It has been one year since Veronica Leoni presented her debut collection for Calvin Klein, which marked the first runway show from the American powerhouse since the departure of Raf Simons in 2018. Her task was not an easy one: Calvin Klein, which was founded in 1968 but would come to reshape fashion in the 1980s and 1990s, was always about a mood and a moment. Where the storied European houses have history – bulging archives, defining silhouettes, a runway show seared in the memory – Calvin Klein is a slip dress, a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, underwear. And all those advertisements: CK One, with its slouching gang of Steven Meisel-shot models, Kate Moss and Marky Mark embracing in white Y fronts and low-slung jeans, and that Brooke Shields ad (‘nothing gets between me and my Calvins’ – she was just 15 years old).

Calvin Klein Collection A/W 2026: a ‘hedonistic elegance’

It is impossible to replicate the cultural heft of these moments. A lesser designer might attempt to capture a similar shock factor; Leoni, who comes from roles at The Row and Moncler, began in the archives. Her astute, if restrained, opening collection channelled a more tempered sensuality – flushes of hot pink, overcoats grasped closed in the hand, sweetheart necklines – which she saw as echoing the namesake designer’s runway collections, memorable for their purity of design rather than overt sexuality. ‘When it comes to sexiness, it’s more like an attitude,’ she said at the time. ’You own it in the way you wear the clothes. I think it’s really intimate being sexy – regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin, it’s about the confidence.’

This afternoon (13 February), Leoni presented her third collection for the house at The Shed, erecting a circular runway in the centre of the vast Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed arts centre on New York’s west side. The Italian designer began the collection by looking back to the late 1970s, a time just before Calvin Klein had exploded into the public consciousness (the Brooke Shields ad aired in 1980). There was a 1976 pair of jeans, the first to appear on the Calvin Klein runway, which Leoni replicated, while the collection itself channelled what she described as a ‘hedonistic elegance’. ‘There was a rigour, a sophistication that seems to come from another time, but there was also this cult of the body [starting to emerge] that is extremely Calvin – we wanted to push that almost narcissistic kind of kink,’ she told reporters backstage.

So there was power-shouldered tailoring cut away at the back; cleverly manipulated vest tops that appeared as though the sleeves had been pulled up to expose the bicep; slices of ‘fur’ (it was actually trimmed and dyed shearling) and leather (some with the illusion of rubber); and dresses that twisted around the body, as if pulled on in haste. There was also a greater sense of dressing up than in her previous collections (blown-up corporate tailoring and trench coats felt almost fetishistic); backstage, Leoni said she wanted to show that Calvin Klein was not only about the casualwear with which it is synonymous. ‘The mainstream perception is all about the underwear, that casual lifestyle,’ she said. ‘But we explored the advertising he was doing at the beginning, and there were these beautiful, sophisticated women; there was this couture drape happening, and extremely chic suiting.’

Leoni described the outing as a little more ‘provocative’, and it certainly benefited from this bolder approach – this was by far her strongest collection for the brand yet. ‘We really wanted to celebrate the body; the cult of the body. And we are still so obsessed with the body,’ she said, noting that the bicep-bearing tailoring at the end of the show was a wink to the rippled bodybuilders of 1980s Venice Beach (now, the reference might be TikTok fitfluencers). ‘I think Calvin Klein was about this obsessive, almost thrilling and dangerous quest for beauty. This is about studying the Calvin Klein DNA and making it heroic – for now, for 2026.’

Follow our New York Fashion Week A/W 2026 coverage.

This has been a watershed year in fashion. A quarter of the way through the 21st century, 2025 saw the industry hit refresh: in September alone, 15 designers made their debuts as creative directors of fashion’s major houses, ushering in a bold new era in style (and, as with any such change, prompting passionate – and oftentimes divided – online commentary).

Here, as selected by the Wallpaper* style team, are the 25 fashion moments that defined the zeitgeist in 2025 – from a viral Marty Supreme track jacket and Saint Laurent’s thigh-high wader boots, to big-name buyouts, runway returns and, of course, all those debuts.

Willy Chavarria made his mark in Paris with a powerful duo of shows

In January, CFDA Award-winning designer Willy Chavarria chose to shift his runway show from New York, where he lives and works, to Paris. A striking first show, held at the American Church on Quai d’Orsay, came just a few days after Trump’s inauguration, with Chavarria – whose runway shows have long been a clarion call for the rights of immigrants and the queer community – soundtracking the show with Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon imploring the incoming president to ‘have mercy’ towards marginalised communities. ‘It was so beautiful, and it fell exactly in line with what we were doing,’ he told Wallpaper* of the speech. ‘I wanted to show that everyone is welcome, and to do that in a church seemed like the most pronounced way of showing queer people, trans people, in this environment where they were the saints’. His sophomore Paris show, this summer, was similarly impactful: it opened with 35 kneeling men wearing white T-shirts made in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a reference to those being unlawfully detained by ICE in the United States.

READ: Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion’s old guard’

Faux fur and shearling took over the runway

Not a moment, per se, though the proliferation of faux fur and shearling on the runway – spanning both the men’s and women’s collections – was one of the year’s undeniable style takeaways (so much so, we even spotted it on the spring/summer runways). ‘When worn, it becomes a heady meeting place of signifiers – luxury, wealth, power, but also protection, armour against the elements, an ancient and primal urge to be swaddled in the spoils of the hunt,’ we wrote earlier this year of the renaissance of fur – albeit in imitation fabrics – which seemed to a response to the tumult of contemporary living. Indeed, at Prada, where co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented a collection of ‘Raw Glamour’, ‘fur’ coats – constructed from cleverly manipulated shearling – had strange protusions at the collar or were trapped under plastic. ‘We asked ourselves, what is femininity today? It is a constant questioning,’ said Mrs Prada. ‘It is not my job to be political, but when you open a newspaper – oh my God! Our job is to think about what clothes a woman can wear, about what kind of femininity makes sense in this moment.’

READ: Faux fur and shearling dominated the A/W 2025 runways – these pieces capture the material’s ‘raw glamour’

Alessandro Michele entertained with a showstopping haute couture debut for Valentino

Haute couture was always going to be a medium which suited Alessandro Michele, the former Gucci creative director who now heads up Valentino. For his first couture collection for the house – presented this past February – the Italian designer, known for theatrical runway shows and richly imaginative collections, hit new heights, employing the ‘petits mains’ of the Valentino atelier to create a series of showstopping gowns. In a style typical to the deep-thinking designer, they were explained in the book-length collection notes through the language of philosophy and semiotics – Homer, James Joyce and Italo Calvino were all mentioned – with each gown representing a ‘list’ of words and influences (‘[lists] confine the infinite extension of the existing within a meaningful framework… to bring some order to the chaos of the universe,’ Michele wrote, quoting Umberto Eco). These surreal lists scrolled across the show’s set on a series of ticker-tape screens as the dramatic looks wandered across the stage, a millefeuille of satin, lace and tulle – eclectic, intricate and, as fashion sleuths showed after the show, rooted in the Valentino archive. ‘To attempt to describe each look – and its multitude of elements – would require a pages-long list of its own,’ we wrote at the time. ‘It was best to simply let yourself be entertained.’

READ: Inside Alessandro Michele’s showstopping debut haute couture show for Valentino

Martine Rose held her first gallery show – an ode to Bronski Beat’s radical energy

During London Fashion Week in February, Martine Rose hosted her first gallery show at Sadie Coles HQ, revisiting her 2016 film Everything Must Change – a Sharna Osbourne-shot short starring Bronski Beat frontman Jimmy Somerville. ‘Pop charts at the time I was introduced to Jimmy Somerville’s voice were dominated by gay musicians: Erasure, Bronski Beat, Marc Almond,’ Rose told Wallpaper*. ‘Mainstream pop by out and proud gay men making serious, respected pop music – not tokenistic – which can never be replicated. It was a radical time for music, all about individuality, no stylists, all genuine expression.’ It’s a statement that captures the radical, subculture-infused energy of Rose’s own work: later that year, in June, she staged a one-off show in an abandoned west London job centre, adorned for the occasion in boudoir-style ruffled curtains. ‘I was exploring this new shrunken silhouette,’ she said after the show. ‘Everything feels a bit cinched, a bit too tight, slightly awkward, but somehow still sexy, I hope.’ It is this idiosyncratic approach – at once strange, sexy and real – which has made Martine Rose one of London’s defining voices, doing things her own way for close to two decades.

READ: Martine Rose’s first gallery show celebrates the radical queer energy of Bronski Beat

Calvin Klein returned to the runway with a new ‘sexitude’

In February, Calvin Klein hosted its first runway show since the departure of Raf Simons in 2018 (under him, the runway collections went under the moniker Calvin Klein 205W39NYC; now, they are back to being called Calvin Klein Collection). In one of the year’s first notable debuts, it was former The Row designer Veronica Leoni who took the helm, seeking a mood of sensual minimalism she dubbed ‘sexitude’ – a nod to the pulsing undercurrent of eroticism which ran through the brand’s advertising campaigns and collections in the 1990s. ‘When it comes to sexiness, it’s more like an attitude,’ the Italian designer said backstage. ‘You own it in the way you wear the clothes. I think it’s really intimate being sexy – regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin, it’s about the confidence.’ The collection came with the blessing of Mr Klein himself, who watched on from the front row. ‘He told me he was happy he had found a new coat to buy,’ she said. ‘I’m really proud for him to feel at home again.’

READ: For her Calvin Klein debut, Veronica Leoni stripped it all back

Fendi celebrated its centenary with a blockbuster show in Milan

2025 was a definitive year for Fendi: not only did it mark a century since the fashion house was founded in Rome, but, after the departure of artistic director of womenswear and couture Kim Jones in October 2024, the beginning of its new chapter. As such, in February, Fendi opened the doors to its newly renovated Milanese headquarters for a celebratory runway show, seeing house scion Silvia Venturini Fendi take the reins for the blockbuster spectacle which included a cast of Fendi muses, past and present. The granddaughter of house founders Adele and Edoardo Fendi, Venturini Fendi started at the house in the 1990s under Karl Lagerfeld, and would go on to head up menswear and accessories, though this was just the second time she had also designed the womenswear line (the first was after Lagerfeld’s death in 2019). Talking to Wallpaper*, she said that it was an honour to head up such a definitive show for both her family and the house – but was adamant this was not about living in the past: ‘I tried to avoid any precise reference because, to me, anniversaries are beautiful, but you don’t want it to be a retrospective or nostalgic’. After presenting a second co-ed collecti on in September, she stepped down from the creative role to become ‘honorary president’. Her successor will be former Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri in a much-rumoured move.

READ: Silvia Venturini Fendi on luxury, lineage and looking to the future: ‘If it reminds me of something we’ve already done, we move on’

Prada agreed to purchase Versace for $1.375 billion

The subject of much speculation and rumour after Donatella Versace stepped down from her role as creative director the month prior, in April, it was confirmed that the Prada Group reached an agreement to purchase Versace after the Italian house was put on sale by former owner Capri Holdings earlier in the year. Agreeing to a deal of $1.375 billion for 100 per cent of the company – well below the initial $2 billion asking price – it marked a definitive move from the Prada Group to establish an Italian luxury conglomerate (The Prada Group comprises Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoe; in 1999, it purchased controlling stakes in Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, though they were later sold). ‘We are delighted to welcome Versace to the Prada Group and to build a new chapter for a brand with which we share a strong commitment to creativity, craftmanship and heritage,’ said Patrizio Bertelli, Prada Group chairman and executive director, at the time (the deal was completed in December). ‘We aim to continue Versace’s legacy, celebrating and re-interpreting its bold and timeless aesthetic; at the same time, we will provide it with a strong platform.’

READ: Donatella Versace is stepping down as creative director

The Met’s Costume Institute explored the figure of the Black Dandy

In a year which was notable for its slew of fashion exhibitions – from the confection-like gowns of ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ at London’s V&A to a Rick Owens retrospective featuring a lifelike sculpture of the designer ‘urinating’ water into a trough below – the Metropolitan Museum’s annual Costume Institute exhibition in May still demands the most attention. This is largely because of the accompanying Met Gala – the starry event heralds the exhibition’s opening – though it is also down to the Costume Institute’s head curator Andrew Bolton’s eye for finding intriguing subject matter in the Met’s extensive archive. This year, he drafted Monica L Miller, author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, to help curate the exhibition, which traced the sartorial history of the Black Dandy from the 18th century to the present day. Titled ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’, alongside historical garments, it featured the work – or personal wardrobes – of Virgil Abloh, Andre Leon Talley and Grace Wales Bonner, among others, with set design for the arresting exhibition courtesy of artist Torkwase Dyson. ‘I clocked into how people have fashioned themselves as a manipulation of autonomy and ownership in which clothing is a resistance,’ she told Wallpaper* of the design, which riffed on her signature trapezoid sculptures.

READ: Torkwase Dyson’s set design for ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ at The Met meditates on ownership, charisma and histories

Saint Laurent’s viral knee-high boots heralded menswear’s dark, sensual mood

At Cannes film festival, while promoting queer ‘dom-com’ Pillion – a film which explores a dom/sub relationship between a shy parking attendant and a biker – Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård donned a thigh-high leather wader boot by Anthony Vaccarrello for Saint Laurent. Shown at the house’s runway show earlier that year, it became one of the viral accessories of the year, worn by everyone from Pedro Pascal to Marc Jacobs, and ubiquitous in magazine spreads. Inspired by an imagined meeting between two men who designed the aesthetic of the 1980s – Yves Saint Laurent and Robert Mapplethorpe – the collection captured a mood of dangerous sensuality which ran throughout the season, from Prada’s patchworked leathers to Maximilian Davis’s S/S 2026 Ferragamo collection, inspired by the languid sensuality of Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Vaccarello dubbed it a ‘menacing, seductive elegance’ – classic menswear with an inflection of kink.

