New York Fashion Week opens this week in a fragmented luxury curtain

The established marks of clothing, including coach, Michael Kors, and Calvin Klein will arrive on the catwalk along with emerging labels at New York Fashion Week (NYFW), which begins on September 11.

However, the unit of the event is being tested since some of its most influential designers are choosing to organize their shows outside the official calendar.
Marc Jacobs, owned by the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, presented its 2025 autumn collection in July at the New York Public Library, while Ralph Lauren will organize a private presentation in his study on September 10, before the official start.

Its absence of central schedule has caused renewed concerns about the relevance and reach of the largest fashion event in New York.
“When the great designers of presenters like that leave, inevitably it means that fewer people from outside the city will make the trip,” said Nicole Phelps, global director of Vogue Runway and Vogue Business, in an interview.

The fragmented structure of the New York event has caused calls to reform, and critics argue that NYFW lacks cohesion and prestige of its European counterparts.

In response, the KFN fashion platform, created to reform the NYFW, heads a revitalization effort in association with the Fashion Designers Council of America (CFDA).

The initiative aims to expand NYFW's physical and digital footprint and create more accessible roads for designers to show their work.

One of the most ambitious proposals scheduled for this season includes a network of 10 places established within a perimeter of 15 minutes to each other, which are offered for free for designers. In recent years, NYFW's shows have dispersed throughout the city since the elimination of a central center for shows.

“You may have larger places for large shows, smaller spaces for appointments or presentations, and even shared spaces where designers could group resources,” Phelps said. The organization of a single track show can cost up to one million dollars.

One of the greatest changes could be to rationalize NYFW in just one season in September, instead of having another in February, although the CFDA has not yet been confirmed, the organizer of the official NYFW calendar.

“I definitely know that some people are stirred during a week of New York fashion a year and during a week of New York fashion to be in September. It is glorious here. It is a good time to be here in the city,” said Phelps, although he added that the great labels such as Tory Burch and Michael Kors were unlikely to support such movement.

Meanwhile, the broader luxury industry is dealing with consumers who withdraw discretionary spending, with a wave of executive changes and creative director in the main fashion houses that add to the feeling of instability.

New York Fashion Week will run until September 16, with more than 60 brands debuting new collections.