Surprises Within Collections at New York Fashion Week
September 2022
Kelly Brennan
In a quiet neighborhood in Manhattan, NYFMC (New York Fashion and Music Conference) held a rocking show for fashion week hosted by Deshai Williams. In partnership with the Future 4 Hope Foundation, the red carpet event was a smash. The guests came out ready for the night wearing some of the season’s most popular trends like blazer dresses and platform shoes. The white runway, white rose wall, and the amount of press lined up to get in the door was a good sign of how the night would go.
The models were abuzz before the show, laughing and chatting with the designers as makeup artists Amber Blanchard and Leanne Abuzahrieh got them runway ready. There were 13 of the most promising up-and-coming designers at the September 8th show with some of them being returning FMC designers. There was a wide variety of designs ranging from a collection by Cymone Zackery called “Hunting Season” to an haute couture line by Joseph Ledesma called “Sweet Fantasy.”
The show kicked off with a performance by Arielle Joy and the first designer, Cymone Zackery, followed shortly after. From Zackery’s brand 508CZ Collections, we got to see a
lot of camouflage, neon colors, raw-edged material, and a whole lot of skin from the models. House of Sky came out after Zackery and there was a strong mix of what I would call preppy, sexy, soft, and girly. There was a common theme in her collection of the color blue of various shades.
Yes D’Nilco, a returning FMC designer, shared that the theme for this collection was “black excellence” including black superheroes and influences. The most interesting part of their collection was the fact that the most show-stopping piece, a jean jacket with a “Concrete Jungle” theme, was just an ordinary jacket from Target that got turned into a complete masterpiece.
Shongee, a print designer, was the fourth designer to come out on the runway. Shongedzai, the owner, says, “trends are usually simple but because I’m a print designer I can combine them in different ways.” This statement proved true on the runway because I saw something I haven’t seen before: animal print. And not just a leopard print, but prints of the actual animal.
Retro Wave had an arguably political take on this collection shown at this show. There were a lot of Rastafarian colors and marijuana patches on bleach-dyed clothes with phrases like “Strive for more,” “Invoke minds,” and “Move with purpose” sprawled across. The collection had color palettes that popped against the bleach-dyed clothing. N-V-US Fashions from San Antonio, Texas had an interesting collection as well. One of her pieces in her collection of mostly linen material had an entire map of manhattan hand drawn onto it. The owner of the brand Patricia Moore described her pieces as “gender-bending.”
Black Merchants was another designer that had a thought-provoking collection shown.
After talking to the owner of the brand, John Clarke, we were shown a collection with a theme of “crimes against humanity.” It was important to the designer that the importance of divinity was shown to the crowd which was translated by masks and words that said: “I am a (hu)man.” Diva by Design 9 was the next artist to come out on the runway with a theme of self-reflection. We got to see a lot of velvet, sequins, feathers, sparkles and shimmers, and slinky dresses with high slits. I would describe her collection as elegance mixed with glitz and glam.
Bri Macfarland, a recent fashion school graduate, had a zero waste and sustainability-centered collection that debuted at the show. There were a lot of nontraditional silhouettes in her collection paired with abstract designs. Joseph Ledesma was arguably the most impressive designer from this show. As the designer himself said, “Any individual can wear my clothing as long as they have confidence and are ready to stand out.” He spent over six months on this collection and it showed in the expert craftsmanship that went into these custom gowns and cocktail dresses.
Another returning FMC designer, N-Deed Regime, gave off a strong vibe of elegance while still having a streetwear edge. One of the designers described their collection as elegant pieces that belong in a museum. There was a lot of luxurious material used and sharp-looking pieces like the leopard asymmetrical suit. Designer Alkebulan featured different styles and designs of African work with nontraditional prints of zebra and bright colors.
Kelsey Thomas, the owner of the brand Khomela, was the final designer to top off the show. Her theme was Shego from the show Kim Possible meaning we saw a lot of electric green, black, and tan. The black mesh jumpsuit is what got people talking in the crowd; The designer says about this piece, her favorite piece, “When I designed this one, I wanted everything to be different and step outside the box.”
This show was one to remember for all guests, crew, press, and designers. As always, NYFMC was able to successfully highlight some of the hottest emerging designers and give them a chance to shine. And shine they did.
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