READ: Inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe, Saint Laurent’s surprise menswear show captured ‘a menacing, seductive elegance’

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake channelled la dolce vita in Florence

It would prove one of the most memorable show locations of the year: unfolding against a painterly Florentine sky at sunset, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake staged its S/S 2026 show at Medicea della Petraia, a former Medici residence on Monte Morello in the rolling Tuscan countryside. A guest of Pitti Uomo menswear fair, the Issey Miyake offshoot used the occasion to introduce a new roving format of runway show: eschewing its usual place on the Paris Fashion Week schedule (its position has been taken by IM Men, another brand in the Issey Miyake family), it will show in a series of locations around the world in the coming seasons. As such, collections will draw inspiration from local landscapes: here, it was done via an evocative use of colour, utilising hues sourced through trips the design team had taken around Italy (from ’Cinque Terre Yellow’ to ‘Zucchini Flower Orange’). The result was a collection which fused Italian charm with Homme Plissé’s pioneering fabrications: played out in the villa’s winding, maze-like gardens, it was impossible not to be seduced.

READ: With an ode to Italy, Homme Plissé Issey Miyake brings its brand of fashion magic to Florence’s Pitti Uomo

Rick Owens spread the love with a Paris retrospective

‘I’m surprised I got so far,’ Rick Owens told Wallpaper* in a wide-ranging conversation to mark the opening of ‘Temple of Love’, a career-spanning retrospective at Paris’ Palais Galliera. A celebration of the American designer’s singular approach – one laced with both subversion and wit – the exhibition took attendees on a trip from his early years on Hollywood Boulevard in the 1990s (a recreation of his Los Angeles bedroom of the time appears in the exhibition) towards his blockbuster spectacles at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo (indeed, in June, an opening party took place just after his S/S 2026 menswear show, with guests simply having to cross the road from one institution to another). ‘Michèle [Lamy, Owens’ wife] kept telling me, ‘You gotta stop calling it a retrospective!’ She doesn't like the finality – I'm leaning into it,’ he said. ‘A retrospective implies a decline, it makes you think about legacy and mortality and ageing, and how long do you stay relevant, and how important is that? I don't have the answers to any of those things, but I am thinking about them and addressing them publicly.’

READ: ‘I’m surprised that I got this far’: Rick Owens on his bombastic Paris retrospective, ‘Temple of Love’

Jonathan Anderson rebooted his brand – and debuted at Dior

It was a busy June for Jonathan Anderson. Alongside his much-anticipated debut show at Dior – a menswear offering for S/S 2026 presented at Paris’ Hôtel National des Invalides, which astutely reworked formal dress codes – the Northern Irish designer also revealed a rebooted vision for his eponymous, London-based label JW Anderson, which propelled him to renown after it was established in 2008. Doing away with the label’s usual seasonal runway shows, the new vision centres on the idea of the shop: in Paris, during haute couture week, he constructed a simulacrum of a new store concept by architects Sanchez Benton which included not only a fashion collection (a greatest hits of sorts, seeing signature pieces imbued with a greater commitment to craft) but a curation of intriguing objects and curiosities, from ceramics and vintage gardening tools to furniture, art, even honey. 'I like change. I have wanted to change things around for two years now, and finally I feel at one with who I am today and what the brand means,’ he told Wallpaper*. ‘It’s things that I either want to wear or want to live with.’

READ: Jonathan Anderson’s Dior debut: ‘bringing joy to the art of dressing’

Craig Green returned to the runway – and to Paris

After just over a decade in business, Craig Green remains one of British fashion’s definitive voices – a singular creative force whose imaginative collections transform humble menswear archetypes (workwear, uniforms, biker jackets) through imaginative construction and unusual fabrications, oftentimes evoking sculpture. This year, he made his return to Paris Fashion Week, having shown a year prior in his London studio, and elsewhere via lookbook (Green is one of a handful of designers who seem to be flourishing outside of the typical fashion calendar). The show was one of our highlights of the year: a poetic, free-thinking collection inspired by The Beatles, psychedelics and 1960s bed sheets – albeit in his typically inventive style. ‘Creativity how everything moves forward,’ Green told us in the October 2025 ‘Long View’ issue of Wallpaper*, in which we documented the process behind the collection. ‘You need creative thought for things to progress, and for new things to happen. You have to have the freedom to make mistakes, to create work and not live in fear.’

READ: ‘You have to be fearless’: inside the free-thinking world of Craig Green

Glenn Martens unveiled his vision for Maison Margiela

The task was unenviable: as the new creative director of Maison Margiela, Belgian designer Glenn Martens would not only have to follow the house’s namesake – arguably the most influential designer of recent times – but also John Galliano, his predecessor, whose final collection, which conjured a troupe of contorted dolls on the drizzly moonlit banks of the Seine, was a true fashion epic. But Martens, who comes with a pedigree of his own after zeitgeist-defining stints at Y/Project and Diesel, was more than up for a challenge. His own creatures were sheathed in masks (a nod to a Margiela hallmark, that of anonymity) and appeared pulled through the the walls of history – quite literally, with a melange of jacquards, Renaissance motifs and embossed leather (inspired by 16th-century Flemish wallpaper), evoking the faded grandeur of abandoned stately homes (indeed, the show set was a series of ‘palatial interiors’ printed on crumpled and crased paper). We called it a ‘thrilling’ debut, a task of ‘reinvention and reconstruction – a precarious balance of what to take and what to leave behind’.

READ: Glenn Martens’ thrilling Maison Margiela debut was a balancing act between past, present and future

Fashion East celebrated a ‘rowdy and raw’ 25 years of nurturing emerging talent

In September, Fashion East’s S/S 2026 runway show doubled as a celebration: 2025 marked 25 years of the Brick Lane-based talent incubator, which was founded by Lulu Kennedy to help forge the careers of London’s rising stars. The roll call of names which have passed through its doors is proof of its success: Jonathan Anderson, Martine Rose, Kim Jones, Craig Green and Grace Wales Bonner are all alumni of the unique scheme, which has long encapsulated London’s unique brand of young talent – defiantly creative, ‘rowdy and raw’ (as Kennedy herself described in a letter distributed to guests at the show). Taking place at the ICA, this season’s show – comprising collections by Nuba, Jacek Gleba and Mayhew – doubled as a Nike-sponsored exhibition tracing Fashion East’s impressive quarter century through its memorable clothing and ephemera, from Green’s ‘broken-fence’ chestplates to a leopard-print cake by Mowalola. Later in the year, in December, Kennedy and her creative partner Raphaelle Moore collected a Special Recognition Award at the 2025 Fashion Awards. ‘We’re proud to have created a unique space where designers have both the freedom to create fearlessly, and a family unit to uplift them,’ they said.

September’s fashion week saw almost too many debuts to count

2025 was fashion’s big reshuffle, seeing an unprecedented number of designers making their debuts at fashion’s biggest houses – from Dior to Chanel, Gucci to Celine. It was September fashion month, though, that was a true changing of the guard moment, with over 15 designers presenting their first collections as newly installed creative leads. These spanned an energetic and playful debut from Nicholas Aburn at Area in New York (the former Balenciaga designer riffed on the figure of the party girl in irreverent style), Simone Bellotti’s masterful first outing at Jil Sander, which saw him astutely explore ideas of modernity and lightness (staged in the brand’s white-walled Milan headquarters, it was a true clean slate momet), or Pierpaolo Piccioli’s typically heartfelt first collection for Balenciaga (an appearance from the Duchess of Sussex ensured column inches).

Elsewhere, notable debuts included Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at Loewe and Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier. And, while these debuts were largely lauded – particularly by critics – fiercer debates broke out online in the depths of Instagram comment sections. ‘I have read some really heinous comments about the work of many designers in these last few days,’ wrote Perfect magazine’s Edward Buchanan, former design director of Bottega Veneta, in a much-shared post. ‘It is not always perfect, and it is not always what you personally imagined it to be. You don’t have to like everything… but why not celebrate and talk about what you love?’

Though in Paris, it was Chanel and Dior which commanded the most attention

There were two debuts, though, which commanded the most attention: Jonathan Anderson’s womenswear debut for Dior (he had previously shown his first menswear collection in June) and Matthieu Blazy’s opening act for Chanel. Shrugging off the weight of expectation, both collections provided an astute and contemporary viewpoint on the future of two of fashion’s most storied houses – Anderson through a fearless ‘recoding’ of the house’s archive in his idosyncratic style (we said it was a collection of ‘bravery, vision and instinct’), Blazy through a collection of unbridled freedom and optimism (a twirling Awar Odhiang in a gown of kaleidoscopic feathers, the model who memorably closed the show, encapsulated the ‘triumphant’ mood). After Chanel, which marked the end of fashion month, we said that after all of the debuts, it finally felt like a ‘weight had been lifted’. ‘There will be no more anticipation or speculation, no more guessing games or gossip. The designers are in place, and a new chapter of fashion has begun – from there, the hard work begins.’

While Demna marked his Gucci debut with a Demi Moore-starring film

In what proved an astute move, the Georgian designer Demna – previously of Balenciaga – got ahead of the season’s other debuts by presenting his first collection as creative director of Gucci on the first day of Milan Fashion Week, allowing him a moment in which he dominated the narrative (and, of course, social media). Revealed first through a lookbook of Gucci ‘archetypes’, rewritten in his typically irreverent and subversive style (he called it a ‘bold, sexy new chapter’ for the house), it was followed up by a Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn-directed short, premiered at Milan’s Palazzo Mezzanotte. Titled The Tiger, it starred Demi Moore as the fictional ’head of Gucci international and chairman of California’ whose world begins to unravel at a family gathering. Even cleverer? Demna will get another ‘debut’ in 2026 when he holds his first runway for the house during Milan Fashion Week, in February.

READ: Gucci reveals its ‘bold, unapologetically sexy’ new era under Demna

The fashion world mourned the death of Giorgio Armani

In early September, the fashion world mourned the death of Giorgio Armani, an arbiter of Italian style who founded his eponymous house half a century ago, in 1975. One of fashion’s great success stories, Mr Armani began the label using funds made from selling his old Volkswagen Beetle; on his death, he left behind a multi-billion dollar empire spanning not only fashion but homeware, hotels, restaurants, fragrances and cosmetics. To mark his death, after a private funeral held earlier in the month, well-wishers gathered at Milan Fashion Week in September for his final Giorgio Armani show. Originally intended to celebrate 50 years in business, it took place at Brera’s Pinacoteca di Brera, where an accompanying exhibition unfolded in the galleries above. As ever, the S/S 2026 collection – modelled on a cast of Armani models past and present and watched on by muses Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton and Cate Blanchett – encapsulated Mr Armani’s brand of soft elegance, culminating with model Agnes Zogla in a glimmering gown adorned with his face. Afterwards, guests milled the galleries, where the designer’s work took its fitting place amid the great Italian masters – from Bellini to Raphael.

READ: In Milan, the fashion world gathers to say goodbye to Giorgio Armani at his final show

A Virgil Abloh exhibition celebrated his landmark legacy

Just over four years since his death, American designer Virgil Abloh leaves behind a towering legacy – one which was celebrated this September in Paris with the opening of an exhibition at the Grand Palais. Open for just a few days (cue a sold out booking system and snaking queues around the block), the exhibition opened the doors to his prolific archive of objects, clothing, ephemera, furniture and art, displayed across sprawling tables and shelves as if stepping into his headquarters. Indeed, one senses the polymathic designer – who made history as the first Black creative director of Louis Vuitton – would enjoy the exhibition’s approach, which eshewed the behind-glass formality of the traditional museum (only self-restraint stopped you from picking up the objects on display). Titled ‘Virgil Abloh: The Codes’, the idea is for it to go on display around the world. ‘This is a true celebration of Virgil's vision and ethos,’ said the late designer’s wife, Shannon Abloh. ‘This offers an invitation to the world to engage and to build upon his ideas.’

READ: Inside the Paris exhibition cataloguing Virgil Abloh’s extraordinary archive

Grace Wales Bonner is appointed at Hermès

In late October, Hermès announced the appointment of Grace Wales Bonner as the house’s head of menswear, replacing Véronique Nichanian who made the choice to step down from the role after a record-breaking 37-year tenure (the longest of any working creative director at a fashion house). It felt long overdue for the British designer. An LVMH Prize-winning designer whose deeply felt collections for her eponymous label Wales Bonner – exploring themes of Black masculinity, migration and luxury – have consistently won plaudits for rich storytelling and meticulous craftsmanship, leading many to question why she hadn’t been chosen for a creative director role sooner (she had been rumoured for roles at both Louis Vuitton and Givenchy which went to Pharrell Williams and Sarah Burton respectively). On social media, there was a rare positive consensus on the decision: in her own post, the designer, who was born in South London to a British mother and Jamaican father, expressed her ‘deep honour’ at being chosen for the role. ‘It is a dream realised to embark on this new chapter, following in a lineage of inspired craftspeople and designers,’ she wrote.

READ: Lauded British designer Grace Wales Bonner is the new head of menswear at Hermès

1980s ‘architect of glamour’ Antony Price returned to the runway

The fashion critic Alexander Fury – who is an avid collector of his work – has called Antony Price, a British fashion designer who came to prominence in the 1980s, as ‘criminally underrated’. Best known for creating the visual universe of Roxy Music, and staging similarly dramatic runway shows in the decade, the ‘architect of glamour’ made a welcome runway return in November, courtesy of a one-off salon show with London-based label 16Arlington. Staged in the latter’s east London studio, the high-profile cast – from Lily Allen to Adwoa Aboah – prowled the runway in the high-voltage creations, puffing on cigarettes before posing for photographer Felix Cooper. ‘I personally felt Antony never really received his flowers,’ Capaldo told Wallpaper*. ‘To have been able to witness such a legend at work has probably been one of the most incredible and pivotal moments in my career. It's been really magical.’ Sadly, it was announced that Price passed away at the age of 80 on 17 December 2025.

