New York’s emerging set proved this season that ingenuity knows no bounds, with collections that embraced spectacle, subversion, and deeply personal narratives. From Gabe Gordon’s latex-laden, off-kilter prep to Jane Wade’s techno-corporate dystopia, the AW25 shows explored identity, performance, and the ever-shifting role of fashion in modern life. Grace Gui’s silkworm-bred sustainability and Destroyer of Worlds’ apocalyptic theatrics pushed the boundaries of craftsmanship and imagination, while Zankov and Tanner Fletcher injected refined whimsy into wearability. As the next wave of talent continues to carve out space in the industry, these designers remind us that the future of fashion is not just about dressing for the times, but about rewriting them entirely.
Gabe Gordon returned to the runway for AW25 in the basement of the Tribeca Synagogue to bring audiences “Rubber Boyfriend”, a world pulled from the ‘80s and a mythical town grounded in subverted prep. The brand’s particular point of view as the clothier of choice for the sensual wrestler, student, and off-kilter housewife was filled out in latex, sky-high hair and glossy skin. Unisex, petite shorts and skirts as well as pom-poms, hand bandages, and streaming appliques of thread illustrated the designer’s eye for deliciously maximalist detail, alongside his partner and costume designer Timothy Gibbons.
Step into the digital matrix of Jane Wade this season – from wall projections featuring models’ faces and live footage of portions of the runway, to phones strapped to arms and recording the audiences’ expressions as each look traipsed through the three coils of seating. Wade’s use of skin-hugging chain mail, cords, headsets, and office-appropriate regalia illustrate the “corporate culture and technology” approach of this season’s collection. This show examines how we perform corporate theatre across both physical and digital spaces,” Wade explained in show notes.
In crafting a jewelry-forward presentation, it makes perfect sense for the creative, festive personality of Alexis Bittar to manifest in a theater of moving sculpture and musical interludes at Performance Space – a longtime New York hallmark of fashion and cultural intrigue. Robotic “models” acted out jerky motions draped in Bittar finery on a bedroom-centric stage. The scene was sparsely populated with graceful mid-century furniture, a vanity missing its mirror (but including a model examining herself with careful poise). Guests wove through lit, glass boxes of the brand’s wares as they took in the scene at-hand. Perplexing, intriguing, and altogether true of the wink-of-the-eye magic of Alexis Bittar.
Kamali’s designs stepped out of their usual lookbook format and into a showroom this season, where attendees were invited to view the latest – a camouflage dress, sumptuous thick coats, and hooded dresses that suggest an air of mystery and distinctly feminine poise. Mannequins were positioned in a criss-cross pattern around the perimeter of the space, each suggesting a different style of the Kamali playbook. From short leather dresses and coats, to checkered print and skin-tight column dresses, the range was vast, but reigned in by this season’s commitment to colorways across brown, camouflage, creamy white, and black.
Tanner Ritchie and Fletcher Kassel invited guests into their studio for AW25’s “Dance Party” collection – dressing two models with distinctly exquisite looks (blue quilting with dainty hand-sewn flowers and sequinned toile between them). For this season, products enter a new dimension of wearability with brand signatures. Ruffles, lace, and an array of pastels, oxblood red, ivory, black, and white fill out the looks. The collection embraces an ethereal yet mischievous spirit. Accessories including wide ties, oversized bibs, and strapping briefcases are delectable treats available for wear alongside their garment peers. At Tanner Fletcher, a sense of play runs through the collection, from unexpected fabric pairings to subtle asymmetries that reveal themselves in motion.
Models floated down the runway in Manolo Blahnik heels – swaying in brushed, boiled cashmere and shades the brand offers this season in show notes as “apple, quartz, tobacco, pistachio” and beyond. How divine. A mainstay of the Zankov world is a commitment to flashes of color and the element of surprise, disrupting traditional wools and cashmeres with a signature bent. A bright red top is tied across a model’s creamy, white tank with flapping strips of fabric hanging across her midriff. That pistachio color is visualized in a floor-length organza skirt, while metallic handknit tinsel and sprays of sparkles punctuate scarves, coats, and dresses.
Guests were invited to step into a reimagined version of Dracula’s lair for FW25, “an ode to the women written in history” as a means of newly shaping their stories as ones of defiance, power, and determination. Finely-embroidered white flowers bloom in a field of red across one dress. Decidedly plush top hats (a red one featuring a single, tall feather), came out two at a time on models walking shoulder-to-shoulder. Not to be outdone, shoes in collaboration with East Village Shoe repair were sky-high in proportion, a variety featuring more flowers, painted lacquer, or feathers.
A surrealist play of dramatic proportion was where Destroyer of Worlds set its scene for this season. Produced in a downtown theater, the brand’s cast of characters arrived on stage in looks at times otherworldly, club-forward, or simply sensual to a tee. Holographic and snow crash latex, woven leather, and fur scraps are just a sampling of the material experimentation available across the collection in mini-skirts, fur coats one could drown in, and translucent bodysuits sewn tight to skin. Apocalypse and post-culture dystopia feels like an apt inspiration for some of the looks available in this collection, show notes even pry readers with the darkly playful question – ”Can we have a little entertainment at the end of the world?”
Grace Gui has bred silkworms to produce a specific type of white color for her garments this season. Somehow, this is only the tip of the brand’s iceberg as its designer shows for the first time in NYFW with determined plans on the horizon. The designer’s credo is grounded in thoughtful sustainability, from the furniture in her presentation being exclusively sourced from family, to the deep level of thought that goes into her clothing (a particularly eye-catching bag not much larger than a football holds the exact amount of garment waste that went into the entire collection, for example). Watch closely for the evolution of Gui’s brand as, yes, she continues to experiment with silkworm genetics and sartorial intrigue in tandem.
photography. Thom Concordia, Grace Gui, Destroyer of Worlds, Pipenco (Krischan Singh), Zankov, Tanner Fletcher, Gabe Gordon, Alexis Bittar, Jane Wade
words. Sam Falb
Fresh off their collaboration on Handlebars, 
