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia returned Monse to the official NYFW calendar on 11 September, a year after stepping down from Oscar de la Renta, staging 45 looks in a glass penthouse above the former Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg. Tulips ran through construction rather than print: hand-dyed petals, ruffled hems and feathers met sequinned gowns, lace and the label’s signature stripes.
Kim Shui
Kim Shui drew on Peking opera for her 11 September show, translating the long pheasant-feather headdresses worn by its performers into sculptural headpieces, exaggerated fringe and saturated colour. Corseted bodices, sheer lace, brocade and cutouts carried the theatrical thread through a collection that treated New York’s own streets as an everyday stage.
Conner Ives
Conner Ives staged a homecoming at The Grill’s Pool Room on 12 September, tracing his own Bedford roots through floral chinoiserie minidresses, a hand-painted rainbow-trout gown and Victorian-inspired denim finished with black piping. A slogan tee read ‘Bring Back Shame’; the finale gown, nicknamed ‘Lady Liberty,’ closed a show that drew Kim Cattrall, Hari Nef and Princess Olympia of Greece.
Altuzarra
Joseph Altuzarra balanced masculine and feminine silhouettes on 12 September in a collection built around summer’s own joy: a tiger-striped cardigan and skirt, a pink drape dress cinched with a studded belt, and a crushed gold satin coat ran through the show. K-pop artist Rei Ami sat front row.
7 For All Mankind
Nicola Brognano’s second collection for 7 For All Mankind, on 12 September, deconstructed the corporate uniform through a Y2K lens: low-slung skinny denim, pinstripe suiting reworked into mini skirts, and lace lingerie layered under oversized button-downs, styled like last night’s clothes worn again the morning after. The show closed on quieter basics – a navy cardigan, straight-leg jeans and a Yankees cap.
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