READ: ‘Architect of glamour’ Antony Price makes a high-voltage return to the runway with 16Arlington

Dario Vitale said goodbye to Versace

It was to be one of fashion’s shortest tenures – just a few short months after his debut, in December, it was announced that Italian designer Dario Vitale would be exiting Versace. The former design director of Miu Miu, and the successor to Donatella Versace, the news came as some surprise: Vitale’s debut show at Milan Fashion Week, though divisive, had won over critics and was already being worn by celebrities (Olivia Dean wore custom Versace for a recent SNL appearance, while Addison Rae was also an early adopter). We said that Vitale had ‘stripped back conceptions and ushered in an energetic new vision: sexually charged and ‘reckless’, one that harkened back to the dress codes of Gianni Versace without nostalgia.’ On social media, the announcement came with some disappointment at the way in which designers are given so little time to make their mark: ‘There’s a disturbing pattern across the fashion industry: giant companies, plucking creative directors, placing them on a pedestal, parading them as the future, and then discarding them just as quickly,’ wrote casting director Anita Bitton in a much-shared Instagram post.

In Vienna, there was a chance to see Helmut Lang’s fashion archive for the first time

Though he exited the industry 20 years ago, Helmut Lang’s influence on fashion remains palpable. A definitive figure of the 1990s, he proposed a vision of sensually-charged minimalism and utility which continues to define the way that we dress today. He also changed the way we consume fashion, too: his memorable New York runway shows stripped back the artifice of the 1980s and its elevated runway, drafting friends to walk alongside supermodels, while stripped-back campaigns were captured by a young Juergen Teller. This revolutionary spirit is celebrated in ‘Séance de Travail 1986-2005’, an exhibition which opened in December at MAK in Vienna, which marks the first time Helmut Lang’s fashion archive is on show to the public – from memorable garments to archival film, ephemera, even recreations of elements from his equally definitive stores (Lang donated his archive to the institution in 2011). ‘Looking at Helmut Lang’s store architecture, it became obvious: his stores were all about directing the gaze. This is also what exhibitions need to do, but here it was essential. A photo wouldn’t suffice; you have to experience it,’ curator Marlies Wirth told Wallpaper* of the exhibition, which is designed to immerse you in the Lang universe – all the way down to the floor, which features a seating plan from a runway show.

READ: Inside Helmut Lang’s fashion archive in Vienna, which still defines how we dress today

Marty Supreme birthed the year’s viral garment – thanks to Timothée Chalamet

The Marty Supreme press tour has already come with some memorable sartorial moments – the film’s star Timothée Chalamet and girlfiend Kylie Jenner in matching orange Chrome Hearts for one – though it was more humble track jacket which went viral in December (the Josh Safdie-directed film is out on Christmas Day in the United States). The nylon windbreaker, created by the film’s production company A24 alongside California-based label Nahmias, was part of a merch drop for the film – adorned with ‘Marty Supreme’ and three gold stars, Chalamet has barely taken it off since. Pop-ups in New York and London have seen queues around the block to lay their hands on the $250 jacket – with resale sites selling the garment for up to for up to £4,366 (that’s over 20 times its original price). It speaks not only to A24’s marketing prowess, but also to the rise of movie merch – at the end of 2024, Mary Cleary explored its rise for Wallpaper*. ‘How it will continue to play out is yet to be seen, but one thing is almost certain: movie merch will continue to take over fashion,’ she wrote – and was right.

The August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper* is a paean to the country’s creative resilience in turbulent times. Among a vanguard of US creatives is a raft of fashion designers – from those working at heritage brands to up-and-coming rising stars – who are creating collections that draw on the long-held traditions of American sportswear. Namely: a mood of ease and pragmatism, interpreted through a multitude of cultural perspectives and design philosophies (as well as the occasional shot of pure Hollywood glamour).

Photographed by Brooklyn-based Geordie Wood and styled by Wallpaper* fashion and creative director Jason Hughes, the work of 11 of these designers – largely taken from their A/W 2025 collections – is captured amid the desert plains of Twentynine Palms, California and on the National Trails Highway, formerly known as Route 66, a symbol of American freedom and escape.

Lost highway: 11 designers defining American style

Coach (top)

British designer Stuart Vevers (who was recently awarded an OBE) has been at the helm of American powerbrand Coach since 2013. In an era of ever-changing creative directors, Vevers has proved he has staying power: honing a youthful, 1990s-inflected vision he has courted celebrity endorsements and designed hit handbags (the Tabby, with its C-shaped clasp, is his most ubiquitous creation). For A/W 2025, Vevers talked about the mining ’the optimism of youth’ with a collection which mashed up Coach codes with a subcultural undercurrent. ‘My vision for fall was to ground the collection in all the things that make Coach so distinct as a fashion house,’ he said after the show. ‘Our heritage materials and palette, our commitment to repurposing and “re-loving” secondhand garments through craft, and our belief in the power of community and self-expression.’

coach.com

Khaite

Khaite was founded in 2016 by Catherine Holstein on the principles of American sportswear: namely, a feeling of ease and functionality, albeit rendered in luxurious style (an early adopter was the actress Katie Holmes, who wore an unbuttoned cashmere cardigan and matching bra to hail a taxi in 2019, an image that would go viral in style circles). In the decade or so since, Holstein has evolved the label with cinematic runway shows and more challenging, experimental designs: for A/W 2025 she posed the question, what if David Lynch remade a Merchant Ivory film? The resulting collection was one of power-shouldered leather outerwear, Wild at Heart leopard prints, and deconstructed riffs on corsets, mutton sleeves, and bustles.

khaite.com

Michael Kors Collection

Michael Kors is a stalwart of American style: the Long Island-born designer founded his eponymous label in 1981 after a stint at FIT (he dropped out after nine months) and a formative time at Lothar’s boutique on Fifth Avenue (he credits his love of fashion to his mother, who worked as a model before starting a family). His A/W 2025 collection captured his signature vision of insouciant, Uptown-inflected glamour: described by the designer as ‘dégagé chic’, the collection had started with the idea of a woman throwing on a coat and stepping out into the evening, hands stuffed in her pockets. ‘This show was inspired by the laid-back elegance that imbues the spirit of our homes and our new Madison Avenue store,’ he said at the time. ‘Timeless, warm, modern, architectural yet sensual, [it] exemplifies [a sense of] cosy modernism and hands-in-the-pockets chic.’

michaelkors.co.uk

Fforme

‘The female form was the starting point for this collection in every way,’ said Frances Howie of her first collection for Fforme, a New York-based label which was co-founded by Silicon Valley product designer Nina Khosla and CEO Laura Vazquez in 2022 (the original creative director was Paul Helbers, alumnus of The Row and Louis Vuitton; both Vazquez and Helbers have since exited the label). Howie’s debut, presented in February in New York, saw luxurious wide-shouldered tailoring (fabrics were meticulously sourced in Italy) meet moments of softness, from fringed detailing to sinuous satin dresses, cut on the bias.

fforme.com

The Row

The Row needs little introduction: founded in 2006 by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and taking its name from London’s Savile Row, it has arguably been the most influential American brand of the past decade, ushering in a much-replicated aesthetic of restrained elegance and undone luxury. Showing each season in the brand’s Paris headquarters (a European sensibility undoubtedly infuses the label), the pair’s latest presentation – which took place in March 2025 – was composed of layers for warmth and protection, from slouchy roll-neck sweaters and elongated mittens worn as scarves to raised-collar opera coats and twisted-sleeve wool dresses, which had a homespun appeal (indeed, in lieu of shoes, models walked the runway in stockinged feet, as if padding about at home).

therow.com

Diotima

Diotima, which was founded by Jamaica-born, New York-based designer Rachel Scott in 2021 after a 15-year career in fashion, is one of America’s most exciting young labels. Based on the art of crochet – though since expanding into numerous other categories, including tailoring – Scott’s label is known for a sensual, body-tracing line with moments of embellishment and handcraft (Jamaica, and the Caribbean, remain prescient inspiration points in her work). It is an approach which has brought her wide acclaim: in October 2024, she won the CFDA Award for Womenswear Designer of the Year.

diotima.world

Calvin Klein Collection

Calvin Klein Collection, the runway arm of the powerhouse American brand, had lain dormant since the exit of Raf Simons as creative director in 2018. In February 2025, though, it was reinstated under Italian designer Veronica Leoni, an alumnus of The Row and Celine (during Phoebe Philo’s tenure), as well as the helm of her own LVMH Prize-nominated label Quira. Seeking to strip it all back to the sensual minimalism of Calvin Klein’s 1980s heyday, the buzzy opening act was an attempt to capture what she called a ‘sexitude’. ‘When it comes to sexiness, it’s more like an attitude,’ she said after the show, held at the brand’s Midtown headquarters. ’You own it in the way you wear the clothes. I think it’s really intimate being sexy – regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin, it’s about the confidence.’

calvinklein.co.uk

Altuzarra

Joseph Altuzarra has been a mainstay of the New York design scene since he launched his eponymous label in 2008 after stints at Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Givenchy. In the near two decades since, he has honed a grown-up vision of contemporary womanhood – one of both American ease and Parisian polish (Altuzarra was born in Paris to a Chinese-American mother and a French father). Presenting his last two collections in the Altuzarra headquarters in New York’s Woolworth Building, the designer is having something of a renaissance: eschewing thematic shows, he is now intent on building an evolving wardrobe (one no doubt influenced by the success of brands like The Row). ‘It’s less wardrobing in the traditional sense, and more like when you walk into your own wardrobe, you have things that were passed down from your grandmother, and things that you bought last week, and things that you wear when you want to feel sexy,’ he says.

altuzarra.com

Tory Burch

Another designer in the midst of a creative renaissance is Tory Burch, who has in recent seasons eschewed the preppy Uptown wardrobe for which she became known – and, indeed, built a billion-dollar business on – in favour of a more freewheeling approach rooted in experiments with fabrics and form. ‘I always heard people in the business saying “on brand” and it really bothered me I found out there was this perception of what that meant, and then a reality – because it wasn’t how I was feeling,’ she told Wallpaper* in 2024. For A/W 2025, she presented a ‘twisted’ take on American sportswear: ‘A second glance at classics... a wardrobe created over time.’

toryburch.com

Brandon Maxwell

Texas-born fashion designer Brandon Maxwell rose to prominence as the fashion director for Lady Gaga, a role he began in 2012, working with the musician on some of her most memorable looks. In 2015, he founded his eponymous label in New York: a bold and unapologetic vision for dressing which was made for the red carpet – indeed, his creations have been worn by a slew of high-profile women, from Michelle Obama to Meghan Markle, alongside Lady Gaga, who wore an enormous fuchsia pink gown by Maxwell to to 2019 Met Gala, ‘Notes of Camp’. His A/W 2025 collection, though, marked a shift in focus towards real-world, on-the-street ensembles: ‘When I started I wanted to be the dress that they wore somewhere. Now I just want to be the sweater that they pick up in the morning and a really good pant,’ he said.

brandonmaxwellonline.com

Commission

A nominee for the 2020 LVMH Prize – and part of the 2024 Wallpaper* USA 400 – New York-based label Commission was formed in 2018 by designers Jin Kay and Dylan Cao, having previously worked roles at Prabal Gurung and R13. Drawing on their Asian-American heritage (they grew up in Vietnam and South Korea respectively before moving to the USA), their collections riff on memories of their parent’s working attire alongside references to Americana, vintage sportswear and New York street style, reimagined in offbeat style. ‘American fashion is an ever-changing concept as it’s been historically shaped by the many cultures and subcultures arriving from elsewhere,’ they told Wallpaper* in 2023.

commission.nyc

Model: Mali Koopman at Supreme. New York Casting: Bert Martirosyan. Hair: Erin Piper Herschleb at L’Atelier NYC. Make-up: Allie Smith at Management Artists. Photography assistant: Kyle Johnson. Fashion assistant: Lucy Proctor. Producers: Tracy Gilbert, Danielle Quigley. Local producer: Sheriff Production.

The August 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from 10 July 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

While New York Fashion Week usually heralds the start of a consecutive month-long stint of ready-to-wear shows, this season the city stood alone. As the other three fashion capitals shift back a week to reflect the later menswear and haute couture shows, New York was steadfast in its early February dates, meaning London will take place over a week after New York Fashion Week concludes (usually, it is just a couple of days later), with Milan and Paris following without a break between.

It led, perhaps, to a more reduced schedule, with plenty of notable absences, including CFDA Award-winning American designer Willy Chavarria, who chose instead to show during Paris Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2025, as well as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, who are both taking a season away from the runway. With that said, Veronica Leoni’s debut at Calvin Klein – marking the American powerhouse’s return to the runway after nearly seven years – made for a buzzy opening act on Friday afternoon (8 February 2025), with the Italian designer expressing a desire to bring back the ‘monumental minimalism’ of the brand’s defining 1990s oeuvre (indeed, Calvin Klein himself gave his approval from the front row). Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Eckhaus Latta, Khaite and Coach rounded out the schedule, with Thom Browne and Christopher John Rogers both making their returns to the New York runway after a break.

Here, in our New York Fashion Week A/W 2025 round-up, Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss selects the best shows of the week.

