New York Fashion Week 2019 Highlights

Runway shows in abandoned subway stations, massive choir performances and trips to the legendary Apollo theater.

This season, New York Fashion Calendar week (NYFW) brought explosive performances, stellar locations and the multifariousness by which nosotros know it all-time, all together in 5 jam-packed days.

The compressed schedule was meant to tighten sprawling bear witness formats and came on the gild of designer Tom Ford, the new Chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

"We're conscious of people's time and upkeep," said the CFDA President and master executive officer Steven Kolb. "We've gotten feedback over the last few seasons that the longer schedule was difficult for editors and buyers and guests of fashion shows."

Rihanna at the Fell X Fenty show on September 10, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York.

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Due north America/Getty Images for Brutal X Fenty

With a shorter schedule and more shows in offbeat locations than ever earlier, careful planning was needed to cram it all in. Some guests felt like they had to make a choice between designers since many shows were off-schedule and conflicted with the official diary. Here are the central takeaways from New York Fashion Week.

Brooklyn Rising

1 / 25

A model walks the runway for Brandon Maxwell during New York Manner Calendar week on September vii, 2019 in New York Metropolis. Credit: Peter White/WireImage/Getty Images

Gone are the days when a midday expedition to Brooklyn during fashion week was unusual.

Though a few brands have ever staged their shows in Brooklyn (Eckhaus Latta, for example), this season'south calendar was full of Brooklyn locations from some of the top designers: Brandon Maxwell, Pyer Moss, Telfar and even Michael Kors.

Tory Burch paid a floral tribute to Princess Diana in the The Brooklyn Museum, parading pussybow blouses, silk dresses and oversized coats.

"It wasn't about finding a venue in Brooklyn per se, we only cruel in love with the space of The Brooklyn Museum," Burch told CNN Style. "It has put on some of the most extraordinary exhibitions you will find, often focused on strong women artists."

The style information technology looks, Brooklyn's wide open spaces could be a serious contender for all shows moving frontward. At that place was a big accent on outdoor shows -- Carolina Herrera took place downtown in Battery Park, Maryam Nassir Zadeh on a Lower East Side sports court and Kate Spade in the charming Elizabeth Street Garden.

Theater and performance

Rachel Zoe, Joan Smalls, Ansel Elgort, Miley Cyrus, Russell Westbrook, Amber Valletta and Naoki Kobayashi attend Tom Ford'southward prove, which took place at the Bowery Street subway station.

Credit: Billy Farrell, Sancho Scott, Nei/Billy Farrell, Sancho Scott, Nei

Not-traditional formats reigned supreme during this fashion week, particularly in the form of theatrical performances. Tom Ford, for example, took his guests underground in a deserted subway station where the platform doubled equally a track. Drinks were flowing, there were existent subway workers, and booming music gave the whole prove a downtown cool vibe.

Emerging designer Susan Alexandra, known for her beaded handbags, re-created a bat mitzvah complete with food, music and super-sized versions of her handbags in balloon format.

Designer Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada ready up a farmer's market and invited guests to take the produce to emphasize her commitment to sustainability (all clothing was made from repurposed materials with the exception of jersey material).

"This prove is my continuing effort at reconciling the desire we all take to create and consume with the responsibility we all share to be conscious and ethical," said Taymour, one of x 2019 CFDA/Faddy Style Fund finalists, an award that recognizes emerging American talent. "I'g doing my best to use my platform to communicate urgent messages with positivity and honesty."

A model walks for the Collina Strada show. A farmer's market was staged as role of the runway.

Credit: Mitchell Sams

Meanwhile, there were three comebacks of sorts. After five seasons effectually the world, Tommy Hilfiger came dorsum to NYFW to showcase his Fall 2019 TommyXZendaya collection ("Meet Now, Buy At present"), a collaboration with American actress Zendaya. The effect took place at the historic Apollo theater and featured live performances, singing and dancing.

