HEADER IMAGE Jason Lowrie/BFA.com courtesy of COACH
This season, American designers took a playful approach to dressing. From Marc Jacob’s super-sized dress-up dolls to Sandy Liang’s nostalgic 90s nod and Tyler McGillivary’s ode to the city’s camp creativity, New York’s design cohort is taking a whimsical approach to AW25.
It’s no wonder, when their new President has already banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports, destroyed DEI initiatives and called to revoke birthright citizenship all within his first few weeks back in office, that American designers are keen to steer away from reality and lean into fantasy and nostalgia to provide some much-needed comfort among the political chaos.
Below, BRICKS rounds up the best collections from New York Fashion Week AW25.
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs kicked off New York Fashion Week three days early, presenting his SS25 collection Courage at the infamous New York Public Library. Jacobs collaborated with Pat McGrath to create the two-dimensional doll faces for his models, who wore supersized silhouettes from ballooned skirts to sculpted shoulders and bloated baby dolls.
Despite its oversized scale, the designs were surprisingly wearable, while most attention has since remained on the collection’s footwear – chunky polished pumps and inflated-toe heels grounded the larger-than-life garments, and are sure to be seen on upcoming red carpets come awards season.
“Guided by heart, humility and gratitude, I have come to understand that fear is not my enemy – it’s a necessary companion to creativity, authenticity, integrity and life,” Jacobs wrote in the show’s notes. “With precious freedom we dream and imagine without limitation, daring to be vulnerable in the face of criticism and failure, not to escape from reality but to help navigate, understand and confront it – exploring through curiosity, conviction, compassion and love.”
Christopher John Rogers
Following a two-year hiatus, the Louisiana-born, NYC-based designer returned to the runway for AW25 with a defiant display of colour. The collection featured a rich tapestry of golds and maroons paired with zingy turquoise and chartreuse hues and muted green and brown tones. Rogers showcased a confident collection to mark his return, reprising his signature stripes while offering new oversized silhouettes in angle-grazing coats and taffeta skirts.
Tyler McGillivary
On Friday night, Tyler McGillivary took us out for Date Night, her debut runway show. “Date Night is the culmination of hundreds of episodes of Sex and the City, dozens of martinis, the perfect shade of red lipstick – and a really, truly great night,” McGillivary told guests in her show notes, as dozens of the city’s best-dressed content creators flocked to support the independent designer.
The Carrie Bradshaw-approved collection consisted of 30 looks – TikTok’s Kitty Lever opened with a taxi yellow faux leather skirt suit, embodying the signature 90s supermodel and Parker Posey’s Party Girl in equal measure. The designer’s recognisable floral appliques could be found atop a black wool coat and leather thigh highs, while new photographic and lipstick kiss prints appeared on mini skirts and patterned tights.
The show was a love letter to the brand’s “community of collaborators” including Camille Albertine who supplied the collection’s silk bouquet bags and striped purses, and jewellery designers Marland Backus and Pura Utz whose glittering pieces adorned the collection’s final look – a sculptural black velvet dress styled with dozens of faux diamond brooches – a reminder that glamour is an attitude, not a price tag.
Collina Strada
“Matriarchy, Gynecocracy, Queen-dom, Her-archy, She-volution… Fempire,” read the show notes at Collina Strada’s AW25 runway show. “Imagine a world where power moves sideways and care is currency. A world that doesn’t just resist outdated norms but rewrites the script entirely—keeping what works, reconfiguring the rest.”
For Collina Strada’s female-driven future, the designer raided thrift stores in New Jersey, reimagining ‘80s prom dresses and men’s wool coats into softer silhouettes. The trappings of traditional gender roles were revolutionised through upcycling, taking care to protect the materials she had found and transformed into her seasonless style.
Founder Hillary Taymour also thrifted three wedding dresses for the collection – two blushing brides shared a kiss mid-show, met to cheers from the audience. “Femininity is not a set of instructions,” said Taylor. “It’s a mess of beautiful contradiction—fierce and soft, dark and illuminating, private and protective, unapologetically visible and glam. Claim your space as a way to make room for others.”
Calvin Klein
Veronica Leoni’s hotly anticipated debut at Calvin Klein did not disappoint, offering a refreshed approach to minimalism by returning to the brand’s simplistic sensuality. For her first collection, Leoni offered a practical wardrobe of staple coats, suits and silk blouses in flowing fabrics and delicate drapes that felt suitable for all occasions – never under or overdressed.
