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When Gigi Hadid moved to New York from Los Angeles almost a decade ago, it was on the brink of a particularly bitter East Coast winter. Needless to say, the bone-chilling weather was a shock to the system. “I’m always the person who’s cold even when other people feel hot,” says Hadid, with a sigh. Thankfully, her parents had planned ahead: They’d sent their then teenage daughter off to college at the New School with the cashmere sweaters she’d swiped from their wardrobe on cooler days in California. Her favorites were all stealthy chic: a gray turtleneck that fastened with leather straps (her mother’s) and an all-­engulfing button-up cable-knit cardigan from her father. With her life in a moment of transition—one both wildly exhilarating and bewildering—the cozy knits offered the reassuring feeling of home. “Those were the only cashmere pieces I owned for a long time,” Hadid admits. “I still have them.”

I am speaking to the supermodel via Zoom; when she called me from a hotel room in London, she popped up on the screen dressed in—what else?—a gorgeous sunflower orange cashmere crewneck. Except this one isn’t a hand-me-down—it’s a sweater from her just-launched new label, Guest In Residence. “It’s the first time I’m wearing one of the new samples, and I love the color,” says Hadid, a little giddy with excitement. That sweater is part of a series of forever pieces—slim-fit joggers, hoodies, tanks, scarves, beanies, and the like—that come in a myriad of warm hues: bubble-gum pink, turmeric yellow, and cherry red, to name a few. There are limited-edition drops in the works as well, including one Hadid calls “varsity funk” that shows off her flair for color blocking on preppy shapes like the classic rugby.

The line of cashmere knits, three years in the making, is something of a labor of love for Hadid, 27. A few months pregnant with her daughter Khai and hunkered down on the family’s farm in Pennsylvania, she began to incubate the initial concept just as the world went into lockdown. “I think a lot of people assumed that starting my own brand would be the next natural step,” says Hadid, who has worked on several collaborations over the years—everything from runway collections for Tommy Hilfiger to swimwear capsules for Frankies Bikinis founder Francesca Aiello, a friend since eighth grade. “But I wasn’t trying to rush it. I knew that something would come to me that felt right, that had integrity to it.”

In the current landscape of multihyphenate designers, her latest career move couldn’t be more well-timed. The likes of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Victoria Beckham, and Rihanna have long proven there’s more than one way into fashion, and as someone who is photographed as often on the street as she is on the runway, Hadid has developed a keen sense of her own style much like they have—not to mention a megastar-worthy social media following. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s worked with many of the most talented names in the business. “If you pay attention, you can learn wild things beyond modeling in this job,” she says. More than all of that, though, the choices Hadid has made with Guest In Residence reflect style values she picked up at home. “Both my mother and father have 

been really good about investing in things they love, and I was always shown that growing up,” she explains. Given the brand’s direct-to-consumer model, the investment pieces in her line won’t cost the earth either—the classic crewneck she’s wearing for our Zoom, for example, retails for $295. That said, Hadid’s not cutting corners on quality. In fact, she’s gone the extra mile to source long-­fiber cashmere in Inner Mongolia—a biodegradable yarn to avoid pilling, every knitwear devotee’s pet peeve. “I want clothes that feel sustainable and realistic to have for a long time,” she says. “If you look after cashmere correctly, it can last for decades.” The two golden rules she swears by come via her grandmother: (1) Anything that works on your hair works on cashmere. (2) In lieu of washing a sweater with each wear, hang it out of the window at the end of the day. “Cashmere is a natural fiber, so it will naturally let go of fumes,” she insists.

It seems that certain members of her family are especially eager to get their hands on the new collection. Her sister Bella has her eye on the cropped cardigan with raw edges and a hook-and-eye closure that was originally known as “the undercover.” “Bella came by the office and grabbed it—it was her favorite thing,” Gigi says of the layering piece. “Now we call it ‘the Bella.’ ” And though Gigi’s daughter might only be a toddler, she’s clearly right behind her auntie. “Khai is not even two and picks out her own outfits. The other day she picked a dress out of the hamper. I said, ‘What are you doing—it’s dirty!’ But she wouldn’t put anything else on. She already has huge opinions of her own,” says Hadid. “She’ll be our first intern.” 

