Head Backstage with Four Emerging Designers at NYFW

As New York Fashion Week comes to an end, the city continues to act as a hub for some of the most exciting emerging designers. This season saw a host of new talent, mainly those from diverse backgrounds, channelling the intensity of the current moment in the United States into bold and intelligent offerings. In a time when fashion can seem so insignificant, these designers have the courage to tackle the injustices of modern society through their craft. We’ve highlighted four collections from this season – Gabe Gordon, LEBLANCSTUDIOS, Ben Doctor and Mila Sullivan – that made strikingly adventurous statements on the runway.

‘Autoerotic’ by Gabe Gordon

Titled ‘Autoerotic’, Gabe Gordon leaned further into the label’s fetishistic brand of decay with a collection inspired by all things motor. Charged with all the drama one has come to expect from a Gabe Gordon show, the designer and his partner, in business and life, Timothy Gibbon’s shabby chic pit crew looked as if they’d just been flung through the windscreen of a Porsche 911 as they marched through a car garage littered with tarpaulin and scrap car parts. A selection of sensual bodices made from coagulated ringlets is a convincing statement on sexual automobiles, especially when paired with a droolingly louche pair of nude latex shorts. One look is printed with a wistfully lusty illustration by artist Bunny the Lifeguard showing a surreal leg stepping out of a chrome sports car in a daring stiletto. Whilst the collection relied less on the preppy, high school look of past seasons, some elements remained, such as the torn coral ode to ’80s power dressing styled with a Jansport, the woven football shoulder pads in a chocolatey shade and the closing look of bandaged lingerie fit for the football field. Cars have long been associated with male sexuality and desire, often posted up alongside busty women in adulterous material. Through the queer gaze of Gordon and Gibbons, this association is turned on its head to create a collection that is sultry yet tasteful, as cool as it is rough.

‘Laid Bare’ by Mila Sullivan

Mila Sullivan indulged in the tactility of memory with her SS26 collection, ‘Laid Bare’. A journey flitting between nostalgic echoes and the present day, each garment holds a story that captures Mila’s slow, intentional creative endeavour. The show opened to a performance of music duo LEYA, a heavenly infusion of harp and violin over whimsical vocals, as a ballerina took the stage in a pale tulle tutu. Her dreamstate world hones in on lingering touches and craftsmanship over convenience, in a quiet reflection on the industry surrounding her work, rejecting its throwaway culture. Shape-shifting silhouettes both restrict and overflow in fluid motions through billowing lace skirts, corseted bodices and soft, gathered silk. Held at the Abrons Arts Centre, the Brooklyn-based designer drew focus to the significance of materiality in her use of vintage fabrics, naturally aged silk and patchworked lace spotlighted throughout the garments.

‘Skybus’ by Ben Doctor

Ben Doctor brings passion to the workplace with his SS26 collection ‘Skybus’, a reimagination of air hostess uniforms with a sleek, ’60s edge. Continuing his exploration of desire-fueled knitwear, with a touch of sleaze for good measure, the emerging designer seeks to reinvent the world through his own perceptions, bringing mid-century influences to modern-day New York. Based in Brooklyn, Ben brought fashion week to a bustling art studio in Chinatown, showcasing high-collared, A-line silhouettes and teeny-tiny booty shorts in soft greens and classic creams, with pops of signature gingham and bold reds throughout. Historically an image-based profession, the womenswear collection explores the laid-back nonchalance of female flight attendants, with innovative design at its forefront. Double-breasted cardigans and jackets with plummeting necklines wrap around the body in a subtle sensuality, eyelet-laden latex garments add to the centennial flair.

‘Museum of Common Oddities’ by LEBLANCSTUDIOS

Angelo Beato and Yamil Arbaje’s LEBLANCSTUDIOS continued to bring an intellectual perspective to New York Fashion Week, transforming community space The Bench into the fictional Museum of Common Oddities. The Dominican designer duo’s newest collection is a meditation on the politically fragmented nature of our time, where clothing can lose its importance. Set in the imagined world of a film or novel, Angelo and Yamil’s “museum” acted as a hub for the exiled, the forgotten, and the left behind, interrogating what clothing means to migrant communities. Should the clothes on the backs of those set aside by society act as a shell for retreat into the vogue of the day, or be a celebration of the diversity these communities bring? With New York home to the world’s largest Dominican diaspora, LEBLANCSTUDIOS channelled the hostile environment grappling with the United States into a defiant sartorial offering. This tension is captured in reimaginings of classic garments: a set of irregular wool and cotton blazers that almost suffocate the body; asymmetrical shirts with slashes and knots; and raw, industrial denim redefined for formal occasions. The Dominican Republic is staunchly woven through the collection, with a monochrome kaleidoscopic print of the faces of two Dominican girls sourced from the island nation’s national archive, leaving a particularly haunting impression, as well as being standout pieces. The design duo employed pleating techniques to disrupt the chacabana whilst imbuing an archival uniform shirt with a feminine touch through pocket adornments and sleeve slits. The militancy of this collection is an opaque declaration of rebellion to an atmosphere which seeks to reject cultural difference and provokes questions around the parts of us we hold dearest.