That same night, Pyer Moss returned after a one-year interruption from runways with a testify at Kings Theater, a concert hall in designer Kerby Jean-Raymond's neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Choirs accept been a staple of Pyer Moss performances in the past, and this season the Pyer Moss Tabernacle Baste Choir (formed with his show managing director Dario Calmese in 2015) brought together 90 singers.

Rihanna topped the week off with her Savage ten Fenty bear witness, featuring performances past Halsey, Migos, Tierra Whack and Dj Khaled.

New names to know

A model performs during Tomo Koizumi'due south Spring 2020 show at New York Fashion Week on September 06, 2019.

Credit: JP Yim/Getty Images

Along with the big name performances of fashion week, several ascent designers showcased theatrical runway shows of their own, and in this case, many of them were worth paying attention to across the performances.

Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi, who made a spectacular debut last season, dressed transgender model Ariel Nicholson in the designer's rainbow confections that are larger-than-life and about sculptural. Her hair spiked to a point, Nicholson twirled in the voluminous tulle creations in a packed one-woman show.

Elsewhere, rising indie label Puppets and Puppets, designed by former fine artist Carly Mark and costume designer Ayla Argentina, combined Romanov-inspired textiles and shapes with flashes of surrealism, accompanied by a strangely appealing soundscape past thereminist Dorit Chrysler.

With a tighter schedule than ever before, immature crowd favorites Vaquera banded together with Section viii and CDLM/Creatures of the Current of air for a group show. Section 8's experimental netted tops and simple blackness and white palette marked the characterization as one to spotter.

Diversity in every sense

A model walks the rail for Chromat during New York Fashion Week on September 7, 2019 in New York City.

Credit: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Not just does New York lead the manner for racial diverseness in all way weeks (though it's widely acknowledged there's more work to be done), this year designers fabricated a deliberate try to exist more than inclusive.

Fashion house Kate Spade spread its show across iii generations, featuring 65-year-erstwhile "Accidental Icon" blogger Lyn Slater and extra Debi Mazar who walked with her teenage daughter, Evelina Corcos.

"We wanted to have a broad range of women," creative director Nicola Glass told CNN Style. "Kate Spade every bit a brand has ever shown a diverse range of women in their marketing, but this is the first time we've really reflected that in a runway prove."

Children could have been expected to walk for luxury junior label Lulu et Gigi, simply this yr the brand attracted extra attention for sending ix-yr-old double amputee Daisy-May Demetre downward the runway. The up-and-coming model, who had both her legs amputated as a baby, is due to appear at Paris Manner Week later this month.

Meanwhile, swimsuit brand Chromat, an gorging supporter of diversity, celebrated ten years in the fashion industry with a slew of trunk types, races and ages. They included torso positivity campaigner Tess Holliday who walked the runway in a white, floor-length wearing apparel scrawled with the words "sample size."

Sustainable and political

A model walks the runway of Gabriela Hearst's carbon neutral prove.

Credit: Gabriela Hearst

Backstage, fashion shows are typically noisy and chaotic affairs, but Gabriela Hearst's evidence preps were strangely silent. That's because hairdryers and hot tools were banned as the designer attempted to stage NYFW'south first carbon-neutral bear witness. The models' pilus was slicked back in braids as they walked in Hearst's cotton fiber and wool silk trenchcoats and box weave hemp dresses.

More nods to sustainability could be seen in a sheathing collection by designer Maria Cornejo. Cornejo utilized upcycled textiles and leathers from car interiors in collaboration with Hyundai. The result was a very article of clothing set of casual dresses and trouser suits dubbed "ReStyle."

One of the virtually political moments of NYFW may have been Prabal Gurung'due south runway, which marked the tenth anniversary for his brand. His collection featured elements of Americana, the country's floral emblem red roses and classic blue denim. It culminated in every model being sent down the rails wearing a pageant-style sash with the words, "Who gets to be American?"

Finally, way favorite Marc Jacobs closed the week with an eclectic prove that celebrated life thorough vivid prints, florals and loftier-book shapes.

The adjacent stop on this twelvemonth's way week calendar? London from Fri, Sept. xiii.

See more coverage of fashion weeks here .

Share this post