It’s the most talked-about film at the Venice Film Festival, and the leading man’s premiere look could well inspire as much online commentary as the dynamics on set. Harry Styles, who stars in Don’t Worry Darling as Jack opposite Florence Pugh’s Alice, wore an impossibly sharp blue Gucci suit over a turquoise shirt with an exaggerated collar. He topped off the retro look with a pair of nostalgic square-frame sunglasses. The film’s director—and Styles’s partner—Olivia Wilde, who is almost as big a fan of Alessandro Michele’s work as her boyfriend, wore a custom yellow chiffon Gucci gown with a ruffled hem and dramatic crystal fringing.  The film may be set in the 1950s, but Styles’s promo wardrobe takes its cues from the ’70s—the decade that serves as a constant source of inspiration for Michele, who also attended the premiere on 5 September. It was the pop star’s second retro Gucci look in the space of a day: hours before the premiere, he cruised up to the Lido for a photo call wearing tailored navy flares and a striped blazer over a vest, adding a jaunty neck scarf for good measure. The nautical effect was fitting for his chosen mode of transportation: Riva boat. When in Venice… 

Gigi. Bella. Adut. Kendall. You’d recognize them anywhere: walking down the runway, greeting you from ad campaigns, popping up as you scroll Instagram. But at certain New York shows, there’s a different kind of It girl: Maia Ruth Lee. Precious Okoyomon. DeVonn Francis. Susan Cianciolo. Kathleen McCain Engman. Ottesa Moshfegh. For half the attendees, those faces and names may not mean anything; they look at the cast of labels like Eckhaus Latta, Maryam Nassir Zadeh, or Collina Strada and see a runway populated with regular people—really cool-looking regular people, but regular people nonetheless—and maybe they can tell the venue is vibrating with a different kind of energy. The other half of the attendees see their artist friends, the chef whose recipes they always attempt, the buzzy new writer, the legendary experimental musician. IYKYK—if you know, you know, as the kids say.

“I like to blur the lines between casting and community,” Maryam Nassir Zadeh tells me over email. “It’s important to me to incorporate my everyday life and the people who are meaningful to me as part of my work.” A model is a muse. And a muse is a perfect being, almost fantastical. It’s possible that the word alone evokes visions of the unattainable—but for a modern generation of designers, there is no bigger inspiration than their friends and chosen family. Why not put them in your show? The cast at Zadeh’s last show included the film director Hailey Benton Gates, the up-and-coming painter Marika Thunder (daughter of the artist Rita Ackermann), the community organizer and activist Aaron Wiggs, and Lizzi Bougatsos, frontwoman of the experimental band Gang Gang Dance.

For Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, their cast has become part of their identity as a brand. “Some of our friends have been in almost every one of our shows, some in more than half,” they explain, “It’s important for us to work with the people we’ve always worked with.” Before Paloma Elsesser was simply known as Paloma, she was a mainstay in Eckhaus Latta’s lineup, along with the musician Okay Kaya, the poet Coco Gordon Moore (daughter of artist and musician Kim Gordon), and the artist Maia Ruth Lee—who famously walked the runway when she was eight months pregnant for their spring 2018 show. Fellow designers like Susan Cianciolo and even Zadeh herself have often taken a turn down their runways. “We look more for an attitude and an energy than we look for a look,” Latta and Eckhaus continue. “It’s not about a bone structure or a haircut but more about the way in which the model embodies clothes in general. Because of this, we end up working with a lot of like-minded people who often are already linked to one another in a communal sense.”

An unexpected side effect of casting people from the designers’ own communities is the way it diversifies the runway. James Daniel Wood, a model agent in New York, sees this as a big factor in the changing landscape of the industry. “If you look back at shows 10 years ago, it wasn’t done,” he shares via email. “Now it’s much more organic and reflects on the identity of the brand and [is] a huge part of the conversation for them. I think we’ll continue to see [this] evolving.” The casting agent Nicola Kast sees the runway as an extension of the unique creative communities that are an intrinsic part of the city. “The inspiration of New York has kind of always been the city, the people, the landscape,” she tells me on a recent phone call. “The conversations that we’re having here are different than in any other city in the world, so I think this obviously reflects in fashion, as well. Those trends of non–sample [size], LGBTQ+ models, models with disabilities are things that you’re seeing in New York first; for the designers that work here, it’s really important for us to be inclusive, and we want to be able to give a voice to the community because it’s the community we live in.”

