Meet New York Fashion Week’s Bold New Stars
From a designer who cut his teeth at Celine to a CFDA finalist known for her metal work and artist collabs, we round up the designers to watch.
Tom Ford has just closed New York Fashion Week for another season in what the New York Times has dubbed “an orgy of glitz”. Next, the fashion caravan rolls into London, followed by Milan and Paris where the best designers in the world will continue to present their spring/summer 2023 collections. At NYFW Ford—along with his star designer counterparts Marc Jacobs, Altuzarra, Michael Kors, and Proenza Schouler always gets top runway billing—but those in the know, well, know that the emerging and breakout stars can also inspire a fashion orgy with the best of ’em. Here are the ones to watch.
Label: Peter Do
Designer: Peter Do
Crib Sheet:
Among the new names pouring rocket fuel all over New York’s commercial fashion establishment, the designer of the moment tag has to go to Peter Do. The Vietnamese-born designer, who cut his teeth at Celine and Derek Lam, has been blazing a trail for a few years now—though to be fair two of them were pandemic. Despite his rise, much like the great Margiela to whom he has been compared—which BTW is perhaps the highest echelons you could afford any emerging designer—Do remains an enigma. This is a talent that despite or maybe in despise of the clickbaity digital-obsessed era we find ourselves in, opts to shield his face and let his work do the talking. And it does, in a dark minimalist whisper. All the while juxtaposed against a gentle roar of gender-bending. For Do creates clothes for he/she/they/them—which this season came served up in the form of unisex deconstructed suiting—jackets, shirts, trousers, pleated skirts slit open to reveal the hem and inner workings—in classic black and timeless neutrals for a future hellbent on re-writing the rules when it comes to fashion and sex and music and culture and frankly whatever else happens to take their fantasy. That’s not to say Do isn’t a little bit plugged into the zeitgeist, he did after all open the show with his first menswear offering, modeled no less by Lee Jeno of the K-Pop group NCT who just so happens to have 3.4m Instagram followers.
Designer Notes:
“We don’t just dress women or men, we dress people. Peter Do is for everyone. Men have been wearing Peter Do for some time now.”
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Label: AnOnly Child
Designer: Maxwell Osbourne
Crib Sheet:
You might recognize the name behind Maxwell Osborne, the designer behind AnOnlyChild, from his time as co-designer and fashion darling of the once burgeoning fashion brand Public School. Now out on his own, Osbourne hit the NYFW runway this week for the second time, though in his mind this was his official debut and the previous merely a teaser. His new label, made entirely from deadstock fabrics, all upcycled to look new, is known for his vivid use of color and has a distinct nod to his native Jamaica. To inform his latest collection, the designer turned to old video footage and photos of his family and then set about giving them a 2022 do-over, while holding onto that lived-in feel and cultural nuances. The result was a striking collection of silk dresses from the simple and slouchy to the full-throttled ruffled and drapey tailored separates in vibrant jewel shades of gold, emerald, and sapphire.
Designer Notes:
“I am an only child so making something out of nothing was part of my childhood. I am always inspired by old photos, the way my family used to dress, walking around the city, and music. This latest collection imagines the clothes everybody would wear if they all live in the same household.”
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Label: Midnight Studios
Designer: Shane Gonzalez
Crib Sheet:
Bringing a healthy dose of LA cool to the NYFW runway is Midnight Studios whose rock and punk-inspired menswear collections are inspired by the designer’s love of music and youth street culture. The label by DJ, designer, and artistic director Shane Gonzales, launched when he was just 19 (he’s now 27) has since been seen on Madonna, Rihanna, and A$AP Rocky, a regular music collaborator. True to form his SS 23 collection, “And Love Said No” is an ode to the evolution of rock and roll and saw him team up with his longtime favorite goth rock band, H.I.M. Heavy on rock-inspired elements on streetwear-inspired there was a black leather coat, relaxed takes on suiting, varsity jackets, denim, knits, and oversized button-downs, many adored with H.I.M. ‘s signature HEARTAGRAM logo and butterfly graphic designs.
Designer Notes:
“Music is a constant source of inspiration for me and I’ve carried that through Midnight Studios since the beginning. H.I.M. has always been one of my favorite bands and I’ve waited for this moment for a long time. To work with them makes this collection really personal and special.”
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Label: Ashlyn
Designer: Ashlynn Park
Crib Sheet:
Koren-born Ashlynn Park just made her NYFW debut with a collection that explored the power of resilience in the face of the unfamiliar — in her case, her foray into first-time motherhood. The designer and pattern-making master won a scholarship to study at Japan’s Bunka Fashion College and worked with the legendary Yohji Yamamoto before relocating to New York where she did stints at Alexander Wang and Raf Simons during his Calvin Klein reign. Entitled “Resilience” ASHLYN SS23 incorporates Park’s experience and talents in tailoring, pattern making, couture techniques, and sportswear while weaving in themes of deconstruction of self and rebirth. To bring the show to life, Park collaborated with dancer and choreographer, Yin Yue, the artistic director of YYDC, who opened the runway wearing a zero-waste piece constructed from a single piece of fabric. This was followed by a heavily black and white collection (apart from three red looks) of deconstructed tailored and inside-out pieces — shirting, suiting, corsetry, coats, jackets — which had an unmistakable whiff of Chanel and Edwardian dressing.
Designer Notes:
“I was inspired by Chanel Haute Couture but mostly I drew from my personal journey as a mother wanting to resume her career and all the challenges along the way. Honestly, it’s so hard, but also a re-birth.”
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Label: Elena Velez
Designer: Elena Velez
Crib Sheet:
A 2022 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Elena Velez presented her second collection at NYFW this season. The designer, artist, and Parsons graduate is known for her metal work, artist collabs, and fashion signature which has a distinct nod to her native mid-Western roots. She also unashamedly marches to her own beat, confessing recently she has “never felt, nor acknowledged any sort of pressure from the industry to meet fashion week expectations.” And that message came through loud and clear in this latest collection which had more than its fair share of BDSM, bondage, and almost disturbing sexuality and was reminiscent of early McQueen. So it may come as no surprise that Julia Fox, wearing a custom look, son in toe was in the front row to view the collection that was dominated by latex, harnesses, and One Flew Over The cuckoo’s Nest-Esque bandage/bondage barely-there creations.
Designer Notes:
“The collection is aggressively delicate and plays with female wetness in a new way. There is a barbaric physicality to it. My woman takes responsibility for her own desire.”
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WORDS Natasha Silva-Jelly
PHOTOGRAPHY AnOnlyChild SS23 Runway, Getty