New York Fashion Week A/W 2025: the highlights

Thom Browne

After a season’s break, Thom Browne returned to his position as New York Fashion Week’s closing act with a typically theatrical outing which took place amid a spiral of 2000 paper origami birds. As the show began, two ‘ornithologists’ – clad in the American designer’s signature grey suit – took their places at a desk in the centre of the space, observing a pair of ‘love birds’ trapped in a single white cage. ‘Two caged love birds long to be free,’ he explained in a letter to guests . ‘As they peer through the enclosure, a fantastical flock flies past. “How marvellous would it be,” they wondered, “to be exactly who we wish to be?”.’ It set the stage for a collection of fantasy and wonder, beginning with tailoring – here in newly oversized proportions, a shift for the label – which was then abstracted into plays on varsity and collegiate wear, reimagined in tweeds and herringbones (the tailoring fabrics were also used to create dramatic flared-waist gowns, some overlaid with trompe l’oeil opera coats). The loosening up of the silhouette was echoed in a more eclectic mood which ran throughout: a bolder use of colour, clashing assemblages of print, and patchworked fabrics lent a new energy to the Thom Browne look. As such, it made a satisfying closing act to New York Fashion Week, delivered with a theatrical flourish which stood as a riposte to the mood of ease and reduction which has largely defined the week.

Michael Kors

‘Dégagé chic’ described Michael Kors of his A/W 2025 outing at New York Fashion Week yesterday (11 February 2025), using the French term – which translates as a feeling of nonchalance, a freedom from constraint – to describe the mood of easy, undone glamour which has long been a hallmark of the American label. What followed was a collection with a thrown-on feel – Kors talked about the idea of a woman grabbing a coat and wearing it with her hands stuffed in the pockets – with just-oversized tailoring, sweater dresses, and fuzzy faux fur jackets capturing a mood of both comfort and elegance he said was inspired by the women he encounters on the New York street. Even when Kors upped the glamour ante towards the end of the show, this sense of ‘dégagé chic’ held: a series of full-length sequinned gowns were cut with the easy, unrestricted proportions of a tunic. ‘This show was inspired by the laid-back elegance that imbues the spirit of our homes and our new Madison Avenue store,’ the designer described. ‘Timeless, warm, modern, architectural yet sensual, [it] exemplifies [a sense of] cosy modernism and hands-in-the-pockets chic.’

Tory Burch

Tory Burch has long drawn inspiration from the traditions of American sportswear, particularly the work of Claire McCardell, who pioneered the genre in the 1950s (rather than referring to sportswear in its literal sense, American sportswear instead refers to ease of silhouette and simplicity of fabric, which was a riposte to the formality of European couture). For her A/W 2025 collection, Burch – who in recent seasons has championed a more experimental approach when it comes to material and shape – said she wanted to offer a ‘twisted’ take on American sportswear. ‘A second glance at classics: prim cardigans are slashed through the sleeves; sweatpants are in Japanese brushed jersey; sweaters are embroidered to look like tweed,’ she elaborated. ‘A wardrobe collected over time, where each piece becomes irreplaceable: the perfect blazer, a favourite dress, a worn-in sweatshirt.’ It made for a collection with plenty to covet: sinuous dresses and knit sweaters twisted around the body to suggest a mood of elegance but were cut with a signature ease, while suggestions of preppiness – once a hallmark of Burch’s label – were subverted, like in a crisp, striped shirt blown up in size with enormous flared sleeves. It is exciting to see where this newly liberated designer moves next.

Coach

Last season at Coach, British designer Stuart Vevers said he wanted to mine the ‘optimism of youth’, capturing a spirit of teenage experimentation and rebellion which has been a throughline of his recent collections for the American brand. The loosened-up approach seems to be resonating with younger consumers, with Coach rising ten places to number five on consumer tracker Lyst at the end of last year (buoyed, in part, by the success of the brand’s ‘Brooklyn’ bag). For his latest outing, held at the Park Avenue Amory, Vevers continued his astute pitch to Gen-Z shoppers by melding symbols of Coach’s heritage – namely a use of leather and a palette of brown and beige – with baggy, low-slung jeans, luminous sunglasses, shaggy animal prints and moments of play, like a pair of bunny-shaped slippers that were soon ubiquitous on social media. Largely the garments had a lived-in feel (jeans were torn or patchworked, while handbags were scrawled with doodles), with a series of bags from the brand’s Re(Loved) upcycling project also appearing on the runway.

‘My vision for fall was to ground the collection in all the things that make Coach so distinct as a fashion house: our heritage materials and palette, our commitment to repurposing and “re-loving” secondhand garments through craft, and our belief in the power of community and self-expression,’ Vevers said of the collection. ‘There’s a clear, cohesive idea here in terms of materials, silhouette and styling, and that comes from knowing who we are and what we stand for.’

Eckhaus Latta

This season, designers Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta talked about an attempt to capture reality. ‘It’s anti-snobbishness, it’s fact-based, it’s sanity first,’ read the collection notes by New York it-girl publicist-slash-writer Kaitlin Phillips, who talked about a return to sincerity, of clothes rooted not in fantasy but real-life. ‘There is something to saying what you mean at a time when things are dire, as they always are in America.’ So followed a cast of characters who appeared to have wandered straight in from the sidewalk and onto the runway, some grasping mobile phones or bongs in hand, others with hair scraped back with makeshift scarf headbands or their faces shielded in sunglasses (in the baltic conditions, the double-sweater and gloves of the opening look seemed particularly apt for the day). It made for some great clothes that twisted the quotidian wardrobe in typical Eckhaus Latta style, from fluffy-collar bomber jackets and cleverly layered jersey basics to a continuation of the great knitwear of recent seasons (particularly charming were fuzzy cardigans and sweaters naively topstitched along their edges, as if fixed by hand). Another highlight was the spoils of a collaboration with Ecco.Kollektive (an ongoing collaborative project from Danish tannery Ecco), seeing the addition of some seriously desirable pieces in leather – from slouchy hobo totes and patchwork pants to a perfectly formed leather hoodie. The last’s already on our wish list.

Khaite

‘What if David Lynch remade a Merchant Ivory movie?’ asked Cate Holstein with her latest Khaite collection, which paid ode to the seminal American filmmaker who passed away last month. Taking place at the Park Avenue Armory, the blockbuster show unfolded on a vast circular runway by architect Griffin Frazen inspired by the yellow-brick road of The Wizard of Oz, Lynch’s favourite movie (Holstein’s runway presentations increasingly have the big-league feel of her European counterparts). The clothes themselves captured the kind of ominous sensuality that runs throughout Lynch’s oeuvre – Holstein said she is a particular fan of the 1990 movie Wild at Heart – melded with the period flourishes of Merchant Ivory Productions. This included plays on the corset (raw-edge panels of fabric wrapped around the body and nipped the waist), mutton sleeves (here appearing on deconstructed panelled dresses), bustles, faux-fur stoles and opera gloves, though the strongest pieces captured Holstein’s powerful brand of glamour, like majestic wide-shouldered leather jackets, 1980s-inflected faux-furs, and sinuous tailoring-wool dresses.

Calvin Klein Collection

It was New York Fashion Week’s most anticipated moment: Calvin Klein’s first runway show since the departure of Raf Simons in 2018, now under the helm of Veronica Leoni (the Italian designer worked at The Row, Celine and Moncler before launching her own label Quira in 2020). For her debut, Leoni talked about stripping it back, returning to the codes of ‘monumental’ minimalism and pulsing sensuality which saw the American powerhouse rise to fame – and infamy – in the 1990s. ‘Sexiness has very much been on my mind,’ Leoni said, noting a want to shift the Calvin Klein wearer from an object of desire to the one doing the desiring. ‘I wanted to redefine femininity and masculinity in the landscape of today. So I kept in my mind this idea of American beauty; beauty in the most fresh and pure way.’

As such, there was an interplay between a feeling of 1990s reduction – rigorous tailoring, generous overcoats, baggy blue denim jeans, shrunken wool sweaters – and something more tender (jackets grasped closed in the hand, draped silk and jersey dresses, romantic flushes of red and pink). Meanwhile nods to the brand’s American roots came in cowboy boot-inspired footwear, checkered shirts, and plays on the perennial white T-shirt (Leoni said she was thinking about creating a cast of all-American ‘characters’). It made for a confident opening gambit, with plenty that felt desirable – indeed Calvin Klein himself, who watched on from the front row, said ‘he was happy he had found a new coat to buy,’ according to Leoni. ‘I am really proud for him to feel at home again’.

READ: For her Calvin Klein debut, Veronica Leoni stripped it all back

Christopher John Rogers

For the past two years, American designer Christopher John Rogers – who had a rapid ascent to prominence after his debut in 2018 – has chosen to show during the Resort schedule, meaning a notable absence at New York Fashion Week. Keen to get back in step with his contemporaries, on Thursday evening (6 February 2025) he made a welcome fashion week return with a high-profile show at New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard. It served as a satisfying reminder of Rogers’ talent, particularly his astute use of colour, which remains a bedrock of the label.

Titled ‘Exhale’, there was a mood of liberation to the collection, which featured his signature contemporary ballgowns and evening dresses – here descending into layers of ruffles, or jutting peplum-like flares – imagined in brightly hued stripes and vivid blocks of colour (he was particularly fond of the colour green this season, he said after the show, naming one shade ‘slime’). What is clever about these pieces is that, despite an innate grandeur, they never feel overwrought or overtly dressed up. This spirit of ease extended into a wider everyday offering this season, from rainbow-hued knitwear to slouchy suiting, some adorned with streamer-like plumes of fabric – a design flourish befitting the evening’s celebratory air.

Stay tuned for more from New York Fashion Week A/W 2025.

Veronica Leoni comes to Calvin Klein with credentials. There have been stints at The Row and Celine (during Phoebe Philo’s tenure), Jil Sander and Moncler, and the 2020 opening of her own label Quira, which was subsequently nominated for the LVMH Prize for Young Designers in 2023. ‘Purity of design is powerful,’ ran the tagline for the latter, a statement which undeniably chimes with Calvin Klein’s namesake, the godfather of American minimalism (Klein retired from the label in 2004).

‘My philosophy has always been the same,’ he said in 1984. ‘It’s always been spare, it’s always been about sensuality, it’s always been sophisticated. And above all, it’s always represented what I think is modern.’

This afternoon in New York, Leoni – who was born in Rome, Italy – staged her opening act as creative director of Calvin Klein Collection at the brand’s Midtown offices at 205 West 39th Street (in the role, she will design the brand’s two runway shows each year; the hope is that her aesthetic will trickle down to Calvin Klein’s more widely available commercial collections, from underwear to perfume). In the suitably spare showspace, unadorned save for the Calvin Klein logo written across the carpet, Leoni presented a collection she described as returning to the essence of Klein’s vision: notably a stripped-back minimalism and pulsing undercurrent of sensuality.

But while there was certainly a mood of reduction reminiscent of the designer’s 1990s collections running through the collection – crisp and rigorous black tailoring, bonded business overcoats, shrunken wool sweaters, baggy jeans – that contrasting mood of raw sensuality which made the label into a household name felt largely tempered (despite Leoni’s assertions that she wanted to bring a ‘sexitude’ back to the label, an expression coined by the designer in an interview with The New York Times prior to the show).

Instead, she noted a want to express a more intimate kind of desire, a flipping of the Calvin Klein woman from the object of desire to the one doing the desiring – details, like the clasping shut of a coat with the hand, a decolletage-bearing sweetheart neckline, or the flushes of hot pink, suggested a more tender kind of intimacy. ‘Sexiness has very much been on my mind,’ Leoni told reporters backstage. ‘I wanted to redefine femininity and masculinity in the landscape of today. So I kept in my mind this idea of American beauty; beauty in the most fresh and pure way.’

‘When it comes to sexiness, it’s more like an attitude,’ she elaborated. ’You own it in the way you wear the clothes. I think it’s really intimate being sexy – regardless the silhouette, the amount of skin, it’s about the confidence.’

The result was what Leoni called a ‘24/7 wardrobe’, the elements of which you could see resonating with the consumer (a square-toed pump and slipper, referencing a 1999 Calvin Klein collection, felt very of the moment, so too the series of voluminous draped jersey dresses which appeared towards the end of the show). Though whether it had the necessary frisson of difference to retain attention over an upcoming month of shows, remains to be seen – after stripping it all away, going forward Leoni might need to find bolder expressions of her vision to truly stand out.

That said, Leoni had the full support of Calvin Klein himself, who watched the show alongside his ex-wife, the photographer Kelly Rector (the designer’s perennial muses, Kate Moss and Christy Turlington, were also in attendance). ‘He told me he was happy he had found a new coat to buy,’ she said. ‘I’m really proud for him to feel at home again.’

calvinklein.co.uk

Contemporary takes on enduring American icons of design only remind us of the USA’s extraordinary and enduring creative heft. From Pharrell Williams’ fresh interpretation of the humble cowboy boot to the latest iteration of Apple's MacBook Air, and even Andy Warhol's globally recognised soup cans reserved in puzzle form, here are the American classics that keep us coming back for more.

Icons of American design

Cowboy boots by Pharrell Williams

For his sophomore collection as menswear artistic director of Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams took a trip from Paris to Virginia, uniting French savoir-faire with the pioneering spirit of the American West. Case in point: his monogrammed, golden-toed riff on the cowboy boot. Williams spoke of a desire to provide a more expansive vision of the pioneer archetype, noting that Black and Native American cowboys were some of the first to strike westwards. It was to provide a prelude of sorts to Beyoncé’s own Western epic, Cowboy Carter, which the singer gave a pre-launch tease at the 2024 Grammy Awards by turning up in a studded leather Louis Vuitton look by Williams, alongside the requisite white Stetson cowboy hat.

Boots, £6,550, by Pharrell Williams, for Louis Vuitton, louisvuitton.com

M3 MacBook Air by Apple

If there’s one device that epitomises the spirit of modern mobile creativity, it’s Apple’s classic MacBook Air. First introduced in 2008, the Air squeezed the form factor of the modern laptop into hitherto unprecedented dimensions; it was the thinnest notebook computer in the world at the time of launch and Apple’s first computer with asolid-state hard drive, although it was compromised by screen quality and power. It wasn’t until Apple started fitting its own custom silicon into its laptop line-up in 2020 that the Air really came into its own. The latest edition, the M3 MacBook Air, is the de facto choice for music, video and visual design on the move, and will handle the upcoming Apple Intelligence AI integration with ease.

