Is NYFW alive or dead in the water?

Making sense of the season thus far.

It’s no secret that many people have opinions on the state of NYFW

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With established names like Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, The Row, and more recently Altuzarra and Proenza Schouler choosing to show off-calendar, in Paris, or not at all, the future of NYFW is under scrutiny. What does the week look like without these icons? But beyond the absence of these major names, a larger, more existential question lingered over the week: what does it mean to be American in today’s fashion landscape? With the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate coinciding with the penultimate day of NYFW, the intersection of politics and fashion was clearer than ever. These two worlds have always been intertwined—after all, you can’t talk about the Kennedy White House without mentioning Jackie’s wardrobe, and you can’t discuss the current state of decorum without referencing John Fetterman’s hoodies.

Politics didn’t stay confined to Washington this week—it was present on the runway and among the attendees. Some guests sported the Realtree-ified Kamala/Walz merchandise, while Jordan Roth fashioned a makeshift Harris/Walz clutch out of an Amazon bag and a bumper sticker. As discussions about the legitimacy of NYFW swirled through the shows, car rides, and in the press, politics seemed so pervasive that collections lacking in quality were often granted a certain leniency because they tackled timely themes. This fusion of fashion and politics wasn’t just present in the runway shows but was emblematic of a larger question: how are today’s designers, through their work, defining what it means to be American?

@jordanrothofficialKamala Couture™️! Who wants one?

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Now that the glitter of NYFW has begun to fade and many have moved on to London, while others prepare for the journey to Milan or Paris—or perhaps brace themselves for endless hours glued to their phones—a lingering question remains: Is NYFW alive or is it dead in the water?