See all the best looks — and celebrity appearances — at New York Fashion Week

What is the state of American fashion right now? It’s a question at least partly answered by New York Fashion Week, which concluded Tuesday, where brands including Thom Browne and Calvin Klein showed their latest collections in a season marked by major debuts, returns and decisive shake-ups for American designers.

Amid a wider industry reshuffling, several major labels and cult mainstays — including Proenza Schouler, Area and Helmut Lang — were absent from the schedule following the departure of their creative directors. Some heritage brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren skipped the season entirely, while others showed overseas or across state lines. (Willy Chavarria, one of New York’s most prominent designers, opted to show during Paris’ menswear week; Bode, though still officially on the schedule, debuted its collection in New Orleans as part of the football- and fashion-centric GQ Bowl.)

A pared-down week in New York nonetheless saw doses of theatricality, including Marc Jacobs’ off-schedule procession of doll-like models in exaggerated silhouettes, Christian Siriano’s automotive-inspired gowns and flashy clubwear, and Thom Browne’s conceptual closing that saw besuited models as otherworldly birds.

But understated collections focused on wearability were par for the course, from Eckhaus Latta’s “anti-snobbish” showing of leather bombers, cargo pants and casual asymmetrical dresses to Veronica Leoni’s highly anticipated debut collection for Calvin Klein.

In the latter brand’s first runway show since creative director Raf Simons’ departure in 2018, Leoni seemed to issue a return-to-work order, with sleek business casual attire made weightless through wide tailoring and billowing silk.

“I really tried to explore beauty in the most authentic, clean, fresh and pure way,” she told reporters, including CNN, backstage. “We (were) inspired by the archive, but didn’t get into any nostalgia. We tried not to get stuck looking too much into the past.”

Klein, now 82, was in attendance at his namesake label’s comeback. So too were Calvin Klein models past and present, including Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, FKA Twigs and Kendall Jenner, the last of whom walked the show in an ankle-length pinstripe coat dress.

Elsewhere, Ella Emhoff, Dove Cameron, actor Cole Sprouse and Japanese Breakfast singer Michelle Zauner showed up for Collina Strada, while Katie Holmes, Whoopi Goldberg and Julianne Hough sat front row at Christian Siriano. Actress and singer Keke Palmer made appearances at both Brandon Maxwell and Sergio Hudson.

Following a quieter midpoint for celebrity appearances, Tory Burch and Thom Browne both drew a number of A-Listers to close out the week. At the Museum of Modern Art, Amanda Seyfried, Martha Stewart, Ciara and Jodie-Turner Smith were among the front-row guests for Burch’s spin on classic sportswear, while at The Shed arts center, Cara Delevingne, Kerry Washington, Queen Latifah and Adrien Brody showed up in variations of Browne’s “uniform” — the suit.

Backstage, shortly before presenting his new codes of “opulent American sportswear,” Hudson spoke to the challenges facing American designers. “I don’t think there’s a lack of talent. I think it’s a lack of support,” he said, pointing to a shift in focus towards European fashion weeks. “There’s a lot of great designers here, and I just feel like they’re being ignored. We have to open up our eyes and see what we have at home.”

At Christopher John Rogers’ long-awaited return to the New York schedule after a five-year hiatus — a vibrant showing of color-blocked, striped halter dresses and tasseled button-downs and pants — the designer alluded to the difficulties in maintaining an independent label. “We haven’t been immune to the recent challenges of the industry and are grateful as a brand to be here now presenting this body of work,” he said in the show notes.

Ahead of Elena Velez’s runway, where mermaid and siren archetypes served as muses in netting, leather and wet, ruffled gowns, the Wisconsin-born designer called fashion “a longevity game.”

“It’s one of those industries where you have to claw your way into people’s realities, and you have to impose yourself in this space to be taken seriously,” she told CNN over a phone call.

In past seasons, Velez has done so through dramatic presentations — including a literal mud pit fight club — and atypical partnerships, including one with OnlyFans. In keeping with this season’s lost-at-sea mood, she said, fittingly: “There’s no plan b — I’ll sink with my ship.”

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Politics cast a shadow across the week’s proceedings. Less than a month into a turbulent new political administration, major fashion brands have been caught in the crosshairs of the budding US-China trade war; it is also unclear how new anti-DEI policies will impact an industry that has often struggled to be equitable and inclusive, both on the runway and behind the scenes. Designers used the opportunity to call for community in the face of the unknown.

“On the runway, we celebrate beauty and age and gender and body,” Siriano told CNN backstage. “We need fantasy. We need dreams. We need to show all of the colors and cultures that are here, especially in New York.”

Prabal Gurung, whose previous collection celebrated the hope of a different political future, looked to forms of intimacy in his latest presentation.

“I think, you know, we are all in the same space, confused, uncertain, anxious,” he told CNN backstage. “But one thing that I refuse to give in (to) is being reactive and giving into cynicism… So I always feel like in confusing, dystopian times, what we’re looking for is connection.”

At Collina Strada, where founder and creative director Hillary Taymour celebrated a matriarchal vision of the “fempire,” two models in upcycled heirloom bridal dresses kissed on the runway, while others wore bug-eyed protective shades — “to hide our tears,” Taymour noted backstage.

“Community is everything. Love your neighbors, love everyone. Trans rights, protect women, protect everyone. It’s going to be a really hard time in society, and let’s take care of each other.”

Scroll to see this season’s highlights.

I wanted to redefine femininity and masculinity from my lens.

Veronica Leoni

The show is not necessarily very romantic. It’s a bit more powerful, bit cooler, a bit edgier.

Christian Siriano

We’re going through a lot of political change, but for me it’s just recalibrating and remembering that we have to find strength within our community and come closer together and support each other.

Sergio Hudson

American fashion is resilient simply because majority of us are independent designers without conglomerates backing us… We are the ones who want to tell stories, stories that matter.

Prabal Gurung

“It is a very American brand — as the daughter of an immigrant who came to the States — and then also, just the attitude with which we all design. It’s very scrappy and intrepid and naively optimistic, in a sense. And I just think that New York needs a voice like ours.”

Elena Velez

This collection is about exploring the idea of ephemeral beauty — that single elusive moment where everything comes into focus, where everything is perfect in the garden.

Wes Gordon, Carolina Herrera

I was thinking about American sportswear, but I wanted to do a twisted take. And so it happened literally and figuratively… Sportswear was created in America, so I wanted to celebrate that.

Tory Burch

(The collection) was really taking the classic tailoring that I want people to come to me for and making sure you saw it 64 different proportions and lengths and all different ways.

Thom Browne