Fashion
What We Loved at New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week has officially concluded, and the fashion crowd’s photo dumps are likely beginning to clog your feeds with content from all over town: At Rockefeller Center, Madonna and Ice Spice locked all eyes on Luar’s Spring 2025 show; downtown, at the Marble Cemetery, the Green Lady of Brooklyn raised iPhones while making her runway debut for Collina Strada; in Brooklyn, Ib Kamara’s Off-White™ staged its New York debut show on a basketball court, and at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Colm Dillane’s KidSuper put on an entire comedy show.
In short, New York Fashion Week had no shortage of chaos. Amidst all the madness in the American fashion capital this week, here were the moments we loved the most.
The Green Lady of Brooklyn Making Her NYFW Debut
Celebrity cameos were numerous at NYFW, but The Green Lady of Brooklyn’s appearance at Collina Strada’s “Touch Grass” showcase may have been our favorite. A local icon since the 1990s, the Green Lady grabbed her Iguana bag and her signature all-green attire from the Spring/Summer 2025 collection to walk Collina Strada’s Marble Cemetery runway.
Marking her first runway appearance, The Green Lady’s inclusion in the show drove the showcase’s climate-conscious message home as she sauntered down the path in a green oxford shirt, baggy pocketed pants, and a hoodie tied around her waist while “I’m gonna be round my vegetables, I’m gonna chow down my vegetables” played in the background.
Wu-Tang’s Surprise Performance at Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger’s Spring 2025 showing was a star-studded ode to New York City, with even Wu-Tang hopping onboard for the spectacle. After the runway show wrapped, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Raekwon took the stage in a surprise performance hosted by Questlove, attracting a swarm of show attendees and in-air iPhones.
“Tommy’s legendary, you know. When you go back to our early material, that’s what we were screaming, it’s what we were wearing,” explained Ghostface to DAZED. “He was one of the top-ass brands, he had me running about in this big-ass warehouse going crazy in his clothes. If you go back and listen, we were shouting his name out on mad tracks. So many tracks.”
“Back in the 80s and early 90s, his name was attached to the streets. If you had Hilfiger on, it meant something. That’s how fashion was back in the day. So it’s an honor right now to be on the boat, back where it all started. It’s legendary. When I got the call, I was like ‘Hell yeah, I’m gonna go wreck.’”
Who Decides War Lacing Up With Jordan Brand
Footwear made quite a mark at the Who Decides War showcase, specifically the handful of Jordan Brand silhouettes that stomped down the runway. Models flexed four different collaborative Jordan models during the show, signaling the start of a longer-term partnership between Who Decides War and Jordan Brand.
Three Jordan Flight Court models – including “Black/Grey/Red” and “Coconut Milk” colorways – were all officially debuted during the showcase, all of which are slated to release for purchase at some point.
Elsewhere, Jordan x Who Decides War crafted a one-of-one Jordan 1 High exclusively for the Victorian-inspired Spring/Summer 2025 show. Falling in line with the rest of the collection, the sneaker is designed with bright blue paneling and lace detailing. Stay tuned for what the duo has in the works down the line.
Willy Chavarria’s adidas Collaboration
Down Wall Street last Friday, Willy Chavarria was among the closing acts on the first night of New York Fashion Week. His show, opened by a sincere performance from Yahritza Y Su Esencia, was broken into two parts: the first portion was dedicated to Chavarria’s signature workwear codes, sportswear remixes and dramatic drapery, while the second half, signaled by alarming red lights spotlighted the designer’s newly-minted adidas collaboration.
The 22-piece collection included quarter-zip jackets, athletic jerseys, abstract tops, lightweight shorts and more emblazoned with the quintessential Three Stripes. Warm-up jerseys, done in red and black, boasted two adidas logo’s below the neck, while sleeveless football-inspired tops paid homage to MVP basketballer Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s number “33” and shorts read “Chavarria” down the thigh. In full sport mode, Olympic track and field sprinter Noah Lyles emerged as the runway’s anchor, wearing just a pair of short-shorts from the partnership.
Checked Baggage
Everyone seemed to be in their bag this NYFW. Bags on display ~definitely need to be checked, as silhouettes went big throughout a slew of this season’s shows, including Palomo Spain, Coach, Luar and Tombogo.
Models at Coach paired Stuart Vevers’ Gen-Z-coded garments with statement leather goods, including designing massive backpacks and clutches shaped like hearts, stars, lips and dinosaurs, all finished off with Coach Frame hardware. At Palomo Spain, Alejandro Gómez Palomo partnered with Bimba Y Lola to present a bevy of oversized baggage in shades of black and white, with Tombogo serving up pocketed pocketbooks to elevate its utilitarian ready-to-wear range. Luar continued the trend to close out Tuesday’s shows, delivering larger leather clutches than usual.