The Collina Strada shows are a perfect example of this. “Ideally I want [the runway] to feel natural and create a diverse community identity for Collina,” the designer Hillary Taymour says. “I think staying loyal to certain models is important to make it feel like a story, [and including] humans of all ages and types is so important because it allows your consumer to be able to picture themselves in the clothing and connect with the models in an approachable way.” Taymour’s shows are known for emphasizing community—creative director Charlie Engman’s mom, Kathleen, walks every show—and the spring 2022 runway saw many models walk hand in hand with family members, including the artist Sean-Kierre Lyons with their niece, the actress Sasha Frolova with her grandmother, and the chef DeVonn Francis with his mother. Taymour says she thinks about diverse body types from the moment she begins her design process; it is never an afterthought. “We plan ahead for different types of bodies; usually we cast the board, and we adjust with sizing where we need to, but our clothes are pretty versatile with sizing to start, so it’s never a big undertaking.”

Puppets and Puppets’ Carly Mark agrees that the clothes and the casting need to be part of a holistic vision. “It’s always a puzzle with casting,” she tells me via email. “A standard size is the most cost-efficient way to build a collection, but you just figure out how to make it work. Every garment will fit each person differently, and the trick is to lean into that. As long as the person walking is comfortable in what they are wearing, I’m happy.” The Puppets and Puppets aesthetic matches Mark’s previous work as a fine artist, so it’s not surprising to see that she gravitates toward people like the photographer and director Richie Shazam, the stylist Patti Wilson, the musician Caroline Polachek, and the chef Danny Bowien, all of whom have walked in her shows. “I love people who are free, and I love strangeness, [and] I think my cast is usually a little left of center because that’s where I exist,” Mark adds. There is something about it that harkens back to the days before the internet and social media, where you’d find out about new artists through the band T-shirt someone wore in a picture in a magazine or through the names they name-dropped during an interview. That sort of punk-rock spirit is very alive in the work of all these designers and is an intrinsic part of the energy that attracts young creatives here year after year after year and makes New York City great. IYKYK—and now you know.

Nobody has a red carpet presence quite like Tilda Swinton. With her otherworldly beauty and her playful eye for elegant, avant-garde designs, there’s a reason she’s become an enduring muse to filmmakers and fashion designers alike. But today in Venice, while attending a photocall to promote her new film The Eternal Daughter, Swinton’s look held a deeper meaning.  At the film’s press conference, Swinton both wore a blue Loewe button-up and dyed her signature crop bright yellow. The color scheme was an intentional nod to the two-toned flag of Ukraine (wherein the blue denotes a blue sky and the yellow a wheat field), which continues to serve as a symbol of freedom and independence for the Ukrainian people. “It’s my honor to wear half of the Ukrainian flag,” said Swinton at a press conference earlier today.

Later in the evening, at the film’s premiere, Swinton’s newly fluoro flaxen dye job proved to be just as striking in a more formal setting; wearing a sequined cornflower blue Haider Ackermann gown, her lengths were swept up into a sculptural faux hawk.  Swinton’s impactful message also comes on the heels of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s virtual cameo at the Venice Film Festival’s opening ceremony, in which he asked actors and filmmakers in attendance to speak out against the war. Marrying her innate, idiosyncratic beauty with a powerful political statement, Swinton proved once again that her looks can always command attention—but especially when it counts the most. After delivering the keynote speech at the One Young World summit in tailored red separates by sustainable brand Another Tomorrow, Meghan Markle returned to her signature sleek neutrals to join Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany.  Meghan’s penchant for discreet, stealth wealth labels like The Row, Khaite, and Loro Piana has been on full display since the Sussex family relocated to the US. Gone are the formal Givenchy dress coats, and in their place, relaxed tailoring, city shorts, and the occasional Gabriela Hearst jumpsuit (Hearst’s conscious approach makes her brand a natural fit for the royal). 

On the second day of the couple’s first trip back to Europe since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Duchess tucked a knitted high-neck sleeveless top by Anine Bing into a pair of high-waisted beige trousers by Brandon Maxwell. The finishing touch? The hairstyle that became her signature when Meghan first entered the royal spotlight: the undone bun.  The look echoed the neutral outfit she was snapped wearing as the couple arrived at Euston to catch a train to Manchester on Monday: a knitted silk-cashmere polo shirt, also by Brandon Maxwell, with coordinating tailored trousers in a similar camel shade.  With the addition of luxe accessories (a Cartier Tank watch and Love bracelet), the overall effect was one of understated polish—the sort most women hope to achieve with their professional wardrobe. But make no mistake: looking this effortless takes work.  Emmy Awards are not easy to come by, but Adele just added one to her growing mantlepiece. Celebrating her recent win—for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for One Night Only on CBS—the singer took to Instagram to document her delight. “Bloody hell I’m pleased as punch!” she wrote in the caption on a selfie taken with her new award. The trophy brings the superstar one step closer to EGOT status, which denotes an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winner. Adele just needs a Tony award to complete her set.

