by An exciting part of the New York shows is the discovery factor. The week features a mix of industry veterans but just as important is the new talent, some making their debut. Here WWD’s spotlights design stars to keep an eye on.
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“Thank you,” said Jacques Agbobly, a few minutes before his mother walked into his presentation, his first at New York Fashion Week. The up-and-comer – the 2023 winner of the WWD honor for One to Watch – had a big week, adding an LVMH Prize nomination to his growing accolades. The Fall acted as a “food venue” he said, welcoming his work, culture and skills at a time when many of the industry’s eyes are focused on the brand.
Growing up in Chicago, Agbobly has Togolese roots – and his collection seamlessly marries the two. Western shirts with precise topstitching came from learning about America through western movies; the same can be said for other suitable ideas, with flashes of whimsy through the colors of the Togo flag. Elsewhere, he proposed a colorful plaid trench that synchronized his two cultures together. Formerly known as Black Boy Knits, his special knitwear was also present, with a saturated, intricately colored top over a green statin wide-leg pant.
A bright evening look with a tiered skirt and absurd ruffle detailing showed he was pushing to diversify his work, which will now be a hit. All signs point to good things to come from the burgeoning New York brand.
Colleen Allen
The debut of her eponymous Colleen Allen line was arguably one of the most anticipated new collections this season. Previewing the showroom, the designer’s fall lineup proved that while she may have cut her teeth in gear (at The Row and Calvin Klein, under Raf Simmons), she certainly knows a thing or two about womenswear. -with-women.
Allen said that for the first time in her work, her designer-price brand, produced in New York, is a personal exploration with a focus on breaking down and understanding who she is as a woman.
“He was a spiritual inclusion in my day to day. I loved the archetype of the witch for femininity. It’s not about the cliche version of who she is, but about this elevated, spiritual life as a woman,” she said.
Color – fiery orange, bright red, purple – was a starting point for the fall. Ditto her unexpected fleece make-up, which was cut into sartorially elevated dinner jackets (lined with a mix of canvas and silk twill), column skirts, detachable sleeves and capes. Allen paired the tailored moments and rich opera capes with softer styles à la victorian cotton voile flowers, brushed wrap wool sweater dresses and sheer “raw” silk and lace tops and skirts.
The future designer said she plans to expand the line intuitively as she experiments with polar fleece (and other “unusual” materials) and color.
Li, Zane Li
Zane Li, a native of Chongqing, had a very strong first press-only collection, laying the foundation for the future of his Lii label. Well finished in eyelash hues of white, mint, cardinal red and midnight blue, the line could jump straight from its showroom racks to the shop floor – a rarity for a 23-year-old designer.
The FIT graduate has a minimal aesthetic that doesn’t address “stealth wealth”. With prices falling between $300 and $1,000, he’s hoping for the girl who wants the artier contemporary look of Phoebe Philo, but can’t afford it. Citing Balenciaga and Madame Grès as references, Li said, “I love their feminine silhouettes, but I want to take the precious out of it. I want to bring men’s practicality and versatility into my womenswear.”
Li’s technique is based on flat patterns, which are distorted, draped, detached and reattached creating interesting shapes that blend mid-century couture volumes with 90s sportif. The centerpiece of this season was the T-ringer in poly-taffeta and lined in a stiff cotton toile. The idea of dressing a T-shirt was originally an oversized dress in the same material with split sleeves going down to the hem for a great balloon shape. Rounding it out were swing-style collarless anoraks, nylon miniskirts and tunics with origami side panels that either draped over the body or draped gracefully towards the floor.
Delving further into technical manufacturing, a boat T-shirt came in transparent PTU, falling “somewhere between vinyl and plastic,” Li said. There was a clinical feel to contrast a dull two-tone skirt, the one piece with an interesting textural component. He should play more in that area for round two.
Meruert Tolegen
On Tuesday morning, New York-based designer Meruert Tolegen presented her first runway show on the New York CFDA Fashion Week calendar with a relaxed, romantic fall collection.
Since she started her eponymous label in 2020, the biologist-turned-designer has fused elements from her Kazakh culture and childhood, and current New York life, with a whimsical, and often historical, touch.
“I’ve been exploring a lot with textures in previous seasons. This time, I haven’t changed focus – I’m still mixing fabrics, but in a smarter way. On the creative side, I wanted to balance that and create those interesting shapes and prints that add nostalgia,” she explained backstage. Its “flower” print is a motif of flying ghosts, revealed to be created with AI tools and seen on many of the season’s sweet dresses or quilted top coats, “which is about that search for yourself, and it’s that’s the season. a little bit about it.”
Tolegen said she looked back to her first collection’s bustiers, fitted shapes and interesting volumes to create the fall mix of calico dresses, voluminous mantles and pannier gowns (great in smoky white embroidered lace with a silk or black velvet frame). While some outfits felt a little bare for the runway, her romantic dresses embellished with bows, beads and ruffle trimmings were winners. Ditto white flocked skirt with matching bralette and bed jacket.
She also introduced five menswear looks with tailored shirts, jacquard coats, slightly deconstructed accessories and sweaters that used the same elements of her womenswear to “let men be whimsical too,” she said.
Nigel Xavier
For Nigel Xavier, taking part in the Netflix fashion competition show, “Next in Fashion”, was the right platform to showcase his talent as a fashion designer. Ultimately, Xavier’s unique and upcycled designs struck a chord with the judges and viewers, as the designer won the show’s second season last year.
“It was the perfect opportunity for me to show all my talents because I was always in touch with her [design] from an artistic point of view more than just fashion design,” he said. “Then, I could just show one piece and not worry about the business side of it. It was just tailor-made for how I’ve approached fashion all this time. I won there and now I’m just building the brand to be even more at that level of a fashion house, rather than staying the way I did before.”
Xavier recently debuted his latest collection, titled the Tapestry Collection, which continues the nostalgic vibe he always has in his designs. The limited drop collection features bomber jackets and trousers made from upcycled tapestries depicting images of angels, wolves, eagles and other motifs.
The designer explained that he wants to continue offering his collections in limited drops to maintain a level of exclusivity, and plans to further expand the brand’s home decor.
Kate Barton
For her fourth collection, Kate Barton continued to assert her futuristic brand (as recently worn by Heidi Klum), expanding from eveningwear to more ready-to-wear separates, sculptural jewelry and accessories.
“I wanted to grow this Kate Barton world, where the lines between digital and reality are blurred. Many of our followers on social media think our pieces are AI [generated] so we wanted to build on that,” she said as she used her sculptural drawing technique (which doesn’t use seams or darts) on knitwear, outerwear and accessories with architectural effect, 3D imaging and serious sex appeal in the tradition. by Thierry Mugler.
New ready-to-wear highlights included a white bustier with a removable molded mirror plate worn over a liquid navy satin skirt; a light blue suede effect top draped and tied over black liquid satin pants; a black cropped and puckered sweater over an asymmetric green wool skirt, and an off-the-shoulder leather top with a boomerang effect at the neckline paired with a mini skirt.
Barton doesn’t think about themes of inspiration, but he makes clothes by instinct, more like an artist, and then he engineers it. She was one of the few designers to inject futurism into the fashion conversation this week, incorporating AI experiments into her performance format as well, and should be on the shortlist to collaborate with a tech platform.
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