NYFW

Femininity, Dissected. Tory Burch SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

This season, Tory Burch dissects the contrasts of femininity. It can be lady-like and sweet. The other second it can turn into something more tough and sharp. Her spring-summer 2025 collection felt like a dynamic clash between these different notions. The most unexpected pieces were the skirts with malleable wire waistbands, which arced out, rather than gripped the midsection – surprising because the waist is rarely an area that women want to add volume to. Marc Jacobs orbits around a similar idea lately. In contrast, the narrow flecked wool pants with full breaks over chic peep toe pumps looked elegant with both shrunken quilted wool and silk jackets and traditional wrap jacket styles. The show closed with a trio of looks combining sleeveless “muscle” tees and softly draped and ruffled asymmetric jersey chiffon skirts that lived up to Burch’s “power and grace” concept.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Sacrum & Profanum. Colleen Allen SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Emerging brands like Colleen Allen keep New York Fashion Week’s heart beating. But lets note that Allen can be hardly called an emerging designer with an impressive portfolio of working at some of New York’s finest institutions: Raf Simons’s Calvin Klein and The Row. But these two aren’t defining her aesthetically, as Colleen has proved in her debut collection and also in her sophomore season. Spring-summer 2025 offering is all about a play with lightness and draping. You’ve got very sensual, sheer numbers, and then you’ve got stunning, velvet-y drapings that hug the body. Some of the pieces – like the ankle-length, white dress with turtleneck – have a pastoral, even clerical feel about them, but then then the ecclesiastical regality is twisted and subverted with sexy lace of hemlines and body-revealing slits of blouses and jackets. It’s also worth noting that Colleen has a brilliant sense of color: just look the the opening shade of tangerine. Retailers, here’s a brand to buy into.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Real, Raw, Sexy. Eckhaus Latta SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

I’ve said it before, I will say it again: the Eckhaus Latta duo have and bring what Helmut Lang had and brought to New York at the turn of millennium. Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta‘s clothes are sexy without trying too hard; they have a sense of style that’s real; and they have that raw honesty about them. Their spring-summer 2025 collection is so far one of the biggest highlights of New York Fashion Week – and has actual clothes one wants to wear (I do!). Eckhaus Latta is a go-to brand for not-so-average knits, and they remained a standout in the latest offering. There’s also the element of playfulness about the labels’ pieces. They invite you to wear them whatever way you want. “I think both of us are very drawn to that sample sale vibe of, ‘there’s something that looks like a pile of rope on a hanger,’” Latta explains. “We’re like, ‘What is it?’ Obviously we have to deal with the idea of hanger appeal, but I think for us, letting these things have a kind of mutability and playfulness, like the scrunches in all these different ways, feels inherent to our curiosity.” Another big thumbs-up goes to the lookbook imagery where you really see how the clothes work on (and with) the body. Of course, there was a fashion show – or rather, a fashion happening – where friends of Eckhaus Latta had dinner and later did an impromptu runway parade. It looked genuinely fun. This brand seems to be one of the few in New York that knows what’s up.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Lost Plot. Khaite SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

One good thing about Khaite‘s latest collection: it wasn’t shown in some dimmed, cavernous space like in the past couple of seasons. You could finally see the clothes on the runway. But you also saw how Catherine Holstein‘s brand is dangerously losing its plot. There’s just too much of ideas coming from The Row (high-necked collars, voluminous organza dresses) and Lucie and Luke Meier’s Jil Sander (macrame dresses, the overall “soft minimalism” styling). It’s very difficult to distinguish what’s distinctly Khaite about this line-up, even if it seemed to be one of Holstein’s most daring, experimental concepts to date. However at this price-point, one wants to see authentic ideas from a brand.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

 

América. Willy Chavarria SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

In New York, brands either do clothes for the sake of clothes or create fashion that has a meaning (but then the “clothes-making” part often stumbles). Willy Chavarria is a rare example of a designer who does both seamlessly, creating garments that are amazingly tailored but also give you real food for thought. In his spring-summer 2025 fashion show, the models walked out, in a single file, with the American flag as the monumental backdrop. What came across was a voluminous yet exact silhouette that was a callback to the uniforms of the American working class – hotel workers, concierges, construction people, foremen. And so there were balloon sleeves on classic zip-up jackets, tonal shirt and tie combos, cotton duck work fabric turned into tailored Victorian jackets with princess sleeves or baggy cargo skirts, and really good denim pieces . Many of the looks were accessorized with a set of keys – and a little crucifix – dangling from a belt loop. Within the context of the show it seemed like a plea for America – or rather “América“, as the collection was titled – to be more like the promised land everyone imagines it to be. “This [season] is all about power to the people,” Chavarría said. “It’s this country through the voice of the immigrants, and the people who make this motherfucker run.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!