New York Fashion Week (NYFW) officially commenced last Sunday, and this year, American fashion designers are trading the runway for look books and live streams. With NYFW being the busiest time of the year for the city that never sleeps and the country being partially on lock-down, no one had any idea what to expect.
Amid a global pandemic, red carpet events and streetwear fashion have been few and far between. With the events that usually breed creative ideas being obsolete, everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting to see what wildcards these designers will pull out.
This year’s schedule was a shortened version of their regular line-up as it ran from Feb. 14 to Feb. 17. Since many designers will be showcasing their collections outside of the set week and the state of New York, the chairman of CFDA and world-renowned fashion designer Tom Ford renamed the official New York Fashion Week schedule to the “American Collections Calendar.”
The fashion designers and brands that presented their Fall 2021 collections were Veronica Beard, Alice + Olivia, Markarian, Tadashi Shoji, Badgley Mischka, Anna Sui, Monse, Adeam, Victor Glemaud, Rodarte, Tanya Taylor, Anne Klein, Dennis Basso, Cinq à Sept, Jonathan Simkhai, Bibhu Mohapatra, Nicole Miller, Rebecca Minkoff, and Christian Cowan.
This year’s NYFW kicked off on Valentine’s Day with a live-streamed runway show of Jason Wu’s new collection. The backdrop of Wu’s show was a grocery store, which seemed fitting considering it is one of the few places people are showing off any outfits these days. The contrast of the colorful fruit with his vibrant designs was refreshing and perfect for the notoriously pink and red-themed holiday.
As the whole world was seemingly flipped on its head this past year, it is no wonder that the runway designs are nothing we have ever seen before. Earth tones, but more specifically the usually-forgotten color, brown, have dominated the year thus. This fashion-forward hue has made its way to the runway in chic dresses, overcoats, and funky bags in collections from PH5, Wnderkammer, Rosetta Getty, Studio K, Ulta Johnson, Victor Glemaud, Victor Li, and Batsheva. For anyone active on fashion TikTok, brown is unsurprisingly the color hero of the year and is taking the world by storm.
A Look from the Victor Li Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the Rosetta Getty Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the PH5 Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the PH5 Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the Studio K Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the Batsheva Fall 2021 collection. 
A Look from the Victor Glemaud Fall 2021 collection.
Other trends on the rise are cutouts, turtlenecks, long overcoats, puffer coats, plaid, leather, and sweater vests. Tons of designers are playing with funky color combinations that many have shied away from in the past. These designs are trendy and chic while also being ideal for the cold weather.
So, if you see your favorite influencers rocking a cute monochromatic brown fit or a long overcoat, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
