Nothing says summer’s over quite like the post-Labor Day dive straight into New York Fashion Week. And this season’s schedule is jam-packed.
The official calendar commences tomorrow, September 10, with Henry Zankov’s anticipated debut as creative director of Diane von Furstenberg, marking the first time in nine years that the brand has appeared on-schedule during NYFW. But as usual, brands can’t help but get started early, with a number of off-calendar shows, store openings, parties and more filling the calendars of the fashion set.
On Wednesday, Rachel Comey, Cult Gaia, Ralph Lauren and Coach will host their runway shows, while the seasonal kickoff party of the week’s organizer, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), will take place at Rockefeller Center. Other parties from the likes of ShopMy and Bergdorf Goodman are set to go down, too, while Balenciaga is hosting an event at its SoHo store in honor of its new Hourglass Avenue handbag. Coach will be celebrating its 85th anniversary with a party right after its show at Pier 36.
Don’t overdo it on Wednesday, though: Thursday is equally full. Apart from the show schedule, which kicks off at 9.30am with DVF’s return to the calendar, Net-a-Porter CEO Heather Kaminetsky will be courting guests that night for cocktails, and Moncler is throwing a bash to celebrate the opening of its new Fifth Avenue flagship. Throughout the rest of the week, other brands and companies are hoping to get at least a pop-in: Acne Studios will celebrate its new Meatpacking store, J.Crew is throwing a party on Friday with Eckhaus Latta, The Frankie Shop and Mytheresa are hosting Saturday evening events, and brands like DVF, Simkhai and Carolina Herrera will put on afterparties.
“There is no better time in New York than September. We are coming off a high-energy summer, the Knicks and the World Cup, and fashion week lands right on top of that momentum,” says fashion consultant Julie Gilhart. “The city is buzzing creatively and the energy is up.”
The deluge of events underscore how important the US market is to brands both at home and abroad, says CFDA president Steven Kolb. “New York is a gateway; it’s a door into the American market. “And I think the reason you see so much of that is the same reason brands come to New York to show — there’s so much energy involved and attention and visibility during fashion week. It’s like Oscar weekend or Super Bowl weekend. People want to use New York Fashion Week (NYFW) as a way to connect to something that has significance culturally.”
What to watch
The official Spring/Summer 2027 calendar features 63 runway shows, seven presentations, 43 by-appointment or extended presentations, six digital shows and eight New York Menswear Day shows, for a total of 126 activations. The calendar’s designers are an even split between men and women.
“The schedule is packed — and yes, there is a fair question as to whether it is too packed,” Gilhart says. But she’s thrilled by the amount of New York-based talent that’ll be on show. “The OGs and the new mixing together is exciting.”
All 10 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (CVFF) finalists are showing this season. “It’s a great group. Every one of them is worth a look at, from Aisling Camps to Emily Dawn Long to Zane Li of Lii to Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen and all the others,” Gilhart says. A number of brands are doing runway shows for the first time, including Heirlome, 6397 and Ailing Camps. There will be runway returns, too, from ThreeAsFour and Rio (formerly Gypsy Sport).
This season required more logistical planning hoops to jump through — as is often the case with NYFW, which can run into Presidents’ Day in February and must fit in the narrow window after Labor Day and before London Fashion Week in September. This year, NYFW falls across the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks (which happened during fashion week in 2001), and runs through Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, which made for tricky scheduling, says Kolb. (It might also explain why so many things are happening on Wednesday and Thursday.)
Apart from timings, New York’s sprawling show settings have presented logistical hurdles in past seasons. N4XT Experiences, which became a NYFW organizer in 2025, put forward a set list of more convenient show locations meant to make NYFW more navigable. Through a partnership with the NYFW Collections, participating brands including DVF, Zankov, Kallmeyer, Altuzarra, Area, Fforme, Tibi, Sergio Hudson, and more get access to a venue and production support for free. But this year, even the NYFW Collections’s venues are sprawling, because ultimately, N4XT wants to honor the designers’ visions above all, says CEO Imad Izemrane.
“I don’t know if it’s about February versus September, but we’ve seen a much bigger desire for brands to show up in different ways,” says Izemrane. “We have to always listen to the industry and we always have to make sure that the way we show up is not one-size-fits-all, but as flexible as we could possibly be to support the designers.” Last season, N4XT limited venues to below 34th Street, in close proximity to the West Side Highway. With more designers this season asking to show outside the preferred perimeter, however, N4XT obliged. “We’re not going to force you to show in a certain area. It’s about being flexible and allowing designers to put their creative vision and venues first, which I think is paying off,” Izemrane adds.
For any attendees hoping for an easier time navigating NYFW, you may be out of luck. But for press and buyers, at least the Google shuttle bus is back.
N4XT is carrying on initiatives from KFN, a now-disbanded organization that briefly swooped in with a multi-year plan to reinvigorate NYFW. N4XT is working with Redone and SAP on a new store experience this season, as well as continuing efforts to establish a digital commerce platform tied to fashion week, called FW. Stay tuned for February, which is when the full launch is scheduled to roll out.
Who’s buying?
Once again, the wholesale landscape since last season has shifted. Mytheresa and Net-a-Porter parent LuxExperience hit profitability and is on track for its turnaround. Newly minted Exemplar Luxury Group — or rather, newly rebranded — is hitting the ground running, ready to win back brands across its retailers (Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman). Yumi Shin, formerly of Bergdorf, is now helming Nordstrom, which continues to invest in emerging brands, alongside Bloomingdale’s, which is developing its brand mix as it capitalises on its growth moment. Retailers, meanwhile, have made two key fashion editorial hires or promotions: Nordstrom hired former Harper’s Bazaar editor Brooke Bobb as VP, fashion director; while Neiman Marcus and Saks promoted Chloe King from editorial director to fashion director
Buyers are excited by the newness this season. Shin, EVP of global brand partnerships at Nordstrom, is most excited for the week’s opener: Zankov’s debut as artistic director at — and return to — DVF. “This season feels especially charged with energy. I’m energized by the creativity and the community of our independent designers,” she says. Shin also notes her excitement for each member of the CVFF to show — not just for Nordstrom, but because she’s a member of the selection committee.
Brigitte Chartrand, chief buying and merchandising officer at Net-a-Porter, is keen for Khaite, which, she says, is always the pillar of NYFW (a common consensus among buyers). “I always look forward to Colleen Allen, Kallmeyer, and of course, Thom Browne who is closing NYFW this season,” she adds. Shin echoes many of these standouts, adding Altuzarra and Diotima into the mix.
However, Chartrand is most looking forward to two out-of-towners flying in for the week (always a highlight at NYFW). While brands like Alaïa and Marni have previously dropped in, this season, it’s the independent designers heading stateside. Magda Butrym is in town for her first NYFW show and SoHo store opening, while born-and-bred New Yorker Conner Ives is coming home from London for the season. “I’m excited for Conner Ives, I always look forward to seeing his new collection — and the brand is joining Net-a-Porter soon,” Chartrand says. “Magda Butrym’s debut in New York will be a special moment, and I’m excited to see the opening of their first store in America.”
As in seasons past, the CFDA’s New York Fashion Week Fund will sponsor international press and buyers to come to the city. With so much happening throughout the week, and so much attention being paid to the US consumer by the broader luxury industry, energy heading into this season is high.
“All of it just brings more energy, excitement, people, money into New York, which is what it’s really about: getting eyeballs on American fashion and New York Fashion Week,” says Kolb.