NYFW recap: highlighting the most memorable shows from days 1 and 2
Written by Jordan Murray
New York Fashion Week is back!
After the pandemic forced many fashion shows and collections to debut online last fall, in-person fashion shows are finally happening, and designers are here to show their spring 2022 collections to an audience.
Here are the in-person shows from the first two days of NYFW:
September 7
CDLM
Fashion brand CDLM, created by Chris Peters, was the first show to debut at NYFW on Sept. 7. It was a fashion show within an art show, featuring pieces from artist Oscar yi Hou at the James Fuentes Gallery.
Peters crafted most of the garments himself. His runway featured tassels, feathers and fringe among other ornaments. Many of the garments seemed to be pieced together using fragments of various fabrics with different textures.
His designs brought interest to the eye with their various embellishments. The different pieces working together represent the loosening of pandemic restrictions when we can begin to connect with each other again.
Collina Strada
Collina Strada, founded by Hillary Taymour, is built on the principle of social awareness.
Collina Strada’s runway filled Brooklyn Grange’s rooftop with disorder and disarray in the best way possible. The collection, called “Snail’s Pace,” referenced experiences from our past with a focus on feelings and emotions. The chaos represents the difficult time we live in and how, sometimes, our lives are scattered and disorganized.
Christian Siriano
Project Runway winner Christian Siriano debuted a runway show full of looks that screamed “party!” He brought bold colors with a bright orange pantsuit and dress. His garments featured interesting stomach cut-outs and shiny fabrics.
The use of neon green was reminiscent of the ʼ80s, and the sheer patterned gowns gave us an elegant, yet sexy look. Siriano brought glamour and made it interesting with asymmetrical and complimentary cut-outs.
Harlem’s Fashion Row
Harlem’s Fashion Row was created to give POC designers a chance to create and collaborate with brands. They host events that aim to connect with diverse groups of creatives.
This was the 14th annual Harlem Fashion Show and Style Awards. After the awards ceremony, designer Charles Harbison began the fashion show with his collaboration with Banana Republic. The collection gave us bold colors by color-blocking with a mix of fall outerwear.
Shawn Pean’s June79 brought us tailored garments with trousers and knits. Other designers that debuted were Jonathan Hayden and the founders of the label Tier.
September 8
Ulla Johnson
Ulla Johnson’s show took place in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Her designs combined femininity with serenity to create a beautiful show.
She featured gorgeous dresses with ruffles, a style she’s mastered, and an abundance of florals, another one of her trademarks. She added puff-sleeve dresses, sweetheart necklines and detailed prints that would look amazing in anybody’s spring wardrobe.
Tanya Taylor
Canadian fashion designer Tanya Taylor brought a very fun and youthful flair to the second day of fashion week.
The show took place at Dumbo’s Smack Mellon Arts, a nonprofit organization that offers support to female artists.
The pieces were feminine silhouettes with artistic features. The collection featured flowy dresses with fun floral prints paired with sneakers for a more casual look.
Taylor showcased pattern- and color-mixing with tight tops layered over-inflated dresses. The show gave off an “art student vibe” and had the perfect combination of casual and dressy.
threeASFOUR
ThreeASFOUR designers Adi, Ange and Gabi debuted their collection, titled Kundalini, during their NYFW show.
The garments were organized into seven different groups based on color, and each color represented a chakra. The label collaborated with Kornit Digital to create fractal patterns.
The garments had a constructed look that gave an otherworldly vibe to the collection. The clothing featured laser cut-outs and protruding ruffles of fabrics that are constructed into various shapes that curve around the body. It brought space-age and a more technological look to spring 2022 fashion.
New York Men’s Day — Stan
At the New York Men’s Day Show, 10 designers debuted collections at Canoe Studios. The morning show included KoH T, Onyrmrk, Stan, Teddy Vonranson and William Frederick.
The common theme among the various designers was a casual, tailored look that included bold prints with a subtle color palette of neutrals.
Maryam Nassir Zadeh
Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s show took place at the designer’s new storefront as a way to celebrate the brand’s success and to commemorate those who offered their support to the label.
The runway was casual, featuring fun and unique twists to classic pieces. Button-downs were made extremely casual, and sporty pants were made to look high fashion and dressy. The color palette stayed fairly neutral with pops of color throughout.
Imitation of Christ
With her spring 2022 collection, Tara Subkoff drew attention and created a societal performance that attracts awareness to issues within our communities.
The show was a three-part performance at St. Mark’s Church. Dancers wore the pieces outside of the church. One stand-out look featured a Victorian-style wedding dress that represented Texas’ recent ban on abortions. The dress was worn by a performance artist with a red line drawn on her stomach. The Victorian-style dress also represented the renewed feeling of women’s oppression and restraint.
DUNDAS X REVOLVE
Peter Dundas partnered with online retailer Revolve for a collection to bring sexy, high fashion looks that are palatable and accessible.
The runway showed lots of leather, black lace, animal print, chunky knits and figure-hugging silhouettes.
New York Men’s Day — A. Potts
The New York Men’s Day Show concluded with the last five designers in the afternoon. These designers included A.Potts, Carter Young, Chelsea Grays, Fried Rice and The Stolen Garment. Carter Young added a touch of Western influence while Fried Rice styled looks that fit into the category of streetwear. The looks were diverse but had similar concepts of color palettes and bold patterns.
Peter Do
Peter Do compared his collection to the Vietnamese dish Pho describing it as creating a feeling of calm and comfort.
The show took place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The looks were refined and minimal. They had simpler lines and light fabric with some elements of layering, perfect for the minimalist.
For the most part, the collection featured a light, neutral color palette with a few pops of bright colors and black spread throughout.
Proenza Schouler
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler featured looks that seem to mimic island activities. The looks had inspiration from scuba diving, surfing and nature.
Travel was an inspiration for the theme. These looks are meant to be worn when journeying out into the world after the pandemic prevented us from doing so for so long. The runway also featured lots of fringe and some new takes on the suit.
Willy Chavarria
Latino Designer Willy Chavarria’s spring 2022 menswear show took place at the barbershop Astor Place Hairstylists. Chavarria used this location to create an innocuous environment that represented the reason we go into a barbershop or salon: to feel beautiful.
The color palette was darker in contrast to some of the other collections seen on this day. The show did, however, share a similarity to New York Men’s Day. Chavarria’s runway took on a street style look, but with an avant-garde and high fashion twist.
Prabal Gurung
Prabal Gurung’s inspiration for this collection was the importance and significance of girls and women in American society. The collection, titled “American Girl,” featured garments that took a closer look at femininity.
The show was about embracing feminine styles and attributes while still fighting against stereotypes associated with femininity. It featured traditionally feminine silhouettes, but also took traditionally masculine clothing items, like suits, and altered them to fit an aesthetic that presented as feminine.
