Thom Browne Brings Some Much-Needed Showmanship to New York Fashion Week

Over the past few years, there's been a noticeable shift at New York Fashion Week: Designers are less concerned with "the story of the season," and, when asked about the inspiration for any given collection, will instead talk about timelessness, a wardrobe, a slow build, versus a desire to chase trends or relevance. It's a prudent approach, when you think about how people shop for luxury. But it means that, in day after day of debuts, there's less spectacle overall, both in the clothes and how they're presented. (Though, that certainly hasn't discouraged runway stunts.)

Luckily, you can count on Thom Browne — current chairman of the CFDA, holder of the closing slot of New York Fashion Week and proven showman extraordinaire — to bring that element of theatrics, imagination and pure fantasy, expanding our understanding of what a fashion show can be.

For his Fall 2024 show at Hudson Yards' The Shed, Thom Browne put that Zegna money to good use to debut a collection inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," complete with a dramatic reading of the poem courtesy of Carrie Coon. (Her "Gilded Age" husband Morgan Spector was front row, sans sleeves, alongside real-life wife Rebecca Hall.) The blown-up black puffer gown at the center of the snowy square that served as the runway/stage became animated as Anna Cleveland stepped out to set the scene, in a way, summoning four children out of its skirt.

The looks that followed riffed on the source material literally (black ravens on a white coat, "Nevermore" printed across the backs of tweed jackets) as well as through the treatments the brand used on the materials. (For instance, leather appears weathered, as if scratched up by the claws of a bird, and knits are distressed and unraveling.) Browne's ability to tell a story not only through motifs, but also through processes, is a reminder of why he was invited to be a guest designer during Haute Couture Fashion Week last summer.

While Browne has a strict design language he's developed over the past 20 years — working with tweed, keeping his color palette tight, excelling in tailoring — his collections don't feel stagnant or repetitive. If anything, the way he executes the sharpest of shoulders, the most precise of patterns, the most sculpted of waists, keeps us wanting more, more and more.

See every look from Thom Browne's Fall 2024 collection below.

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Thom Browne Fall 2024. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

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