M3 MacBook Air, from £1,099, by Apple, apple.com

‘Black Rainbow’ bag by Telfar

Liberian-American designer Telfar Clemens has long eschewed the confines of the fashion industry with a steadfast refusal to play by the establishment’s rules. Non-gendered and defiantly democratic, it is the Telfar shopping bag that has become symbolic of his eponymous brand’s unconventional approach. Based on the shape of the Bloomingdale’s shopping bag, the vegan-leather tote features the Telfar logo, which Clemens says he first drew while at school. Originally sold in ‘blind’ pre-order drops, with prices starting at $150 – a fraction of the price of bags from the luxury fashion houses it playfully mimics – it fast became an anti-status symbol. ‘[I want to] make an ‘it’ bag where the ‘it’ has nothing to do with domination,’ says Clemens.

‘Black Rainbow’ bag, $191, by Telfar, telfar.net

‘Akari’ lamp by Isamu Noguchi

Japanese-American artist and designer Isamu Noguchi designed the first lamp in his ‘Akari’ series in 1951 after a visit to the Japanese town of Gifu, known for its traditional paper lanterns. Handcrafting the lamp from washi paper and bamboo, Noguchi was mesmerised by the way ‘the harshness of electricity is transformed through the magic of paper back to the light of our origin – the sun – so that its warmth may continue to fill our rooms at night.’ He would go on to create many more in a variety of forms and silhouettes. Over the years, the lamps have kept their timeless charm and desirability, becoming one of the most recognisable pieces of lighting design ever created (a very loose interpretation of the concept by Ikea is among the Swedish company’s best-sellers).

‘Akari 9A’ lamp, £720, by Isamu Noguchi, for Vitra, from Aram, aram.co.uk

Air Jordan 39 sneakers by Nike

It was said that Michael Jordan could defy gravity, a feat of sportsmanship immortalised by the basketballer’s leaping silhouette, which first appeared on the third iteration of Nike’s Air Jordan high-top sneaker. Originally released in 1984, 1.5m pairs were sold in the first six weeks, far exceeding Nike’s estimates, and Jordan received a portion of the profits from every pair sold, making him one of theworld’s most bankable stars. The new Air Jordan 39, released in July, saw Nike designers Joël Greenspan and Bennett Shaw work directly with Jordan on the sleek, ergonomic sneaker, which features long panels of bouncy Nike ZoomX foam in the sole, helping professionals and amateurs alike attempt to reach its namesake’s heady heights.

Air Jordan 39 sneakers, price on request, by Nike, nike.com

‘Americana’ cars by Candylab

With the icons of automotive America mostly distant memories, it falls to the New York-based Candylab to sate our love of Detroit’s golden era. Combining hand-finished custom runs made in New York and Pennsylvania with a manufacturing facility in Ningbo, China, Candylab is a bespoke wooden modelmaker whose ethos is that toys needn’t cost the earth. Each stylised model is made fromsolid lumber sourced from managed forests in North America, brightly coloured using non-toxic paints and packaged up in sturdy paper and cardboard. And Candylab’s ‘Americana’ fleet isn’t just about the muscle car; there are also police cruisers, camper vans, beech-clad surf wagons, yellow cabs, off-roaders and many more.

‘Americana’ taxi, £25; camper, £21; pickup, £25, all by Candylab, candylabtoys.com

‘Lock’ jewellery collection by Tiffany & Co

Padlocks began as purely functional items for Tiffany & Co, which sold them as part of its homeware collections. Then, in the 1950s, padlocks began to be rethought in aesthetic terms, appearing on necklaces, brooches and key rings ,a history referenced in the release of the ‘Tiffany Lock’ collection in 2022. In these pieces, unnecessary details are set aside in favour of streamlined silhouettes. The bracelets, an elongated oval available in yellow, rose or white gold, come peppered with diamonds, or are left pure and unadorned. Taking centre stage is the padlock mechanism itself, with an opening and closing function that echoes the item’s pleasing pivot. Fresh, clean and cool, the ‘Tiffany Lock’ has become a byword for classic American jewellery design.

‘Tiffany Lock’ yellow gold bangle, £7,000, by Tiffany & Co, tiffany.com

‘1006 Navy’ chair by Emeco

Emeco’s story begins in 1944 when it was hired to make a chair using salvaged aluminium for the US Navy during World War II and, over the years, the furniture brand has evolved to become a legend in its field, continuing its focus on superior design and sustainability. Virtually indestructible, the ‘1006 Navy’ chair has remained unchanged since its inception: it is still made by hand from scrap aluminium at the Emeco factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with a 77-step process that includes grinding, heat-treating, anodising and brushing. The ‘1006 Navy’ chair’s origins have also inspired Emeco to further pursue sustainable furniture design practices, with a catalogue of seats made using recycled PET bottles, discarded wood and eco-concrete.

‘1006 Navy’ chair, £808, by Emeco, from Viaduct, viaduct.co.uk

Uniform by Thom Browne

Thom Browne is well known for his tailoring, which is often shrunken in proportion, and largely a shade of mid-gray. Other perennial motifs are his signature four stripes, which run around the sleeve of a shirt or across a tie, recalling American varsity wear. It makes for a simple uniform for Thom Browne devotees, who simply follow his style diktats: he favours an unironed shirt (with an undone top button), tucked in and worn with a grey suit, narrow tie and white pocket square. Such a sharply defined aesthetic – which can verge into the surreal in his runway shows – has seen him become one of American fashion’s best-known figures, taking over from Tom Ford as chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 2023.

Briefcase, £8,260; shirt, £440; tie, £190, all by Thom Browne, thombrowne.com

CK One fragrance by Calvin Klein

If the 1990s were to be encapsulated in a fragrance, it would be the shimmering citrussy tones of Calvin Klein’s CK One, first released in 1994 and a bestsellerever since. Marking an olfactory shift from the heady French perfumes that dominated the previous decade, it would capture the stripped-back minimalism and raw sensuality of the era, designed for both men’s and women’s skin, then a marketing first (‘one for all’, ran its slogan). Its accompanying Steven Meisel-shot campaign, featuring Kate Moss and a bevy of underwear- and denim-clad models, remains an enduring and oft-reproduced piece of fashion imagery, while the bottle itself – frosted white glass with a metal screw top and stamped CK One logo – remains an emblem of 1990s product design.

CK One fragrance, £77, by Calvin Klein, calvinklein.com

Soup can paintings by Andy Warhol

Love them or loathe them, Andy Warhol’s soup cans cracked the conversation around modern art wide open on their exhibition at LA’s Ferus Gallery in 1962. Warhol, who wished to celebrate the international distribution of homogenous products as a sign of democracy, replicated the red and white Campbell’s soup cans that he had for his lunch every day using the precise screenprinting technique that quickly became synonymous with the Pop Art movement. The soup cans became a motif for Western capitalism and rampant consumer culture, forever cementing the links between advertising and art – but the Campbell’s Soup Company, at least, was pleased. In 1964, it commissioned a classic tomato soup for its retiring board chairman.

Andy Warhol soup cans puzzle set, £24 for three, from Amazon, Amazon.com

Baseball cap by Polo Ralph Lauren

There are few things more synonymous with American style than Polo Ralph Lauren. Adorned with the ‘pony and rider’ motif, the collections have come to encapsulate a vision of American ease, reflected in breezy, aspirational campaigns where models frolic amid Edenic landscapes, often with the shimmering Atlantic Ocean beyond. The Polo symbol would also later be adopted by America’s suburban subcultures, from skaters to hip-hop artists and, across the pond, the Britpop stars of the 1990s. Recent seasons have seen the Polo Ralph Lauren pony motif become ubiquitous once again, part of a growing preppy revival – not least the classic, all-American baseball cap, which is proof of the old maxim that a classic never goes out of style.

Baseball cap, £55, by Polo Ralph Lauren, ralphlauren.com

This article appears in the August 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available to download free when you sign up to our daily newsletter, in print on newsstands from 4 July, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

We have items of clothing in our wardrobes that we reserve for specific locations: a fluid white cotton dress that's fit only for white-sanded shorelines; a tweed blazer that's strictly for the countryside; a snuggly Aran-knit jumper that's saved for self-care in a remote house without Wi-Fi. These pieces have the power to transform us, evolve our character, create personal metamorpohosis through material. When May Kaan was concepting her fledgling womenswear label Francon Editions, this idea was front and centre. ‘I thought it would be interesting to place focus on settings rather than seasons,' she says. ‘I thought a lot about when architects take on a job. They always think about context, environment, how a building is going to be used.'

For Francon Editions’ debut collection – which is available to pre-order – May had a specific archetypal building in mind: the lake house near Rotterdam that she owns with her co-founder and architect husband Kees Kaan, of KAAN Architecten. ‘I dress completely differently there than in the city,' Kaan says. ‘We often have guests to stay, so sometimes I want to show off a little more than, say, when I'm in the office.’

There's an easy elegance to the resulting Lake House collection, dreamt up in collaboration with Francon Editions’ head of design Fira Rietveld, who has worked at The Row and Calvin Klein. Think pieces which are exquisitely well-suited to an evening lounging by an open fire or for flaunting around a swimming pool: a satin jacquard kimono in fiery orange, etched with a hand-drawn floral print; wide-legged wool crepe trousers in frothy cappuccino; and a smocked sleeve shirt dress.

There's a dazzling sense of ‘dress up’ to the Rose jacket, a narrow woven jacquard silhouette with a relaxed zip fastening, its glittering botanical details inspired by the Dutch Astrantia major flower. The Saskia dress, a hybrid piece that can be styled alone or with trousers, for example, has 41 buttons that can be fastened according to personal taste. ‘You could open it very high and wear it with a swimsuit, or layer it with another piece,’ Kaan says. For cooler evenings, the brand's cosy fisherman's sweater has an elegant boat neck and dropped shoulder. 

For Francon Editions’ upcoming collections, May has a host of other archetypal architectural settings in mind: the tower, cabin, palazzo and chalet. ‘The concept behind “Tower” dressing is that you're leaving your home in the city in an outfit that needs to work all day, perhaps if you're going to the office and then to a cocktail party.’

When that way of life is back on the agenda, we know what we'll be sporting.

INFORMATION
francon-editions.com

In his memoir At the Stranger’s Gate: Arrivals in New York, writer and journalist Adam Gopnik recounts his longtime friendship with Richard Avedon. Gopnik records the debates he had with the photographer around his conviction that Avedon's fashion images were more powerful and existential than his more critically acclaimed visual explorations of American identity, which included the 1985 portrait series In the American West. ‘The wrly wrought surface of fashion photos, that was what we were taught to love,’ Gopnik writes. 

Despite a sixty-year career of producing pivotal and at times controversial advertising campaigns for over 600 clients, including Du Pont, Revlon, Calvin Klein, Dior and Versace, Avedon distanced himself from his commercial work. The only personal record of his campaigns were shoot dates recorded meticulously in calendars by Avedon’s assistants. From 1962 to 1964, Avedon worked on an astonishing 400 sittings for Du Pont. He also had decade-long relationships with a host of luxury brands. Shortly before his death in 2004, Avedon had just wrapped up a campaign for Harry Winston, who he first began working with in 1952.

Now, Avedon Advertising, published by Abrams Books, brings together the cannon of Avedon’s advertising campaigns for the first time. These era-reflecting images range from the earliest elegantly feminine shoots Avedon shot after being released from active duty as a merchant marine for New York ladies stores B Weistein and Peck & Peck in the mid-Forties, to the highly saturated, energetic and carefree campaigns he shot for Versace in the 1990s.

The treasure trove-like tome is chaptered into five sections, which document Avedon’s advertising output across six decades. Introductory texts and essays by Laura Avedon and Rebecca Arnold chart the socio-political, economic and aesthetic factors that affected Avedon’s work and his vision of American identity. Take the advertising boom of post-war America in the mid-1940s, which in a time of cultural uncertainty, encouraged rapid consumerism ‘endless opportunity, novelty and convenience’ and an aesthetic adoration of the naïve college girl look. Or the emancipated femininity of the Eighties, with advertising aimed at the discerning woman; majestic, powerful and strong, like khaki-clad Kelly LeBrock, Lisa Taylor and Beverly Johnson in Versace’s 1981 campaign.

Perhaps the most controversial image in Avedon’s advertising cannon is the portrait and film he shot of a teenage Brooke Shields in 1980 for Calvin Klein Jeans, lounging in an unbuttoned shirt and tight denim jeans and uttering the provocative words on television ‘Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.’ The campaign aimed to reflect the emotional relationship a woman feels with her jeans, and was met with huge public backlash. It also caught the zeitgeist, and within a year of its release, Calvin Klein's jeans were selling 400,000 pairs a week.

‘Many people stop me in the street in New York or Los Angeles and say, “You know, I loved that ad I saw by Mr Avedon of your clothing,"’ Gianni Versace once enthused. With the publication of Avedon Advertising, it’s a sentiment felt by Gopnik, Versace and countless other admirers that's sure to live on.

INFORMATION

abramsandchronicle.co.uk
avedonfoundation.org

Scene setting: Raf Simons’ knack for bringing together nostalgic, cult aspects of American pop culture has become a clear signature for Calvin Klein. This season, guests at the runway show were disoriented by the transformation of the label’s 205 West 39th Street headquarters, which was awash with crimson carpet, seating and bright red lights. It was only when the show commenced, with digital screens that enveloped the space projected with a familiar ocean scene complete with lapping waves and a solitary female swimmer, that the familiar strains of John Williams’ theme for Jaws began to indicate the 1970s, surf-inspired joyride to come.

Sound bite: ‘The landscape of America – literal, and psychological – inspires Calvin Klein. A journey through America leads, inevitably, to the edge of the landscape: the beach. At the beach there is this incredible idea of beauty, but also a tension – between land and ocean, a feeling of two worlds meeting, maybe colliding. There’s a sense of the unexpected – and always, a temptation. For me, Jaws perfectly exemplifies these notions.’

