The Fall 2023 Contemporary Market at New York Fashion Week
Year after year, New York Fashion Week showcases the breadth of American fashion. One category that continues to expand: the contemporary market. Here, WWD rounds up a mix of brands with serious businesses and their proposals for fall 2023.
Vince
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Vince creative director Caroline Belhumeur dipped into ’90s minimalism in the pre-season and fall sees her completely dive in with a focus on simple pieces from the era, remixed and renewed with updated proportions and shapes.
Belhumeur looked at the era through dual inspirations: artist Peggy Kuiper and a coffee-table book, “Entryways of Milan.” “’90s, but in a soulful way,” she called it, a feeling seen in a mix of monochromatic charcoal gray pieces, simple but with subtle tweaks, like a v-neck vest that sits higher on the collarbone, a classic renewed. The range has a bit more structure than in seasons past: slim-fit pencil skirts or sweaters and cardigans cropped closer to the body, with a quiet sensual nature.
Tops were counterbalanced with wide-legged trousers, and cargo pants, a luxe take on a raver pant, in a range of neutral tones, sand, stone, oatmeal with deep color pops on slipdresses and knits, all part of an organic seasonal proposition with plays on angles and proportions that will refresh their customers’ fall wardrobes.
Now a few seasons in, Kate Spade New York design duo Tom Mora (ready-to-wear and lifestyle) and Jennifer Lyu (leather goods and accessories) are firmly entrenched in brand codes, evolving them for the next generation.
They went big for fall using a presentation style at the Whitney Museum that could have been a performance art piece on monochrome color, geometric shapes and pattern, all part of the brand’s DNA.
“I kind of geeked out on the idea of taking color and applying to different textures,” Mora said of the collection. “It’s a sort of tension and joy.” A cherry red pantsuit worn with a blue sequined blouson-sleeve top and wide pant was saturated and eye-catching. Another look was eight hues of yellow, all a conversation of color and textures on a knit hat, mock neck dress, sheer sock and pump sock.
Celebrating 30 years, the brand worked with Pantone to develop a signature shade of green, similar to a fresh patch of grass after the rain. It looked smart on the classic satin bags, particularly one with rhinestones, and youthful when used on the rtw.
Derek Lam 10 Crosby
Derek Lam 10 Crosby opened its fall collection with an unexpected denim look composed of a sleeveless button-up vest with white shearling details over a wide-legged capri jean. New takes on denim have been big drivers at the brand and show how it is constantly evolving, focusing on craft. To that end, the designs of the American Arts and Crafts movement served as the starting point for fall.
“Their values of utility, simplicity and beauty of form are very much in line with what we do,” Shawn Reddy, vice president of design, said. Flourishes of handicraft added personal flashes — hand appliqué lace; a faux shearling vest with cutout embroidery, easy to style with the jean offering ranging from flares to three-quarter length. Not too casual, though, often worn with a tweed jacket since blazers are a big category for the brand
Moody florals on dresses rounded out the strong collection of wardrobe classics with a Derek Lam twist.
Tanya Taylor
Tanya Taylor is growing, opening her first store on New York’s Upper East side this spring. It’s helped her see her work differently, thinking about what things her customer needs in her wardrobe. Fall sees her offering an even more personal touch in her work, styling the collection images herself and closely examining the ways her pieces can be worn. “I feel like I could wear it all,” she said at a preview, adding it’s her personal gut check of her work.
Sequined fringe and feather details found landed on several of Taylor’s pieces, adding a touch of whimsy on separates, knits and dresses. Moody floral prints were on dresses and tops while suiting had sharper blazers with chain details and a loose pant. Knit accents, like as a waist-cincher on a poplin jumpsuit, were nice elements of surprise.
Taylor plans to sell several other brands in her store — including accessories — alongside her work, creating a sort of marketplace for her new direct-sales channel, and giving her customer a full 360-look at her world.
L’Agence
“It’s rock and sexy — really about that boldness and vibrance,” L’Agence fashion director Tara Rudes Dann said during the brand’s Bowery Hotel-set fall presentation, adding every woman is the brand’s muse. “For this season, it’s about the moment. She’s a chameleon — one day she wants to wear skinny jeans, the next day flares, or maybe a gown or dress. That’s who we are, we dress her from day to night for every occasion.”
“We make a woman feel sexy, it’s not overtly, but our clothing nails it when it comes to that,“ chief executive officer and creative director Jeff Rudes added.