Bare-faced, glowy, and without a scrap of makeup on, the singer looked relaxed and happy in the trio of photographs, in which she also wore an effortless oversized black T-shirt. With her hair scraped back and some gentle Scandi-esque waves running through the ends, she showed off an unmistakable glow. Even the highly-polished gold statuette was no match for her natural luminosity. Usually known for her glam approach to hair and makeup when on stage, it’s always refreshing to see Adele looking stripped back and real on Instagram. Back in May, she celebrated her birthday wearing the perfect high-low marriage of a black Carolina Herrera minidress and a barely-there beauty look. One quick scroll down Elsa Hosk’s Instagram timeline is enough to leave any fashion enthusiast transfixed. Her grid features a collection of the latest and greatest designs, from Loewe bucket hats to Alaïa bags—all modeled in an effortlessly cool way by the 33-year-old. Now, the tables are turning. After 20 years of striking a pose in front of the camera, Hosk is going behind the lens as campaign creative director and designer of her new label Helsa. “I’ve had the privilege of wearing an incredible amount of clothes as a model, both good and bad,” Hosk exclusively tells Vogue. Thinking like a businesswoman, Hosk used that experience to learn the intricacies of what makes an item fit well, how to source quality materials, as well as identifying the details that elevate the mundane into something special. All of that knowledge has been bottled up into a 48-piece debut collection from Helsa that’s easily described as minimalist heaven.

“When thinking about the brand I wanted to create, it was very clear it had to be my love letter to Scandinavia,” says Hosk. “Everything I’ve taken and learned from growing up there, the nature, art, minimalism, architecture, simplicity, craftsmanship. But also the values, family, feminism, equality, taking care of nature and our earth were all at the forefront of my upbringing, and I wanted Helsa to embody these things.” The lineup includes made-for-layering shackets, expertly tailored maxi skirts, as well as perfectly oversized button-up blouses. Initially, Hosk planned to release ten items at a time, focusing on one specific type of fabric in each release. But—as with many things—supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic wreaked havoc on those plans. “It’s a big collection, but it worked out really well, because you’re now able to style all the different fabric groups together, how you’d wear it in real life,” Hosk explains. “It’s a full wardrobe and everything mixes so incredibly.”

Of course, the model-turned-designer has a vision for how and where to wear each and every item. Hosk says, “You can put the long skirt on with a heel and go to a nice dinner and look amazing, or you can wear the mini with the overshirt with a sneaker and feel super comfortable and cool for the farmers market, or you can wear the pant to play with kids in the playground and be the coolest mom there.” Designer Tsukasa Kudo spent his youth in the early 2000s in his hometown of Okinawa, Japan. His childhood and the looming American streetwear culture that so heavily influenced it — partly due to the American military bases that resided there — would be an inspiration for his spring 2023 collections for Kudos and Soduk, which he showed together for the first time.

Kudo originally launched Kudos in 2017 as a label that honored traditional menswear codes, and followed it soon afterward with womenswear label Soduk. In an unexpected turn of events, he found that its appeal was the opposite; women more naturally gravitated to Kudos, and men to Soduk. “Due to the structure of the show, where the two brands crossover, it was important to consider who, what, and how to wear them,” explains the designer. “Kudos and Soduk were mixed and styled in a way appropriate for [each], regardless of sex and gender. It is my sincere hope that the viewer fluidly perceives the gender of the collection.” He is letting the people wear what they want. Tailoring and draping have always been vital foundations in the Kudos brand. But this season, with the innovation of a new digital printing technology from Kornit Digital that requires almost no water, Kudo also incorporated lots of American streetwear-inspired graphic tees, hoodies, and aprons; along with deconstructed, yet structural and tailored midi dresses and suits. Bare skin also played an important part in his silhouette, he explained he wanted to “create a space between the 3-D structure and the body, challenging the sensual gaze that serves as the main axis of Kudos to project a realistic form of womenswear.” Meanwhile Soduk’s signature knitwear remains a standout in this collection, the designer played around with more extravagant silhouettes and cuts than his earlier designs, with structured and oversized vests with knitted snoods fitting to be worn as both a fashion item or for warmth, whether you are venturing out into snowy terrain or not.