Mood board: Filled with form-fitting matte black layers, peplum panels on skirts reminiscent of wetsuits being folded over, a heavy dose of tie-dye and the inclusion of nautical hardware, the fantastical collection displayed a creative array of craftsmanship that, while in service to the theme, still translated into clothes one would want to wear. Intricate ruched details on silk tops and jagged, asymmetric hems on sharply pleated skirts brought an exciting edge to the collection, while still complementing the label’s mainstays such as oversized tailored blazer jackets, fuzzy knitwear and sharply sculpted footwear.

Calvin Klein has marked its exhibition debut at Design Miami/Basel, with ‘An Expansive International Landscape’; featuring a selection of Cassina 'Feltri' chairs presented against a barnyard scene

This year, a change of structure at Design Miami/ Basel allowed visitors to navigate from the fair to Unlimited, Art Basel’s exhibition displaying large-scale artworks. Marking this structural change and connecting the two shows was one of this edition’s most special projects, serving as a gateway between art and design, celebrating both.

Calvin Klein made its Design Miami debut with the project, titled ‘An Expansive International Landscape’, featuring a combination of design, culture and craftsmanship curated by chief creative officer Raf Simons. For his installation, Simons focused on Feltri, an armchair created by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce for Cassina in 1987 as an ironic take on a royal throne.

The chair’s shape features a thin wool-felt structure, created using a special technique that allows the base (infused with thermosetting resin) to be structurally firm, while the top is soft and enveloping, two flaps of the material sticking out into a now-renowned shape. Simons made great use of the chair’s fluid and soft structure, combining it with a series of one-of-a-kind American heirloom quilts that date to the 19th and 20th centuries, that create what he calls a ‘cultural correspondence’: an eclectic icon of contemporary design meets an emblem of American craft and culture.

Since joining Calvin Klein in 2015, Simons has been on a mission to explore the different guises of the quintessential American spirit. His collection’s have made reference to tropes of US culture, like Hollywood startlets, cartoon characters, masculine heroes and prairie maidens. Quilts have featured predominantly, being used as linings on parkas; carried by models on the catwalk; their graphic  motifs replicated on shirts and flowing dresses.

The 50 pieces are shown in a vast open space, the chairs scattered across a purple carpet anchored by a large-scale barn, concepted by Simons for the CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC A/W 2018 runway show, and reconstructed from reclaimed 19th-century wood. Large-scale images of artwork by Andy Warhol feature prominently on the barn’s walls, part of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The multi-faceted project is evidence of Simons’ ability to merge cultural references and aesthetics, and a perfect fit for Design Miami/Basel: so much so, that all 50 chairs were snapped up on day one. §

See more from Design Miami/ Basel 2018

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Design Miami/Basel website; the Calvin Klein website

Pompoms, chrome doors and streamers are just some of the objects suspended from the ceiling of Calvin Klein 205W39NYC’s newly opened 15,000 sq ft headquarters in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The two-floor space, designed by the New York-based firm Architecture Research Office, features an immersive artwork conceived by Sterling Ruby. The California-based multimedia artist is a longtime collaborator of the brand’s chief creative officer Raf Simons, and has been integral in cementing his paint-spattered, pop-art centric and Americana infused vision of the label since he took its creative helm in August 2016.

Sterling has already overhauled Calvin Klein 205W39NYC’s 12th floor showroom and the ground floor space of its 205 West 39th Street headquarters in New York. The floors feature red white and blue canvas covered walls, suspended metal buckets and soft sculptures. The brand also reopened its Ruby-designed Manhattan flagship last August, one featuring bright yellow scaffolding, suspended fringing and quilted wall hangings, in a sublime blend of art meets commerce.

Calvin Klein 205W39NYC’s Paris headquarters will house the brand’s men’s and women’s collections, which for A/W 2018 took inspiration from 50 words used to represent the United States. A royal blue reception area welcomes guests, featuring upholstered walls and a sweeping circular curtain. Upstairs on the mezzanine level, brightly coloured laminate tables and pedestals populate the space. Ruby’s mobile sculpture hangs from the vaulted ceiling, its natural grey ceiling forming the backdrop to suspended pompoms, flags, metal buckets and baseball bats. 

Simons’ A/W 2018 show for the brand was a blend of old and new symbols of America, and featured prairie dresses and spaceman suits, rodeo shirts and cartoon prints. Calvin Klein 205W39NYC’s new Paris base also blends the modern with the antique. Ruby’s schizophrenic mobile hangs from a vaulted ceiling, which retains the curved metal markings of its 1800s architecture.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Calvin Klein 205W39NYC website

Scene setting: the American Stock Exchange Building was transformed into a dystopian Surrealist vision of America for Calvin Klein’s runway show. Installed with an immense set featuring barnhouse doorways, with barn walls painted with artworks by Andy Warhol (a continued collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which saw artwork printed underwear released earlier this month), scaffolding structures and a popcorn-covered floor, which all bore the hand of artist Sterling Ruby, the concept conjured up a pastiche of American pop-cultural references from the settting of horror films to praririe romances  into a dream-like landscape.

Mood board: to this, Raf Simons added a mash-up of American cultural tropes in wearable form. Working with a list of 50 words to represent each of the United States, the collection included chiffon prairie dresses in pastel picnic checks, Western yolk shirts with contrasting coloured accents, knitwear reverse stitched with familiar cartoon characters like Looney Tunes' Wile E Coyote and Road Runner, quilting motifs on puffer vests and the patchwork formations that have been a central motif since his debut show (featuring in the lining of parkas and hanging from the brand's refurbished Manhattan store) transformed into prints. There were notions of American heroism throughout the show, embodied in rescue worker jackets and overalls with reflective strips, thick protective gloves and a scalloped detail dress in spaceman like silver foil.

Sound bite: Simons stated, ‘This collection is an evolution of my idea of Calvin Klein... It’s an allegory for a meeting of old worlds and new worlds, relating to the discovery of America, the 1960s Space Race and the 21st century Information Age. Reflecting the notion of democracy, there is no cultural hierarchy... More than anything else, this collection is about freedom. A word that defines America, and Calvin Klein.’

Mood board: Raf Simons continued to reflect on the notion of Americana for Calvin Klein, this time drawing inspiration from Hollywood and the iconic genres of American cinema to add a new layer to his youth-centric collection. A mash-up of western, 70s, horror and pop art influences, Simons’ collection celebrated culture clashes and sartorial fluidity, combining different motifs to evoke both a sense of nostalgia and excitement at the same time. From 1950s style dresses realised in rubber to hand painted denim workwear, nylon evening gowns and colourful patchwork western shirts, each surrealistic pastiche was thrilling, vibrant visualisation of the American Dream.

Scene setting: To create the perfect backdrop, Simons brought in repeat collaborator Sterling Ruby to create a site-specific installation that mirrors the same influences as the collection. Building upon the work he created previously for Calvin Klein’s A/W 2017 show, Ruby’s colourful panorama, entitled Sophomore, featured cheerleading pom poms, suspended axes, patchwork flags, further reinforcing the reinterpretation of American archetypes. 

Team work: The collection’s cultural identity is especially poignant in a series of pieces screen printed with artworks by Andy Warhol. Made in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, the prints include portraits of Warhol and art collector Sandra Brant, actor Dennis Hopper, and several other images from his Death and Disaster series.

Raf Simons’ reworking of the Calvin Klein brand reached a new high with the reopening of its Madison Avenue flagship space in New York City. Coinciding with the arrival of Simons’ debut collection in store, the three-storey space – originally designed by John Pawson – has been transformed with an immersive floor-to-ceiling installation by the American artist Sterling Ruby.

The artist’s concept for the boutique plays off two other interiors projects he’s previously created for the label – the 12th floor showroom and the ground floor space of its 205 West 39th Street headquarters. It also echoes the brand’s new space at Dover Street Market New York. Filled with artfully arranged scaffolding, hanging sculptures by Ruby and awash with bright, traffic-sign yellow, the boutique’s interior is charged with a transient feel that straddles both realms of art and industry.

Ruby’s sculptures, which are made up of everyday objects and materials, also occasionally feature Calvin Klein’s 205W39NYC logo, reiterating the Peter Saville-designed moniker for Simons’ new vision. Vibrant, youthful and concurrently capturing the gleam and grit of American culture, the boutique visually epitomises the progressive energy of the iconic brand.

Filled with Simons’ A/W 2017 men’s and women’s collection for the label, and new denim, underwear and accessories offerings, the boutique brings the previously disparate facets of Calvin Klein’s universe effortlessly under one roof. A specially selected assortment of home objects, which include Homer Laughlin coffee mugs, ceramic vessels by ceramicist Rose Cabat and vintage Italian glassware, are mixed in throughout the store. One-of-a-kind vintage quilts also serve as a contemporary foil for the brand’s new all-white bedding collection.

Simons says, ‘I wanted the store to generate a very immediate physical experience that could as well be intimately connected to the collections. It is also a continuation of the language I am creating with Sterling for Calvin Klein’s visible and physical identity.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Calvin Klein website

ADDRESS

654 Madison Avenue
New York

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Mood board: Calvin Klein’s A/W 2017 collection was Americana seen through the eyes of Raf Simons. For his first outing as Calvin Klein’s creative chief officer, Simons paraded his version of the very fabrics — literally and figuratively — that make up the United States: handcrafted Amish quilts, protective plastic coating, and denim that referenced everything from Wall Street power broker suiting to the classic cowboy uniform. Simons proved that he still has the magic touch; the men’s and women’s collections were innovative, wearable and well designed with Simons’ and creative director Pieter Mulier’s aesthetic sensibilities, all while maintaining the DNA of the Calvin Klein brand.

Scene setting: Simons tapped his longtime collaborator, the Los Angeles-based artist Sterling Ruby to conceive the set of his first Calvin Klein runway show, which was located at the label’s headquarters in New York’s Garment District. Flag, a bleached and dyed canvas artwork by Ruby is one of the artworks featured in the brand’s new campaign, and for the show the artist got free reign. Ruby dangled his signature flourishes — stuffed vertical forms covered with abstract prints, fringe streamers, and silver buckets, with the addition of fabric covered with Calvin Klein’s new logo, designed by Simons and art director and graphic designer Peter Saville, from the ground floor’s ceiling.

Best in show: A gold fur coat covered with a protective layer of plastic and tied at the waist with a rope belt was one of the show stealers. A skirt composed of an American flag was draped around the waist and teamed with a knee-length coat, with a black and white abstract print that resembled Ruby’s work. Parkas camed lined with logo cabin design patchwork quilts.

It’s not often that you find a fragrance that defines a generation. In the case of CK One, the androgynous Calvin Klein fragrance that launched in 1994, everything from its supernormal flask-like bottle to its zesty, clean scent came to symbolise the grungy, carefree attitude of the 1990s.

Fast forward to over a decade later, and Calvin Klein’s follow-up effort CK2 hopes to tap into the zeitgeist once again. Like the original, the new CK2 perfume is gender-neutral, muddling together notes of wasabi and mandarin with sensual hints of rose and orris before ending in sandalwood, incense and vetiver. Rich yet energetic, the result is urban and fresh.

Aware that the bottle played a major part in CK One’s success, CK2 boasts a vessel designed by Cédric Ragot, who created products for Roche Bobois, Krups, Rosenthal and Panasonic, and sadly passed away last year. Ragot’s bottle, a futuristic glass capsule that sits on top of a square cap, snaps into its cap on both ends, thus articulating the different ways that people connect – the founding inspiration of the fragrance.

A final flourish comes in the form of the perfume’s print and film campaign, which has been photographed and directed by none other than Ryan McGinley. Shot in a variety of different environments that capture the raw spontaneity and uninhibited spirit of adventurous minds, McGinley distills the essence of youth in the sumptuous, evocative way that only he knows how.

McGinley’s images capture the raw spontaneity and uninhibited spirit of youth

INFORMATION

CK2, $18–75, available in February exclusively from Macy’s. For more information, visit the store’s website

Mood board: For spring, Francisco Costa mined classic Calvin territory, specifically the iconic slip dress that made the American designer a star of minimalism in the 1990s. But Costa’s was cooler and more modern than anything Klein ever designed: they are long and boxy in shape; have thicker strappy shoulders and feature deconstructed bits that gave them an arty quality.

Best in show: Costa pulled out a beautiful cherry blossom print this season, a rare but welcome territory for this reductive designer. The print was shown in two different tones for the front and backs of dresses and looked exceptional when trimmed with delicate gold chains.

Finishing touches: Welcome to the world of no-nonsense footwear, ladies. No matter how dressy one gets, the shoe should be flat and as comfortable as can be. Costa chose a slip on Vans-like style, cut from a shaved edge, cream satin that looked as great with wide leg crepe trousers as it did with dainty dresses.

INFORMATION

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

From the grandiosely impressive decors to quirky invitations, it's now a given that each meticulous detail of the seasonal show pilgrimage is carefully crafted to be entirely out-of-the-box. And the accompanying soundscape to this spring's men's season posed no exception.

Enchanting live performances (see Rhodes at Burberry Prorsum) and intoxicating DJ sets melodiously accompanied the S/S 2016 men's catwalk collections turning them into event spectaculars rather than just shows.

Jumping genres and eras we enjoyed Marylin Monroe's 'Boop Boop De Boop' at Dries Van Noten as much as Nile Rodgers' exclusive remix for Louis Vuitton's World Clique show. 'Nile is a hero of mine,' explained Louis Vuitton's Kim Jones. 'And he was perfect to work with this season as he is somebody that has crossed all boundaries with the many different artists he has collaborated with the world over,' he added of Chic's lead guitarist. 'Taking those global influences, mixing them together and making a new sound – Nile’s music is a metaphor for the collection.'

