The most memorable shows at New York Fashion Week 2024: from Coach’s NYC tribute with yellow cabs and Yankee baseball caps, to Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s bondage nod to Robert Mapplethorpe
- Tommy Hilfiger kicked off in style while paying homage to New York, but brands with a more global reach – Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs – were no-shows
- The runways highlighted clothes by Tory Burch, Altuzarra, Thom Browne, Khaite and more – with appearances by Emily Ratajkowski and Irina Shayk
Compared to its counterparts in Europe, which are dominated by the luxury houses that pretty much rule the fashion industry, New York Fashion Week stands out for its focus on young talent. While that is certainly a draw for editors, buyers and influencers looking for what’s next, international media has tended to skip the New York shows in recent years.
The city is full of talented and commercially savvy creators, but few of them have a significant presence outside of the US. The only New York brands to have gone truly global in the last two decades are Tory Burch, Michael Kors and Thom Browne.
While other US labels of global scope such as Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs were no-shows, New York Fashion Week delivered what it is best at: solid ready-to-wear that may not please editors looking for directional clothes, but will certainly find favour with department store buyers, especially at a time when top luxury brands are cutting down on wholesale distribution.
Steven Kolb, chief executive of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), believes that the strength of New York Fashion Week lies in this mix of young and established talent. “When you have more established brands mixed with younger ones, they feed off each other and that increases the strength of American fashion,” says Kolb.