There is a hint of youthful playfulness and rebellion against traditional Japanese culture in Kudo’s designs, including a modernized kimono, and two same-sex wedding looks (same-sex marriage is still illegal the country). It’s easy to see why Kudos and Soduk are so immersed in Japan’s open-minded youth culture. But beyond the rebellion, perhaps there’s hope in his clothes too, that in the future his non-traditional wedding looks can shed the label, and be openly worn by the next generation. New York Fashion Week is back with a jam-packed schedule featuring over 100 brands showing across five and a half days—that’s half-a-day longer than last season! There will be traditional runways, appointment-only viewings, “immersive experiences,” and enough dinners to almost make up for two pandemic years of barely going out.

What are we looking out for here at Vogue Runway? Fendi and Marni are sure to make waves, but they aren’t the only out-of-towners on the schedule. Newcomers and returning labels have caught our attention too. We’re particularly pleased to see Narciso Rodriguez’s name back in the mix—for sure we’ll be shopping his new collection at Zara. And don’t miss Vogue World on September 12! The first-of-its-kind runway show and street fair will feature looks from Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci, Valentino, Burberry, and a host of New York designers. Find out how to buy a ticket here or watch the livestream on Vogue.com and the Vogue Runway app. See you at the shows! New York Fashion Week will be more international than ever, with not one, but two major Italian houses bringing collections to the Big Apple. First up at the Hammerstein Ballroom on September 9 is Fendi. Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi are coming to town to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the label’s iconic Baguette bag—the one every would-be It girl in America wanted after its starring role in a Sex and the City episode. If Fendi’s recent runways are any indication, we might be seeing a few bonafide It girls in the crowd, and on the runway. The following night, Marni’s Francesco Risso is staging another one of his happenings with his collaborators Babak Radboy and Dev Hynes in Brooklyn. “Being in New York means to me the world, as I have lived and I am living the most memorable moments of my life here,” Risso said this weekend. “With the Marni family, we’re in New York to celebrate the pulse of the city and to try to catch the sublimity of a moment of pause—like a sunset and a sunrise.”—Nicole Phelps

In the past few years, the fashion industry has made strides towards inclusiveness. Although it’s now almost the norm to see models of diverse races, bodies, and gender presentations on the runway, one community that remains underrepresented is people with disabilities. This season, two events will aim to turn the tide. The Double Take fashion show on September 8 is the result of a collaboration between Open Style Lab, an organization dedicated to creating functional, wearable solutions for people of all abilities,  the American biotech company Genentech, and the spinal muscular atrophy community. Andrea Saieh, an Open Style Lab 2022 Fellow, whose work will be featured in the show, adapted a purple velvet suit for author Shane Burcaw, who has SMA and uses a power wheelchair. “I added an invisible zipper down the back of the jacket for easier dressing, and stretch panels at the elbows to accommodate bending,” Saieh explained. “Matching custom-made velvet pants have two layers—a comfortable L-shaped base and an interchangeable cover that goes on top.” On September 12, the Runway of Dreams Foundation will return to NYFW for its seventh year, and will feature adaptive fashion from Tommy Hilfiger, Target, and Zappos, among others. With brands like Gucci also putting disability inclusion at the forefront, how long until the rest of the industry follows suit? We’ll be watching.—Laia Garcia-Furtado

If you follow the LA creative and music scene, odds are you’ve heard of Shane Gonzales, at 27, a true multi-hyphenate whose skills include designing, DJing, and artistic direction. In 2014, he started Midnight Studios, a menswear label rooted in music and youth culture, which he re-launched in February after a brief coffee break. Since then, the collection has been worn by everyone from Madonna to Rihanna to A$AP Rocky (with whom Gonzales often collaborates). Cindy Crawford sported a t-shirt he worked on with Off-White at that brand’s fall 2022 show. Now, Gonzales is coming to New York Fashion Week on September 14. “I’ve always been inspired by music, and that’s something that I’ve carried through to Midnight Studios since the beginning,” Gonzales said. His show will include a collaboration with HIM (his favorite band when he was a nine-year-old). “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” he said, “and I’m very excited to share what my team and I have been working on.”—José Criales-Unzueta