Louis Vuitton
'Chic Cheer' by Chic; 'Why' by Carly Simon; 'Like A Virgin' by Madonna
Music production: Niles Rodgers

Burberry Prorsum
‘Vienna’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Close Your Eyes’ and ‘I Put A Spell On You’ performed live by Rhodes, accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Duddell

Calvin Klein Collection
‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld; ‘Tormentor’ by Skinny Puppy; ‘Nobody Knows’ by Nitzer Ebb; ‘N.W.O’ by Ministry (Repeated); ‘Slippy’ (Vocal part) by Underworld

Diesel Black Gold
‘Leaving Forever’ by Junto Club; ‘Watch your Back’ by Body of Light; 'Dirt + Hamburg' by Oil Thief; 'Still/ Current - Orange (texture)' by Mukul; ‘Leaving Forever’ by Junto Club

Dries Van Noten
‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley; ‘Pretty Vacant’ by Sex Pistols; ‘L’amour’ by Salvador Dali; ‘Dialogues’ by Marylin Monroe (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot…); ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ by Public Image Ltd; ‘Pretty Vacant’ by Sex Pistols; ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’ by Marylin Monroe

Paul Smith
Congo Dick Dale; ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ by Ian Dury; ‘Set Phazers To Stun’ by The Time And Space Machine; ‘New Kind Of Kick’ by The Cramps; ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks; ‘Pretty Thing’ by  Bo Diddley; ‘I Want Candy’ by  Bow Wow Wow; ‘Seven Nation Army’ by The White Stripes; ‘The Hardest Button To Button’ by The White Stripes; ‘Live Like An Animal’ by The Slaves; ‘Cavern Liquid’ by Liquid; ‘Badder Than The Rest’ by Beenie Man; ‘Have Love, Will Travel’ by The Sonics; ‘Tight Pants’ by Iggy Pop; ‘Day Tripper’ by  Shockabilly; ‘Voodoo Child’ by  Jimi Hendrix; ‘Master Of The Universe’ by Hawkweed; ‘Misty Mountain’ by The Silver Apples; ‘The Union Forever’ by The White Stripes; ‘Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt’ by Palais Schaumburg; ‘Sweet Like Candy’ by Winston Williams; ‘Johnny’ by Suicide; ‘Domino’ by The Cramps; ‘Young Ones’ by Formation

Raf Simons
‘Raised’ by IVVVO; ‘Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore’ by Mark Leckey; ‘The Realm (Acapella)’ by C'hantal; ‘Jupiter Acid (Skudge White)’ by Mono Junk

Rick Owens
Exclusive mix of Kat!e by Carnage (ft. Katie Got Bandz)

Sacai
‘Dance (Beats Mix)’ by Earth People; ‘Release Yourself (Dub Mix)’ by Aleem; ‘Tell You (Original 12 inch Instrumental)’ by Loose Joints; ‘Notice Me (Notice The House Mix)’ by Sandee; ‘Show Me Love (Acapella)’ by Robin S Happy; ‘Stick’ by Steve Pointdexter; ‘Stars’ by Carl Graig; ‘Are You Experienced’ - Jimi Hendrix; ‘Jack Your Body’ by Steve Hurley; ‘I feel love (Acapella)’ by Donna Summer; ‘Additional Beats And Sounds’ by Senjan Jansen

Versace
‘Ouverture’ by Maurice Jarre; ‘Oriented’ by Rikslyd; ‘The Curse’ and ‘Beat On The Drums’ by Craig Bratley; ‘Arabian Dance’ by Antares; ‘Let’s All Chant’ by Michael Zager Band

Mood board: Clean, cool and collected: Italo Zucchelli delivered another classically minimal formula for Calvin Klein Collection. This season's story unfolded with a solid colour palette beginning with wheat hued khakis and olives and building through to sky blue denim, pure white and ending on a purist ink black.

Best in show: We loved the leaf print tees that beckoned under a filmy layer of gauze. Or the new treatment of denim that saw a stone washed pullover look like a plain sweatshirt in the front and appear like a denim jacket on the back.

Finishing touches: Zucchelli armed his clean-cut crew with shiny aviator glasses, socks and sandals (which are de rigueur for every man next spring), big leather backpacks and a cool new leather visor that looks like a truck driver hat lopped off at the top.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Pringle of Scotland: In a continuation of the Scottish house's 200th anniversary celebrations, Michael Clark Company dancers performed live to an intimate crowd at Corso Como wearing heritage Pringle of Scotland knitwear from as early as 1915, combined with the brand's new S/S16 knitwear pieces

Brioni: This season Brioni drew inspiration from architect Carlo Scarpa, whose work was sensitive to the changes of time, seasons and history. Models breezed in and out of a concrete structure in elegant steel grey suits worn with parkas made from high-tech parachute-thin Japanese nylon that billowed with movement

Piquadro: The Italian accessory brand focused on remodelling the backpack this season. The graphics of a 'motherboard', a symbol of modern technology and the Eighties' idea of the future, was reworked to camouflage effect in brilliant colours

Diesel Black Gold: The denim titan pushed outerwear into a realm that was quite simply out-of-this-world for S/S 2016.

Salvatore Ferragamo: One of our favourite design gallerists, Claudio Loria of Leclettico, designed the brand's jungle-inspired S/S 2016 set, packed with real plants and design pieces from Gabriella Crespi, for Ferragamo this season

Bally: The Bally man took to the mountains this season in a collection inspired by the great outdoors. Jackets came with multi pockets while hiking boots and a Swiss Army inspired backpack were given a luxe overhaul in python skin

MSGM: Swedish artist Anton Alvarez of graffiti 'Yarn Bombing' fame inspired in a new era of knitting at MSGM.

Sportmax: During men's week in Milan, several women's brands got in on the fashion action like Sportmax who unveiled its latest artist collaboration with LA-based illustrator Langley Fox Hemingway

Facetasm: Showing at the Armani Teatro, Hiromichi Ochiai of Facetasm presented a collection of oversized shapes with an architectural edge that merged a street style swagger with a sartorial elegance.

Z Zegna: For spring Z Zegna fused city tailoring with the energetic world of kite surfing in a collection of weightless silhouettes with flighty kite-inspired shapes paired with sharp formal attire

Ports 1961: Marble skateboards took us back to our youth at Ports 1961

Missoni: The house of the zig-zag checked into the season's plaid trend for S/S 2016.

Calvin Klein Collection: Italo Zucchelli took to America's west coast in a collection inspired by Ed Ruscha's photographs of Palm trees and the surf culture of the area

Santoni: In addition to the footwear brand's superb S/S 2016 collection of new elegant sandals and formal shoes, the brand collaborated with Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda on its latest Milan presentation. The duo created hand-cut collages that were used on shoe pillows, a film and a giant book that was over two feet tall and all presented within Palazzo Bocconi that had been transformed into a summer garden to celebrate its 40th birthday. Here's a peak at the video

Santoni: The new Santoni colour card for spring 2016

Kiton: Naples in the 1940s and the distinct style of Neapolitan men inspired luxury tailoring brand Kiton's S/S collection. Once again fabric innovation was key with the development of a super light micro wool appeared as elegant double-breasted jackets in bright Mediterranean shades.

Caruso: The house paid tribute to International Yoga Day at its presentation of the finest men's tailoring

Fratelli Rossetti: A sea of plastic shoe models bobbed along the floor at Fratelli Rossetti's men's presentation

Tod's: Craftsmanship was key at Tod's with hand painted details on military inspired leather jackets and knitwear

Emporio Armani: Claw tooth lace-up shoes and wool beanie berets were the quirky extras to an otherwise sober and very cool Emporio Armani show.

Giorgio Armani: The award for best bathrooms during Milan fashion week goes to Giorgio Armani in his Tadao Ando designed theatre

Neil Barrett: This coral reef, puzzle-piece camouflage print climbed all over the floors and clothes at the Neil Barrett show

Neil Barrett: On the runway, three button jackets gave off a slightly Nineties vibe.

Andrea Pompilio: Part biker, part jogger, part boxer, part snowboarder, Andrea Pompilio's man for next spring is wholly eccentric and completely convincing. Showing outdoors in the back yard of Milan's Pinacoteca was the perfect foil for these male peacocks

No 21: Milan's Palazzo del Conservatorio was the site of Alessandro dell'Acqua’s spring collection for No 21

Brunello Cucinelli: There is nothing quite as soothing on the eyes as a Brunello Cucinelli presentation and this season it was all about the pleated and tapered pant

Corneliani: Milan fashion week started with a bang inside the richly frescoed interior of Palazzo Litta, site of the Corneliani show

Mood board: Calvin Klein Collection's creative director Francisco Costa threw his usual modernist architectural leanings right out the window to deliver a 1960s-tinged, rock-girl romp that was lean, mean and for the first time (at least for him) unapologetically sexy.

Best in show: The tone-on-tone patchworking of glossy pony skin or supple suede looked brilliant on sweeping overcoats and flared culottes. But the best pieces were the pierced leather and silver metal dresses for a finale of new-school chainmail.

Finishing touches: The 1960s scooted in on low blocked heel pumps and on skin tight, over-the-knee boots that looked like sleek leather leggings under mini-dresses or long, lean overcoats.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Mood board: There were definitely more than 50 shades of grey on the Calvin Klein Collection runway where creative director Italo Zucchelli cut sporty, cool separates from flecked wools and fuzzy pebble patterned jacquards.

Best in show: Finally a leopard print a man can feel proud to wear. Zucchelli cut boxy, trapeze shaped overcoats out of a charcoal grey wool alpaca that came splattered in subtle, but great looking animal spots.

Finishing touches: Nearly every look - from the sharp suits to the outdoorsy cloaks - came paired with a pair of slick, urban, black alpine hiking boots featuring white ankle guards and beefy square toes.

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of the game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you New York Fashion Week's catwalk mega-mix from the S/S 2015 womenswear collections.

SATURDAY 06/09

Lacoste
'All Under One Roof Raving' by Jamie XX; 'Goodies (Remix)' by Kingdom; 'Ooops! (Oh My) (Tweet Oops re-edit)' by Hudson Mohawke; 'Sexual Eruption (Instrumental)' by Snoop Dogg; 'Stay (Marius Horsturz Edit)' by Rihanna
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Alexander Wang
'Eject Fast Forward' by Click Click; 'God Created The Beat' by Matrixxman; 'Boneless' by Starsweeper; 'Biggie Bounce' by Diplo; 'Like This' by Linkoban; 'Bend Ova' by Lil Jon
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

Altuzarra
'Rosemary's Baby Main Theme' by Krzysztof Komeda; 'Suspiria' by Goblin; 'Suspiria (Rvng Prsnts Mx5 Featuring Justine D'; '14 Water Drums' by Curd Duca

SUNDAY 07/09

Victoria Beckham
'New Dorp. New York' by SBTRKT; 'Lights' by Sohn
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

MONDAY 08/09

3.1 Phillip Lim
'Ambush' by Last Japan; 'All I Ever Need' by Caribou; 'Where I Belong' by Gui Boratto; 'Can't Do Without You' by Caribou
Music production: Sebastien Perrin

Donna Karan
'Suvelo (Cuban Mix)' by Tribal Target; 'Sin Plomo' by Nature Groove; 'She' by Alice Smith
Music production: Kevin Edwards & Kris Bones

Rag & Bone
Original soundtrack by Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich

TUESDAY 09/09

Marc by Marc Jacobs
'The Blue Danube' by Johanne Strauss II; 'My House' by Chuck Roberts; 'Hackney Parrot (Special Request VIP)' by Tessela; 'Danube Love' by Franz Lehar; 'GT Turbo' by Mella Dee; '3am Eternal (Blue Danube Orbital Mix)' by KLF; 'Radio Babylon' by Meat Beat Manifesto

Diesel Black Gold
'Metal on Metal (Stereo Difference) from Trans Europe Express' by Kraftwerk; 'Voices' by Neon; 'Dub In My Eyes' by Depeche Mode; 'We Are The Axis (Daniel Avery Remix)' by The Asphodells; 'Shake "Nickel Ride"' by Cowboy Rhythmbox
Music production: Michel Gaubert

WEDNESDAY 10/09

Michael Kors
'Be My Baby' by Linda Ronstadt; 'Be My Baby' by The Ronettes; 'Be My Baby (Orchestral)' by Thomas Roussel; 'Then He Kissed Me (Orchestral)' by Thomas Roussel 
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Boss
'How Did The Affair End?' by In Flagranti; 'Romeo & Juliet' by Abel Korzeniowski; 'Factory Floor' by How You Say; 'Sun Position' by The Persuader; 'The Four Seasons' by Vivaldi
Music production: John Gosling & Steve Mackey

Reed Krakoff
Original soundtrack by Sebring Revolution

Proenza Schouler
'Amarant 8' by Scanner; 'Procrastination' by Demdike Stare; 'Amarant 2' by Scanner
Music production: Michel Gaubert

THURSDAY 11/09

Ralph Lauren
'Lioness In Love' by The Afrika Connection; 'The Here And After' by Jun Miyake; 'Soleil Chaleur (Soleil + Chaleur + Toi + Moi)' by Ariane Moffatt; 'Did We Live Too Fast' by Got A Girl; 'Mama' by Khadja Nin

Calvin Klein Collection
'Camouflage' by Scanner; 'Kendo For Yukio Mishima' by Matmos; 'Moss Garden' by David Bowie; 'Some Are' by David Bowie; 'Dune' by Chloe
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

Marc Jacobs
'Etude 1' by Nadia Sirota; 'Etude 1A' by Nadia Sirota; 'Computer Voice Narration' 
Music production: Steve Mackey

Long, lean and minimal has been the brief for several fashion houses of late. Calvin Klein creative director Francisco Costa naturally falls into that purist category, and this season he joined his colleagues in driving down hemlines. Key to the newly lengthened look was a layered effect that the designer achieved either by clamping mid-calf dresses with knee-length coats worn on top or by playing with mid-calf skirts paired with stretched out tunic tops. Costa kept his palette rigorously unfussy and yet decidedly American: there were shades of cream and white, no-nonsense navy blue and a deep cranberry red, all of which were worn tone-on-tone or as colour-blocked geometric shapes. Maxi dresses can sometimes suffer from a matronly effect, but Costa tantalised with his evening numbers: think T-shirt dresses with a sheer metallic embroidered mesh that coyly revealed the models' legs.