The Italian designer is the first female creative director at the brand, and looking at this collection, Leoni has all the makings of a new-generation Phoebe Philo at Céline (her former mentor) to address what women want from contemporary womenswear design. While she will undoubtedly pull from her previous tenures behind-the-scenes at Jil Sander, Céline and The Row, it is Leoni’s unabashed admiration for Calvin Klein’s 90s heyday that makes her feel like such an ideal fit for the iconic brand.
“As a designer, I have always been deeply inspired by Calvin Klein, and the chance to write this next chapter for the brand is a one-of-a-kind opportunity,” said Leoni in the post-show press release. “My goal is to define an ultimate and definitive expression of monumental minimalism and pureness through shape and craft, bringing Mr. Klein’s original vision and distinctive approach into the current day.”
Sandy Liang
A fan-favourite for her stylish takes on girlish whimsy, Sandy Liang took inspiration from her recent journey into motherhood for her AW25 collection. By far her most confident collection yet, the garments paid homage to childhood relics from the 90s til now, connecting her customers from all eras with their own childlike innocence.
It’s hard not to be charmed by the nostalgic nods – including miniature Polly Pocket ensembles, Furbies and even a Toys ”R” Us-inspired t-shirt. Taking a note from Miu Miu’s styling, the collection also offered office-inspired two-piece sets, which she accessorised with chunky pearls, rose-patterned tights and prize ribbons as brooches.
Elsewhere, Liang’s original garment, the oversized pull-over fleece, returned in powder pink and neon green paired with trompe l’oeil skirts, while she debuted new footwear designs with her vision of Margeila’s Tabi toe-separated shoes.
Eckhaus Latta
At the core of Eckhaus Latta is Mike and Zoe’s desire to make unpretentious, eternally stylish clothing. For AW25, they delivered – word on the street, this collection was one of the best on offer this season. Collaborating with Ecco.kollektive, the Danish tannery produced swaddling leather hoodies as well as skirts and footwear for the collection. Elsewhere, ribbed mini dresses and raw hem knitwear were met with parachute cargo pants and ink-stained trousers.
Excitement came from pops of colour in red and yellow leather, and across unexpected floral prints. It was a reminder of what good clothes look like when you’re not viewing them from your phone screen. “Of course, things can be beautiful!! Don’t be idiotic. Don’t pretend to have emotions you don’t have,” said the show notes. “This isn’t the internet.”
Coach
Models showed off distressed denim, bag charms and bunny slippers at Coach’s AW25 runway show for its collection celebrating personal style. Inspired by “the appeal of found and love-worn pieces that reflect the personality of the wearer”, the collection included slouchy denim, shrunken tees, sweatpants and eclectic knitwear in Coach’s classic tan paired with pops of novelty in leopard print, metallic knits and beading.
“My vision for Fall was to ground the collection in all the things that make Coach so distinct as a fashion house: our heritage materials and palette, our commitment to repurposing and “re-loving” secondhand garments through craft, and our belief in the power of community and self-expression,” said Creative Director Stuart Vevers. “There’s a clear, cohesive idea here in terms of materials, silhouette and styling, and that comes from knowing who we are and what we stand for.”
Perhaps most importantly, Coach debuted a new bag – the Twin Pocket Bag, inspired by a Coach archive piece from 1968 – alongside last year’s it-bag, the Brooklyn, and the Empire bag in new playful colourways and compact proportions. Coach is clearly taking note of its younger customer base and the popularity of its circular diffusion line, Coachtopia, as all three bags were rendered in vegetable-tanned leather thanks to a new house treatment called ‘Loved Leather’.
Thom Browne
Thom Browne closed out New York Fashion Week last night with a 64-look collection imbued with bird motifs. Surrounded by hundreds of paper cranes, models glided through Manhattan’s The Shed with feathers adorning their eyelashes and beak-like lip colours. The collection featured many Thom Browne classics – stiff shirting, experimental suiting, and his primary colour logo were all on display – but also incorporated a renewed colour palette featuring pastel shades of pink and yellow.
Tweed coats also featured heavily in khaki greens as well as signature greys and a patchwork iteration, with multi-layered styling highlighting his sharp tailoring. Innovative pleated one-shoulder dresses reimagined classic kilt pleats, and models showcased an array of Browne’s animal-themed accessories.
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