Fall built upon that idea with leveled-up feminine suiting (fresh in bright red); leather outerwear; lurex tweed jackets, paired back to signature denim; slinky slips and body-hugging dresses, and plenty of shimmering party styles.
Cinq à Sept
Cinq à Sept designer Jane Siskin tapped into the opulence of the 1920s for fall, looking to design elements like brocade, embroidery, lace and a rich color palette to create a wide range of contemporary styles.
“What we always do is pick something and modernize it and put our own spin on it,” the designer said. “It’s about being the solution for every occasion because I believe every moment is an occasion. We try to elevate every single part of a woman’s life.”
The fall collection offered a wide range of casual and dressy styles. Key pieces on the casual side were an olive green bomber jacket accented with a jeweled embroidery and a crushed velvet matching set, while dressier pieces include a silk dress designed in a vintage French floral print and a draped, sequined dress. Siskin explained the outerwear makes up some of the key pieces in the collection, such as a brocade knee-length coat.
PH5
PH5 continued its ethos of marrying sustainable knitwear with artistic designs. The collection centered on whimsy, with bold colors, oversize silhouettes and the brand’s signature wavy design seen throughout.
Like past seasons, the brand brought a technical element to its collection with a puffer vest that’s meant to “create a tech-leaning interpretation of cozy.” As sustainability is a major component of the brand, the collection was designed using 90 percent responsibly sourced materials.
Aknvas
What if America had a royal family? Designer Christian Juul Nielsen is from Denmark, with one of the oldest line of royals in the world, and now firmly a New Yorker he was pondering just that. “We’re doing this as basically sort of the royal court and how the royals of New York City would look, obviously taking a twist on everything.”
He closed the show with massive ballgowns…but in technical Japanese fabrics, giving them a sporty sheen. Nielsen evolves his brand by taking his couture background, remixing with craft and sport — see his standout knits, top sellers every season. “As a Danish boy in America, everything is like bigger,” he sheepishly said. A coed runway played with proportions and color, faux-fur outerwear and plenty of ruffles, seen on updates on his ruffle dress and on boots. Flared pants were sequined and had a pajama feel.
He is now in the collaboration game with a partnership with Stuart Weitzman for a range of shoe styles, having played with his own bag designs previously.
PatBo
PatBo designer Patricia Bonaldi referenced her Brazilian roots for fall, looking to the craftsmanship of hand beading and embroidery to create a line of modern eveningwear. The collection continued her aesthetic of fun party dresses in bright hues of violet, red, mustard, teal and other colors. The collection ranged from minimal, floor-length gowns and ruffled dresses to crystal-embellished cropped separates and crushed velvet suits.
“This time I really wanted to honor my background,” Bonaldi said. “All of this craftsmanship and handmade work that you saw on the runway, I did this in my hometown where I have a school, where I teach people how to do this. It’s my story and it’s been my life for more than 20 years, so I think it’s about this because designs evolve, but craftsmanship is like an art. It remains the same, so I think it will be the right time to show people what we can do in Brazil.”
Hervé Léger
Inspired by female warriors — specifically Charlize Theron as Furiosa and Tina Turner as Aunty Entity in the “Max Max” films, as well as the Amazonian warrior women of Greek lore — Hervé Léger creative director Christian Juul Nielsen wanted to imbue his latest collection with modern interpretations of armor. It’s an idea he’s riffed on previously, but found new intriguing ways to render the idea for fall.
Inspired by the Amazonian warriors, Juul Nielsen designed a handful of looks (including a copper fringed number, which cheekily inspired the presentation’s “espresso fringe-tini” cocktail) with one shoulder, while other bandage styles boasted draped elements (in matte jersey, half milano stitches, variegated rib and mesh) alluded to Grecian chitons.
“We have to continually push the brand further, so instead of making things that are not knit, I’m adding to them,” Juul Nielsen said of a strong pale blue gown with corsetry waist and silk draped underskirt, adding further newness with nylon “couture puffs” posed as peplums.
Colin LoCascio
Colin LoCascio continued his quirky design aesthetic, delivering a collection that leveraged the bold colors and mixed prints the designer has become known for since his debut collection two years ago, and elevated them with trendy silhouettes fit for the downtown set.
A Queens native, LoCascio looked to his upbringing for his first runway show as part of New York Fashion Week.
“I was really going back through my history and a lot of my memories are with my grandmother who I was named after — my middle name is Frances and her name was Frances,” LoCascio said backstage before the show. “Many of my memories are being out in the garden. She was a big gardener and we used to always go to different parks and the Queens Botanical Garden, so I drew upon a lot of those memories and injected them into the collection.”