Kim Shui’s Debut Menswear
Kim Shui? Menswear? No wonder Hypebeast had a fantastic front-row seat at the downtown New York designer’s Spring 2025 runway on Saturday evening, where she quietly let loose her first-ever designs for the category with such nonchalance.
In her first foray into the category, Shui made menswear with loose-fitting corsetry that was tied across the body via slim leather strings. The design tactic was also used down the leg on masculine leather trousers with soft, reptilian-like finishes. Model Jake Fleming sported an adjacent style that swapped leather strings for silver, “K”-branded zippers darting from the waist to the ankle. His top, a form-fitting, brown-yellow corset done with regal drapery across the shoulders, was ideal for the androgynous client Shui seems to be targeting.
Thom Browne’s Dapper Downtown Dinner
Earlier this week, the likes of Teyana Taylor, Martha Stewart, Justin Theroux and Leon Bridges shuffled under The Commerce Inn’s historic arches to meet Thom Browne for dinner. Co-hosted by Oh, Mary! actor Cole Escola (whose Broadway debut inspired the evening), the starry affair was not only a fame-filled fête; as each guest arrived in unseen Browne attire, it became the informal introduction for the CFDA chairman’s Spring 2025 line, too.
“I presented my runway collection in Paris during couture but still wanted to celebrate New York Fashion Week,” Browne told Hypebeast. “I wanted to come together with my team, my friends and my family to showcase the Spring 2025 collection. I couldn’t think of a more perfect place and people to do this with.” Browne’s perfect blend of diners also included Addison Rae, Alessandro Nivola, Alton Mason, Ella Emhoff, Eva Chen, Ian Bradley, Ib Kamara, Issa Rae, Jordan Roth, King Princess, Lola Tung and Patti Lupone — all of whom posed for collection portraits by photographer Joshua Woods pre-meal (and the results could very well be the collection’s lookbook).
Off-White™’s Distorted Denim
On Sunday afternoon, Virgil Abloh-founded label Off-White™ transformed Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 2 into a massive pick-up basketball court for its debut New York Fashion Week show. Titled “DUTY FREE,” the Spring/Summer 2025 collection that dribbled, jumped and dunked through the venue represented a mixture of America and Africa through the lens of sportswear.
Among the standout silhouettes were creative director Ib Kamara’s signature shredded denim. Painted teal and red, the stripped textile held together vests and trousers with utilitarian zip pouches, in a manner that somehow still looked elegant, despite the tethered aesthetic. At the same time, the designer kept these silhouettes under Off-White™’s utilitarian umbrella, equipping his head-turning tops and trousers with removable pouches and pockets via zippers. With an eclectic blending of style tropes, the designer aimed for a three-pointer — and from where we were seated, he scored.
See the full collection here.
SP5DER Casting a Wider Web
The first-ever SP5DER New York Fashion Week showcase surely would’ve made Young Thug proud. Known for its streetwear silhouettes – specifically, its vibrant sweatsuits – Atlanta-based Sp5der showed out for its five-year anniversary, casting a wider web than ever before in its Fall/Winter 2024 presentation entitled “Nocturnal Highway.”
With Kyle Kuzma, Alton Mason, Anwar Hadid, SadBoi all walking at the Spring Studios show – and none other than Mariah the Scientist closing out the show – Sp5der proved it has more in the bank than just bedazzled loungewear and graphics, combining its signature styles with more technical fabrics and textiles. Standout silhouettes spanned patterned denim pieces, cow-print coats and fur-lined hoodies.
Taking a “see now, buy now” approach, all pieces shown on the runway are now available to purchase. See the full collection here.
Luar’s Yahaira Bag
With Madonna and Ice Spice in the front row, Offset on the runway, and big metallic Ana bags all over Rockefeller Center, Luar’s Spring 2025 show on Tuesday evening was among New York Fashion Week’s most impressive spectacles.
Titled “En Boca Quedó” (a phrase commonly used in the Dominican Republic as a playful form of shade), the collection was full of attitude: but specifically, designer Raul Lopez’s all-new hero accessory, the Jahaira bag, had the most power in its step. Named after the designer’s own drag persona, the new key accessory is an evolution of the label’s adored Ana bag, but with a more angular build and smaller handles. Expect to see the arm candy hitting New York sidewalks come next spring.