Francisco Costa could not have known in advance that a bitter storm would've blown snow horizontally across the city for most of the morning before his Calvin Klein Collection fashion show. But his collection seemed preternaturally attuned to New York's harsh weather patterns. First off, the rubber soled lace-up snow boots - with silhouettes that were vaguely reminiscent of grungy Dr Marten's but a whole lot chicer in their shiny pony skin exteriors - would have been a welcome addition to any fashionable woman's wardrobe that slushy morning. But it wasn't just the footwear. The whole collection, covered in nubbly knits and wooly woollens, was a treaty on chicly-cosy, cold weather dressing. Costa is a cutter, though, so even though dresses were crafted entirely from what looked like the output of six grandmother's knitting needles, they remained refined with elongated and streamlined silhouettes. Elegant A-line dresses had graphic pleating across the skirts, while funnel neck tunic tops were patched together from multi-panels of knits. Mohair figured prominently into fuzzy overcoats, V-neck dresses and tube skirts, casually blurring Costa's usual preoccupation with flawless lines. The ragged edges ultimately yielded a slightly frayed, not to mention unexpected, vision of imperfection at Calvin Klein Collection. But in weather like that and times like these, it was perfection.

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of the game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you Milan Fashion Week's catwalk mega-mix from the S/S 2015 menswear collections.

SATURDAY 21/06

Ermenegildo Zegna
'The Creator Has a Master Plan' by Pharoah Sanders
Music production: James Murphy

Neil Barrett
'Bounce It' by Juicy J; 'Drunk In Love (a cappella)' by Beyoncé feat Jay Z; 'Trophies' by Drake; 'Sage the Gemini - Don't You (Joe Kay's Slowed Edit)' by Drake; 'Collard Greens' by Schoolboy Q; 'Blood On the Leaves' by Kanye West; 'Sanctified (Instrumental)' by Rick Ross; 'Bounce It French' by Juicy J; 'Pop That' by Montana feat Rick Ross, Drake and Lil Wayne

Brioni
'Your Love' by Frankie Knuckles; Instrumental by J.a.y.c.e.; 'Follow Me' by Aly-us; 'Can You Feel It' by Mr Fingers; 'Every Now and Then' by Ralph Falcon; 'Tears (Instrumental Mix) by Frankie Knuckles; 'Watcha Gonna Do with My Lovin' by Inner City

Versace
'Showroom Dummies' by Señor Coconut; 'Cumbia 8 (La La Macho)' by JD Twitch; 'The Robots' by Señor Coconut; 'Berimbau' by DJ Sandrinho; 'Source of Uncertainty' by Kink; 'Cumbia 8 + Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal' by JD Twitch
Music production: Simon Halsberghe

Philipp Plein
'Superpower' by Beyonce ft Frank Ocean; 'Tribe (Live)' by Theophilus London; 'Black Skinhead' by Kanye West; 'Hustlin' (Prince of Ballard remix)' by Rick Ross; 'Wut' by Leif

SUNDAY 22/06

Salvatore Ferragamo
'So Far So Real' by Gray; 'Aguirre (Fango remix)' by Batongo; 'Sombra da Lua' by Ninos du Brasil

Calvin Klein Collection
'Urania' by Pan Sonic; 'It's a Fire' by Portishead; 'The Box (Part One)' by Orbital;  'The Box (Part Two)' by Orbital; 'Music for Steamed Rocks' by Oneohtrix Point Never

Prada
'Trussed' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'The Alien Brain' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'Kiss Me (Maggot Brain) (Edit)' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'Urgentissimo - Like Everything this Summer' by John Barry

Moncler Gamme Bleu
'Rocky Balboa Theme (Rico South vs Baltimore Bootleg)' by Bill Conti; 'Gonna Fly Now' by Ferrante & Teicher; HBO Boxing Theme; 'Going the Distance' by Bill Conti; 'Mama Said Knock You Out' by LL Cool J
Music production: Michel Gaubert

MONDAY 23/06

Emporio Armani
'Mopedbart' by Hubbabubbaklubb; 'Power' by Pompeya; 'Sentiment Acide (Jennifer Cardini Remix)' by David Shaw and the Beat; 'A Source of Light' by the Naked and Famous & Kids of 88; 'Clangour and Flutes' by Sin Fang Bous; 'Trust' by Sin Cos Tan

Ports 1961
'Chin Achin (Mononome remix)' by Cayetano; 'Red Alert' by Ben Klock

Gucci
'Sun Structure' by Temples; 'Feel' by TY Segall; 'Home' by Wooden Shjips; 'Colours To Life' by Temples
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Fendi
'Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness the Coldcut Remix)' by Eric B and Rakim; 'Regiment' by Brian Eno and David Byrne; 'The Jezebel Spirit' by Brian Eno and David Byrne; 'Voices Inside My Head (a cappella)' by the Police; 'Voices Inside My Head (Roger S Classic Mix)' by the Police
Music production: Michel Gaubert

TUESDAY 24/06

Dsquared2
'A Walk on the Wild Side (Blutch remix)' by Lou Reed; 'Nowhere to Run (Bobby Cooper ReMedit)' by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas; 'Don't Bring Me Down (Nari e Milani Radio Cut)' by Electric Light Orchestra; 'Don't Bring Me Down' by Electric Light Orchestra; 'Don't Bring Me Down (Voices in Your Head edit)' Electric Light Orchestra; 'I'm Ready (short version)' by Kano; 'Native Love (Step by Step)' by Divine; 'Fame (Mojo Fitler Incognito Dub)' by David Bowie; 'Can You Feel It (Thomas Blaster remix 2014)' by the Jackson Five 

Giorgio Armani
'Late Night Session' by Ceccarini; 'Sold Out' by Just a Night; 'Feather on the Clyde (Stefan Biniak Private Edit)' by Passenger; 'I Can See Clearly Now' by Fennec & Wolf vs Johnny Nash; 'HereNow' by Phon.o; 'Let the Music Do the Talking' by Laid Back

Calvin Klein Collection's Italo Zucchelli had bold blocks of monotone colour on his mind for spring. He started his collection subtly but powerfully, using layers of barely-there nude colours that sat mysteriously on the models' bodies like a second skin. The silhouettes were pared down into basic shapes like racerback tank tops, bun-enhancing tight pants, blouson jackets and puffed shorts. Zucchelli slowly built his colour story by introducing punches of lemon and tangerine as racing stripes running down pants or on athletic under billowing, which led to full-on cherry and orange windbreakers trapped in cages of similarly coloured transparent plastic shells. He finished off with an oxblood flourish, using the rich colour on eel skin tank tops and matching technical pants.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you Milan Fashion Week's catwalk mega mix from the A/W 2014 menswear collections.

SATURDAY 11/01

Ermenegildo Zegna
This original sound track incorporates the 'sounds of the universe' including 'Galaxy UGC 6697' by University of California; 'Saturn, Jupiter, Titan and Enceladus Moons' by NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; 'Our Sun' by Stanford University; 'Quasars 3C 120' by Florida International University; 'Black Hole GRS 1915+105' by Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 'Big Bang' by University of Virginia; 'Earth Magnetosphere' by University of Iowa; 'HD49933 and HD181420 star' by Corot's France Space Agency and European Space Agency Satellite; 'Vela, Crab and Pulsar B0329+54' by Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics University of Manchester, U.K; 'The Seasons, Autumn Song - Op. 37b' by Tchaikovsky

Jil Sander
'Saturn V v2 (SEML remix)' by Beckenbauer; 'She's Gone' by Tindersticks; 'Sound and Vision' by David Bowie

Neil Barrett
'Grindn'' by Clipse; 'Sock It 2 Me (Kaytranada Remix)' by Missy Elliot; 'Hide Me' by Flying Lotus; 'Long Live A$AP' by A$AP ROCKY; 'Me & U' by Cassie; 'Underneath The Dancefloor' by Pye Corner Audio
Music production: Pascal Moscheni

Versace
'Soul Reprise' by Dave.i.d; 'Lazer Beams' by Green Velvet & Harvard Bass; 'Zulu Bash' by Dave.i.d; 'Bigger Than Prince (Hot Since 82 Remix)' by Green Velvet; 'Do Ya Wanna Funk' by Sylvester & Patrick Cowley
 Music production: Moiré Productions

SUNDAY 12/01

Bottega Veneta
'Superpower' by Beyoncé (feat. Frank Ocean); 'Out of Line' by Gesaffelstein; 'The Fall' by Rhye, 'Bromance' by Mike Patton
Music production: Sebastien Perrin

Salvatore Ferragamo
'Feeling called Love' by Pulp; 'This is Hardcore' by Pulp; 'This is Hardcore (End of Line Mix)' by Pulp

Calvin Klein Collection
'Living in the Future' by Vex Ruffin; 'Vienna' by Ultravox; 'Aliens Theme' by Tsukerman, Hutchinson and Smith

Prada
'The Ballad of Sexual Obsession' by Nina Hagen; 'Ben Frost's Peter Venkman Pt. 1', remixed by Gluteus Maximus; 'Live exclusive lyrics', adapted and performed by concert group L'Usignolo; 'Pieces taken from Pina Bausch shows side by side with transcriptions' by Kurt Weill
Music production: Frédéric Sanchez

Moncler
'A Thousand Times Goodnight' by Abel Korzeniowski; 'Bach Cello suites #1 in G Prélude' by Yo-Yo Ma‚ 'Bach Cello suites #1 in G Prélude' by Yo-Yo Ma; 'Bach Cello suites #1 in G Prélude' by Yo-Yo Ma; 'Bach Cello suites #1 in G Prélude' by Yo-Yo Ma; 'Shakespeare Sonnets' by Jayne Mansfield; 'The Duchess' by Rachel Portman
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Emporio Armani
'18 Yellow Roses' by Bobby Darin; 'Sleeping Ute (Nicolas Jaar Remix)' by Grizzly Bear & Nicolas Jaar; 'Lennon' by Leonie; 'There Was a Bar' by Capey Cash; 'Beyond The Cherry Moon' by WhoMadeWho; 'I Won't Be Long' by Beck; 'Pride Is Weaker Than Love' by Michael Mayer; 'La Foret' by Lescop

Ports 1961
'Last Stand' by Kwabs; 'Retrograde' by James Blake
Music production: Sergio Tavelli

MONDAY 13/01

Gucci
'Easy Easy' by King Krule; 'How Soon Is Now (remix)' by The Smiths

Canali
'Uno' by Ludovico Einaudi; 'Tu Sei' by Ludovico Einaudi; 'Nuvole Bianche' by Ludovico Einaudi

Fendi
'Suite for Toy Piano' by John Cage; 
'Crystals' by
Clams Casino; 'Brand New Cadillac' by Pascal Comelade; 'Bird Call (Mac Miller
Instrumental)' by Clams Casino; 'Besame Mucho' by Pascal Comelade; 'Cry For Me' by Clams Casino; 'Hellifornia' by Gesaffelstein
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Brioni
'Kyoko's House (stage blood is not enough)' by Philip Glass (Mishima); 'Runaway Horses (poetry written with a splash of blood)' by Philip Glass Mishima); '1957: Award Montage' by Philip Glass (Mishima); 'Mishima/Closing' by Philip Glass (Mishima), 'Corner' by Actress (Ghettoville); 'Gentlemen Take Polaroids' by Japan Exorcising Ghosts; 'Bamboo Houses' by David Sylvian (A Victim Of Stars 1982-2012); 'Our' by Actress (Ghettoville); 'The Sheltering Sky' by Ryuichi Sakamoto (Playing the Piano)            

Dsquared2
'Celebrate Your Death' by Glamour To Kill; 'Krank Im Hirn' by T.Raumschmiere; 'My Life' by Billy Joel; 'Insane in the Brain' by Richard Cheese; 'Insane in the Brain' by Cypress Hill; 'Insane' by Eminem; 'Yalla' by Bruder & Kronstädta; 'Domo 23' by Tyler

TUESDAY 14/01

Giorgio Armani
'A1' by Darkside; 'Paper Trails' by Darkside; 'Personal Jesus (Alex Metric Remix Edit)' by Depeche Mode; 'Shower Scene'  by Alex Burkat; 'Silikron (Jurgen Paape Remix)' by Kron; 'Anagrama' by Tempel Rytmik; 'Klinsmann' by Axel Boman; 'Home (Tim Green Remix)' by M.A.N.D.Y. & Booka Shade

Z Zegna
'Evidence' by Carlos Giffoni; 'Cheval D'Orgueil' revisited by Donoval di Arnaud Rebotini

Roberto Cavalli
'Rough Steez' by Fuck Buttons; 'Countdown' by Uppermost; 'Destinations' by Gesaffelstein; 'Parenthesis' by Tricky; 'No Need for a Leader' by Unknown Mortal Orchestra; 'Love Undone' (feat. Taylor O'Donnell) by Lost Midas; 'Btstu' by Jai Paul; 'Crosses' by Jose González; 'Christian Sands' by Tricky; 'We B Luvin' by Kailo; 'Normal Person' by Arcade Fire; 'Airboy' by Matt Van Schie; 'Society' by Paul Woolford; 'Jasmine' by Jai Paul; 'Water Me' by FKA Twigs; 'Easy' by Son Lux; 'Truant' by Burial; 'New Ruin' by Meursault; 'Takk…' by Sigur Ros
Music production: Christian Mayer