On the subject of LA, it may be time to say goodbye to the stereotypical all-black New York uniform, with a new crop of labels bringing their characteristic West Coast-influenced, Instagram-friendly aesthetics to our concrete jungle runways. The Beyoncé-approved designer Mia Vesper is making her official New York Fashion Week debut on September 11, after having also dressed the likes of Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly. Based in New York, Vesper works from vintage and upcycled materials to create signature corset tops and unisex separates that nod to the Y2K era. Lionne’s Latoia Fitzgerald is also new to the schedule. The LA designer’s sleek tailoring and blazers with artful cutouts are favorites of stars like Karrueche Tran, Cassie, and Camila Coelho. Former stylist Marcelo Gaia launched Mirror Palais in 2019 and immediately made a splash with a flirty aesthetic influenced by his Brazilian heritage. The brand famously played a key role in Kylie Jenner’s second pregnancy reveal. Will these three fashion week newcomers inspire NYC to show some more skin?—L.G-F.

All eyes will be on the international brands and new-to-the-calendar names crowding up the schedule, but don’t count out returning designers! Gauntlett Cheng’s last show season was spring 2020, a collection the likes of Arca, Julia Fox, and Chloë Grace Moretz all wore for performances or editorials. “We wore our last collection for three years and got to really spend time with the clothes,” Esther Gauntlett and Jenny Cheng wrote via email. “We watched our friends wear our archive and saw how the clothes came to life on them. It was a real luxury to be able to step back and see the things that work and be able to build off that.” The plan for now is to proceed slowly; they’d like to try showing just once a year. Priscavera’s Franchetti stepped back from shows during the pandemic, too. “The lockdown was a time for me to regroup and think in a deeper way about the kind of ongoing dialogue I have with my customer,” she said, emphasizing that she wanted to take time before returning to the runway, “because some lessons learned I feel needed to really sink in.” Franchetti’s collections have since become more focused and feel more idiosyncratic, which the off-center and arguably funny lookbooks used to show the collections have helped highlight. A--Company’s Sara Lopez, who skipped the runway last season in favor of a quieter release, said that while developing her upcoming collection “the show started to render itself alongside the clothing, and it seemed impossible to avoid creating it.” Expect a collection featuring Lopez’s signature additive design lexicon and downtown cool at Abrons Art Center underground theater.—J.C-U.

If you never in a million years expected to hear COS and grunge in the same sentence, you’re not alone. The H&M owned minimal-leaning label, which is sometimes jokingly referred to as “the poor woman’s Céline,” will be presenting its first-ever runway show, and phygital experience, in the Big Apple. “We wanted to give the collection a new tone in styling, so it’s a little bit more grungy,” explains creative director Karin Gustafsson. Don’t expect a dark or nostalgic lineup though; COS has focused on the layering aspect of the popular ’90s style, and, from the sound of it, leaned on some shiny, happy rave energy by way of a neon bright palette as a way to celebrate new beginnings. Says Gustafsson: “We just felt that the colors, and the creative community [in New York], and the place in itself is perfect.”—Laird Borrelli-Persson

On September 13, Puma will present “Futrograde,” an immersive runway show that the sportswear brand is billing as an opportunity to rediscover its “sport fashion vision” through a “future-forward classic” concept that will tap into nostalgia and reimagine it for 2023 and beyond. A tall order! Curated by Puma designer and Creative Director June Ambrose, the show will feature men’s and women’s collections with remixed retro signatures, collaborations (from the likes of Dapper Dan, Palomo, and Koché), and custom pieces, all worn by a cast that will include athletes and celebrities from the Puma family. The show will also include a digital experience designed to establish the brand in the web3 space. About the show, Ambrose said in a press release that she is “excited about the audience’s perception of how we are presenting the idea of ‘a future-forward classic,’” and that she hopes the concept will challenge the audience to be “creative with their present, as they forecast what’s next.”—J.C-U.

Ever heard of the sophomore slump? It happens when a second effort fails to live up to the high standards set by the first. Spring 2023 will see two on-the-rise talents put on their sophomore shows: 2021 CFDA Emerging Designer of the Year winner Evin Thompson of Theophilio and 2022 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Elena Velez. So, how are they avoiding this particular pitfall? Thompson is preparing a collection that will “revisit his approach to fashion and art in the early 2000s”–it seems like a healthy dose of nostalgia and on-trend self-referencing is in the cards. Velez, on her end, said, “I've never felt, nor acknowledged any sort of pressure from the industry to meet fashion week expectations, my own are impossible enough.” Overseeing a runway production is grueling, “physically, mentally, socially, financially.” But this season she said, “I’m lucky enough to have the finances and the visibility to afford the privilege of running myself ragged on another spectacle d'horreur.” Sounds promising to me!—J.C-U.