The garden inspiration came through pieces that featured sequined floral detailing, like an orange sequined maxidress and a floral appliqué matching set. The designer stuck with some of his tried-and-true design elements — such as knitwear, which he elevated with a hand crocheted sparkly yarn — and brought back his popular faux fur for outerwear pieces and headwear. Overall, the collection evoked a youthful, free-spirited vibe.
Veronica Beard
“This a major season for us,” Veronica Swanson Beard said backstage after their runway show. Sisters-in-law Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard have added a new logo and dived deeper into what their customer loves them for: updating wardrobe staples that rely on tailoring, work from day to night and with a lived-in female perspective.
“Coming out of the last three years, we feel like we’ve really solidified who we are as a brand,” she said, pointing to the uniform and American collegiate prep inspiration for fall. They used the theme to evolve their core pieces — suiting printed with shoulder pads, pants or a skirt suit — with a corset detail, to cinch the waist and add to the wearability. Jeans were a big part of the mix, smart for a brand with a strong pant business. “Denim is such a huge part of our wardrobe,” she said, adding that elevating it and showing it in multiple ways “is important” to how they wardrobe their customer. The duo rounded it all out with striped sweaters and sweatshirts, their take on modern American prep.
They chose the former Chelsea location of Barneys New York to show their work, a bit of a tribute to the legendary retailer. “Barneys was all about launching new brands, so while we never were sold here, why not launch our new logo here?” Swanson Beard said.
What’s the new logo? Ask Suki Waterhouse, the English actor, model and singer who floated down the famed spiral staircase to kick off the show, singing her song “Neon Lights” — alluding to the floor to ceiling new brand identity in lights.
Lela Rose was in a playful mood again this season, with inspiration for her fall collection stemming from the queen of hearts.
The heart motif became the centerpoint of the collection and was rendered onto almost everything in the form of allover corded lace on organza dresses, or a standout Gothic black tulle number; cutouts on the hems of classic black trousers; an embroidered appliqué on a novelty “bleeding heart” jumper, and as micro-prints on tailoring with bustier-like tops.
Further emphasizing the theme, Rose covered other feminine dresses and sets with “bold flowers from her majesty’s greenhouse,” or chessboard red, white and black colors. Although unrelated to the theme, a cobalt blue bubble minidress was an adorable addition to the highly thematic lineup.
Trina Turk has a new talent on board, design director Katelyn Bischof, who is helping inject urban energy into the Southern California brand.
“We are always pulling from the 1960s and ’70s,” Bischof said. “We had Jane Fonda as a loose muse for this season, and it was about this cool downtown urban energy, and making it Trina by adding colorful prints and finding a way to balance that grittiness with casualness.”
That led to casual jacquard knit tailoring, a wide wale corduroy suit in Trina bright pink, and a ’70s style denim set with a wide-collar jacket. The designer carried crochet through to fall, on groovy stripe pants, worn with printed turtleneck and suede poncho.
The brand also stepped more into event dressing with a pink taffeta halter dress with bubble hem, and a swirling caftan with feather trim, which looked sharp with tall burgundy boots. Turk said, “You don’t want to feel constricted, that’s what our clothes are about.”
Le Superbe
Jeanine Braden’s “Field Trippin” Le Superbe fall collection was all about sequins, shiny styling and psilocybin, leaning into the refined sexy pieces that her Southern California brand has become known for.
Shine is not going away. “It’s part of our DNA,” said the designer, who showed plenty of the bestselling Liza pencil skirts and pleated midi skirts liked by Cindy Crawford and other celebs, in animal patterned sequins as well as sequined tanks or silk bow blouses.
She mixed in utilitarian cargo pants, corduroy painter pants and textured knits. “The future looks fuzzy,” she said of the shaggy sweaters and a glam black eyelash coat.
Taking inspiration from the mushroom boom, there were lots of trippy silk prints, too.
A.L.C.
“Real clothes for real life” — Andrea Lieberman is straightforward with her aim for A.L.C. “Celebrating the way the A.L.C. woman navigates the world with decisive confidence.”
Lieberman makes pieces designed for a woman with a busy life who understands trends but follows her own way by elevating her wardrobe classics each season. Fall sees her remix her customer’s wardrobe with cargo pants, boot-cut denim in light washes, origami folded asymmetric tops and LBDs and bright printed dresses.
Suiting — now a brand staple — was loose with a sculpted shoulder on blazers, perfect for dinner on a night out or a day at the office, underscoring the versatility and wearability her customers seek.
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