With boundary-pushing designs and plenty of famous faces on the front row, New York Fashion Week (NYFW) has wrapped up a glittering season.
New York is often seen as the cooler younger sibling to Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, and it didn’t disappoint with the autumn/winter 2024 season.
Here’s what you might have missed from a week of fashion in the Big Apple…
1. Beyoncé sits front row
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In a surprise appearance on Tuesday night, Beyoncé sat in the front row to watch her 19-year-old model nephew Daniel ‘Julez’ Smith Jr walk the runway at the Luar fashion show, a clothing brand “for the culture”.
The American singer-songwriter was sat next to her mother Tina Knowles, wearing a shimmering silver blazer paired with matching thigh-high boots from Gaurav Gupta’s recent spring 2024 collection. She finished the look with oversized sunglasses, a holographic Luar bag and a cowboy hat in the same colour.
2. Molly Ringwald walked the runway
Sixteen Candles star Molly Ringwald opened the Batsheva show, wearing a dramatic hooded black gown which the brand described on Instagram as “a velveteen funerial Jackie O dream”.
The 55-year-old is usually seen sitting front row, but this season she joined an entire cast of models aged 40 or over. Designer Batsheva Hay had spent weeks recruiting random women for the show, telling The New York Times she did it because she was 42 herself.
“I find that aging is a big preoccupation for me and my friends. It’s an area of discomfort in fashion,” she said.
3. Tommy Hilfiger comes back home
In his second show since the coronavirus outbreak, fashion veteran Tommy Hilfiger wanted to honour New York.
He staged the show at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, with the likes of Damson Idris, newest brand ambassador Sofia Richie Grainge, and Kelly Rutherford all in attendance.
“We thought it was time,” Hilfiger told CNN ahead of the show. “Time to come back and celebrate New York. It’s iconic, and it’s where I started.”
From varsity bomber jackets and trench coats to striped jumpers and polo shirts, the mega-brand was bold and modern in its interpretation of preppy fashion.
4. Blake Lively makes an appearance
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In support of her good friend Michael Kors, the actress and Gossip Girl alum attended the autumn-winter runway shown Tuesday.
The mother of four wore a trench coat and matching mini skirt in a striking giraffe-style print, paired with chocolate brown boots.
Her appearance comes after she attended the NFL’s Super Bowl on Sunday to see the Kansas City Chiefs win against the San Francisco 49ers.
She was spotted watching the game with Taylor Swift, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey, Miles Teller and Keleigh Sperry.
5. All eyes on Area
To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, Area did things a bit differently – everyone else might have been showing autumn/winter collections, but Area decided to debut spring/summer clothes.
Inspired by Sixties pop art and 1920s cartoons, outfits were studded with statement googly eyes.
“A play between viewing and being viewed, this collection explores the dynamics of essentials and the extraordinary, reconstructing the interconnection between fashion and its observers,” Area wrote in an Instagram post.
6. Storybook drama at Thom Browne
After a spell in Paris, Thom Browne returned to the New York Fashion Week schedule in suitably dramatic style.
A veteran of the industry – and the chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) – he’s known for high-production-value shows, and this season was no different.
Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven, models walked around a wintery wasteland of a catwalk. More than just a runway show, this was performance art – one of the ‘trees’ on the runway turned out to be a man on stilts wearing a large puffer jacket, and four children emerged from the coat to watch the show.
The clothes were suitably Gothic – practically everything was monochromatic with models wearing sculptural headpieces. There was an emphasis on tailoring and boxy silhouettes, but with a sporty edge – and celebrities like Janet Jackson and Queen Latifah were front row to watch the drama unfold.