Everyone agrees that the energy in the city feels different this season. (We don’t want to say that “NYFW is back” because where did it ever go? But NYFW is back!) For proof we have to look no further than the three competing dinners by European labels happening this Thursday night on the eve of the shows. Bottega Veneta is holding court at the New York institution The Strand, reinforcing Matthieu Blazy’s vision for the brand as one for the intellectuals (and those of us who haven’t read a book in a year but have a continually growing “to read” pile on our desks). Fittingly, The Attico’s Giorgia Tordini and Gilda Ambrosio are having their dinner in the cooler-than-cool, impossible-to-get-a-reservation, red velvet-covered, piano-and-martini mecca The Nines. It’s an apt backdrop for the Italian duo’s wildly colorful dresses. Farthest downtown, Isabel Marant will be celebrating her new flagship store on Madison Avenue, by holding an exclusive dinner at The Fulton, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first seafood restaurant located at Pier 17. This will be Marant’s 66th store worldwide, but we’re certain the dinner will be one-of-kind.—L.G-F.

Opening Ceremony is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year by releasing trademark collaborations with some of our favorite designers (Peter Do and Luar, so far!), but if there’s another thing that Carol Lim and Humberto León are known for, it’s throwing a great party. Their celebration on September 8—yes, another Thursday night event—promises to be the happening of the week. With an insane lineup of performers (Papi Juice! Bubble T! Kevin Aviance!) it’ll be the perfect place to run into old friends, make new ones, and get revved up for the months ahead.—L.G-F. According to the CFDA, more designers than ever requested calendar spots. There’s 101 names on the official schedule, as opposed to 82 in February and 90 last September. There’s plenty more showing off-calendar, of course. Among them are the eveningwear pro Cucculelli Shaheen, the downtown darlings behind SC103, and newcomers Nguyen Inc by Kim Nguyen and Bad Binch Tong Tong by Terrence Zhou–who has already dressed Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and Camila Cabello. Nguyen launched a small offering of upcycled tees during the pandemic that were an instant hit. “I actually didn’t intend on making so many upcycled tees!” she said, “but as soon as I put them on my website, they sold out quickly and people kept requesting them and that was what I could afford to continue to do at the time.” So, is she anxious about her first NYFW show? Not really, she’s been at this since she was 14 and in high school. “I set up a meeting with the principal to convince him to let me do it, which wasn’t an easy feat since I went to one of the biggest public schools in Houston. I bought dresses from thrift stores to make new ones out of. I bought a roll of brown paper and duct- taped it down to the gym floor as the runway. For this next step,” she continued, “no one told me to do it, I just decided that I was going to make it happen—the same way I’ve always done.”—J.C-U.

This season a trio of designers known for their practical, minimal clothes are returning to the runway. After stints at Margiela and Marc Jacobs’s Louis Vuitton, and launching The Row’s menswear collections, the Dutch designer Paul Helbers is bringing his menswear rigor to womenswear under the new label FFORME. Co-founded with industry veteran Laura Vazquez, and Nina Khosla, the tightly edited, direct to consumer brand is betting big that their couture techniques meet every-day wear will be an irresistible combination. “America is the country of casual wear,” Helbers revealed recently. “I love sweats, I love t-shirts, and that there’s a simplicity in construction.” A leather jacket inspired by a classic Champion sweatshirt, complete with a singular seam running underneath the arm, is sure to be an IYKYK item of the season. Former Lanvin menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver will be showing his first capsule collection for Theory, a collection of clothes for men and women driven by wearability and ease. To make his point, the Theory Project by Lucas Ossendrijver presentation will showcase dance performances choreographed by the likes of Kyle Abraham, Heidi Duckler Dance, Rashaun Mitchell, and Silas Reiner. And meanwhile Narciso Rodríguez has created a collection for the Spanish behemoth Zara based on 25 archival pieces spanning his career, including a slip dress from his days at Cerruti. This is a Y2K revival we can get behind.—L.G-F.