NYFW September 2025: Trendsetting, Star Power and Street Style
From Michael Kors’s earthy elegance to high street boldness: what New York Fashion Week has taught us this season.
Image Courtesy of Isidore Montag & Umberto Fratini via Vogue
From September 11 to 16, New York buzzed with its familiar rhythm: taxis rushing past street photographers, editors sprinting between downtown warehouses and uptown rooftops, and a front row where legacy met the next wave. Expectations ran high, especially with Michael Kors opening the week, anchoring the calendar with his timeless American vision. But this season's New York Fashion Week wasn't just about nostalgia or star power but about storytelling. What were the narratives that designers, celebrities, and even street style rebels carved into the cityscape?
Spotlight on the Runways: From Earth to Carnival
Michael Kors grounded the week with his Spring/Summer 2026 show, a study in earthy elegance. He played with sandy neutrals, soft tailoring, and bursts of emerald and cobalt, balancing minimalism with wanderlust. His woman is confident, refined, and ready to stride into the city with an understated glow.
Rachel Scott, however, lit up the runway with a different kind of energy. Her Diotima collection was nothing short of a joyful rebellion. Crochet textures exploded into carnival-inspired looks, layered with beads, metallics, and the rhythm of her Caribbean heritage. Scott reminded the industry that fashion is a form of resistance as much as celebration.
Elsewhere, brands toyed with identity and transformation. COS leaned into a brutalist aesthetic, structured lines, sharp tailoring, and monochrome palettes that drew as much from architecture as fashion. New names like Lii made impactful debuts, proving that NYFW remains fertile ground for designers who want to disrupt the established script. These show balanced refinement and rebellion, suggesting New York fashion thrives on contrasts.
Image Courtesy of Isidore Montag & Umberto Fratini via Vogue
Street Style: The Sidewalk as Runway
If the shows tell one story, the sidewalks tell another. Plaid outside Spring Studios clashed boldly with candy-colored stripes, while real and faux leather dominated everything from trench coats to thigh-high boots. Power boots, in particular, became the street's armor of choice, worn with flowing dresses and sharp tailoring.
Volume was everywhere: oversized sleeves ballooned over minimalist dresses, while dramatic silhouettes turned crosswalks into theaters. Retro touches threaded through the crowds, too: Y2K sunglasses, '90s plaids, and vintage sports jackets paired with high-shine clutches. The street style wasn't just echoing the runways; it pushed them further, proving that fashion week is a two-way conversation between designers and the audience wearing them.
Celebrities and Cultural Sparks
New York's front rows were filled with familiar faces. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas stood out at Ralph Lauren, showcasing the brand's blend of global sophistication and American style. The week also featured rising stars from music and film, each outfit meticulously selected to express their personal brand and fashion allegiance. Celebrities not only attended the shows; they shaped the atmosphere, highlighted specific designers, and added cultural significance beyond the collections.
Bigger Than Clothes: The Themes That Mattered
Looking across the week, a handful of themes defined the season. Nostalgia was everywhere, from '90s plaids to Y2K accessories, signaling fashion's ongoing love affair with revival. Yet alongside that came an insistence on authenticity, whether through Indigenous and Caribbean voices on the runway or brands like COS grounding high fashion in accessible, architectural everyday wear.
Another major current was the balance of utility and elegance. Michael Kors's earth tones and sharp tailoring met the street's love of power boots and oversized leather, creating a blend of practicality and glamour. Underpinning it all was the constant conversation about sustainability. High street brands reminded audiences that accessibility can't be divorced from responsibility, even as luxury houses continued to lean on spectacle.
NYFW in 2025 told us one clear thing: fashion searches for spectacular and sincere ways to dazzle without losing sight of reality.
Image Courtesy of WWD
Image Courtesy of Harper's Bazaar
Trends You Can Try Now
Want to channel New York's energy without the front-row ticket? Start here:
Power Boots: Knee-high, thigh-high, heeled, or flat make them your anchor.
Bold Stripes: Think clashing colors, candy shop energy, and playful layering.
Leather & Faux Leather: The texture is essential for fall, from trenches to skirts.
Plaid Revival: A '90s throwback that works layered or as a sharp single piece.
Oversized Drama: Sleeves, coats, or clutches let one element dominate your outfit.
Critiques and Conversations
But not everything landed. Some critics pointed out fashion week fatigue: the overwhelming pace of shows left little space for reflection. Despite being a constant buzzword, sustainability felt more like a talking point than a systemic change. Others noted that inclusivity gaps persist; more voices were represented on the runways, but not all were given equal spotlight. The tension between high spectacle and meaningful progress remains unresolved, a challenge that no glossy collection alone can fix.
As the lights dimmed and editors packed for London, one question lingered: did NYFW truly shift the fashion conversation, or remix it? In its best moments, Diotima's carnival joy, Kors's earthy elegance, and COS's sharp rebrand the week reminded us that fashion thrives on contrasts. However, how Milan, Paris, and beyond respond might only reveal the larger story. Will they double down on revival, or push harder into reinvention?
The September 2025 edition of NYFW was a mirror as much as a runway, reflecting what we crave and question. The bigger question is yours: which story from New York's stages spoke loudest to you?