For almost 80 years, New York Fashion Week has allowed designers, new and old, to showcase their work by putting on shows to be perceived by the general public. Today, New York Fashion Week has become a topic of discourse about looks from different designers and has provided a way for people to predict future trends based on what they see on the runway. Many well-known designers fell short this New York Fashion Week while new designers stood out. 

Ralph Lauren’s Spring and Summer collection featured women’s workwear looks with the domination of blazers and trousers on the runway. Styles of straight-leg and wide-legged cuffed trousers were frequent, while models wore blazers that were often cinched at the waist. Blazers in this style gave a feminine silhouette to the already powerful looks. In contrast, the cuffed trousers looked casual, making them seem out of place compared to Ralph Lauren’s other sophisticated designs. Additionally, most looks were heavily accessorized using multiple long beaded necklaces, statement earrings, and black belts, some of which made the looks stand out, but others overwhelmed the looks. 

The colors of this collection were also coordinated categorically on the runway, with the first third of the show being dominated by blue looks, the second black and gold looks, and the third jewel tone looks.

“I liked the blue looks the best out of all the looks in Ralph Lauren’s collection,” Senior Khasya Tinglin said. “I’m a very classic person when it comes to workwear, which is why I liked that color palette. I also liked the jewel-toned looks, but the gold looks definitely seemed boring.”

Created in 2019, sustainable womenswear brand Mirror Palais’s spring and summer 2024 collection included several long and flowy dresses with lots of fabric, various bodycon dresses, and short, form-fitting tops and skirts. 

Although looks featuring tops, skirts, and bodycon dresses were stunning, they seemed basic, while the flowy dresses cinched with corsets seemed more fitting for a fashion show. 

“I’ve been following Mirror Palais for a while, and they very much have one niche,” Tinglin said. “To see the same designs that Marcelo Gaia has been creating for a while at New York Fashion Week was disappointing.”

Like Mirror Palais, Retrofête is a new designer brand that opened its first store in December 2022. Their debut show featured many denim looks studded with diamonds as well as many gold sequin looks. The collection clearly took inspiration from Y2K styles previously seen in the late 1900’s. 

For this brand’s debut show, they outdid themselves with the design work, quickly becoming my favorite show this season. 

Famous for their luxury accessories, Michael Kors’s show featured many lace pieces, large ringed belts and bags, as well as a few of what appear as giraffe print outfits. The main color palette of this collection included white, black, beige, and gold.

Overall, this show had little variety, as many of the looks had several repeating elements throughout. Additionally, the color palette of this collection seemed very bland and boring. The giraffe print looks, although unique, looked a bit odd coupled with the boxy silhouette of the outfits they were printed on. While this collection was one of the most highly anticipated collections of the season, it did not live up to expectations. 

Credited for popularizing the ballet core aesthetic, Sandy Liang’s 2024 spring and summer collection had by far the most unique looks of the season. While there were a few repeating elements, such as the mini skirts with the bows on the side, we can tell that the designer played around with color and styled the recurring pieces differently every time. My favorite piece from this collection was the navy blue mini skirt with the long flowy bow on the side. 

“I think the mini skirt is going to become the next miu miu skirt that was trending last season,” Tinglin said. 

Fashion collections held by large designers often give people insight into what future trends will look like. Typically, it takes several months for trends we see on runways to become mainstream. During New York Fashion Week, there were many parallels between brands’ designs, which lets us know what trends to look for next spring and summer. 

In the future, I predict mesh or lace see-through dresses to become popular due to many designers creating similar pieces with undergarments visible underneath. Additionally, there was a heavy influence of belts as statement accessories this season, especially from top designers like Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. Lastly, the color gold was a large part of many runway shows, which is why I predict it will become the new ‘it’ color, as we saw with navy blue last season. 

A big takeaway from this season’s collections is that many mainstream designers often fall short in the realms of creativity in fashion and that up-and-coming designers are the ones to look out for next fashion week. This season has raised my expectations for upcoming designers and I am excited to see what these designers will come out with in the future.