5 things to expect from New York Fashion Week FW26 A season full of debuts, but perhaps overshadowed by the turbulent situation in the US

After the classic off-calendar show by Ralph Lauren, which unofficially kicked off the festivities yesterday, today officially begins New York Fashion Week FW26, which, together with the London edition, features a single calendar for both men's and women's fashion—unlike Milan and Paris.

This is shaping up to be an interesting edition, both for the various debuts we’ll discuss shortly and because the New York calendar has finally filled up with young brands that, over the years, have formed a “new guard” including highly anticipated shows from Khaite, Coach, Eckhaus Latta, Fforme, and Sandy Liang, among others.

It’s perhaps a shame that an edition confirming the gradual recovery of the New York calendar—after years of progressive emptying and the emigration of American brands to Paris—must take place against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent and dark periods in recent U.S. history, marked by ICE raids, the renewed virulence of the Jeffrey Epstein case, and the endless controversies surrounding the Trump administration.

Despite these grim circumstances, fashion can still represent the hope of a different, progressive creative community that reminds us a better future is possible precisely because we’re still capable of dreaming it. For this reason, the fashion week starting today can serve as testimony that there are still hearts beating in America, beyond any techno-oligarchy, data centers, and ideological propaganda.

Here, then, are 5 things to look forward to at New York Fashion Week FW26.

1.      Rachel Scott’s debut at Proenza Schouler

Now that the brand’s two founders have moved on to successfully lead Loewe in Paris, Proenza Schouler is in the capable hands of Rachel Scott. The designer earned her reputation leading Diotima for years and, as recently as last September—having just joined the brand—she created a collection presented in showroom that wasn’t fully “hers” yet, functioning more as a collaboration between her and the pre-existing team.

Already last September we saw Scott introduce a perspective on new proportions in her tailoring and draping, more intimate and less “constructed” than that of her predecessors. Today we will see her full vision for the first time, and it promises to be a strong opening for the fashion week.

2.      Nicola Brognano’s return to the scene with 7 for All Mankind

After the never-forgotten creative direction at Blumarine and a seasonal capsule with Envision in 2024, Nicola Brognano has crossed the ocean and promises to inject some Italian panache into 7 For All Mankind. The brand rose to fame in the early 2000s thanks to its jeans line and today, despite high-profile campaigns with Chloé Sevigny, focuses more on practical and very “clean” designs—thus it will surely benefit from the style Brognano has brought across the Atlantic.

3.      Cult Gaia’s first-ever runway show

Cult Gaia is a curious brand. In America it has enjoyed great success, also driven by an overwhelmingly strong social media presence. At the same time, this success has not been enough to make the brand truly popular in Europe, where it is known more for its social media visibility than for products actually bought, sold, or even seen on the street.

It doesn’t help that the brand has carried, over the years, various controversies ranging from the copyright issues surrounding the Ark bag to the legal battle with Steve Madden, to the boycotts in Arab countries targeting founder Jasmin Larian, and the lack of transparency on production ethics. Yet its presence in the cultural sphere of American fashion is undeniable, and its entry into the official New York Fashion Week calendar will surely mark the moment when Europe starts taking it seriously.

4.      The innovative format of N4XT / NYFW Collections

The NYFW Collections program by N4XT Experiences is a platform created to provide logistical support to independent designers, offering a series of pre-contracted venues in the city—such as the New York Public Library, Chelsea Factory, or High Line Nine—where designers can stage shows without paying venue rental or costs for street permits, backstage setup, equipment rental, and so on, covering only expenses related to PR, security, hair/makeup artists, models, and actual creative production.

For this season the platform includes major names such as Area, Sergio Hudson, Altuzarra, Fforme, Public School, and Zankov. The interesting aspect is that, in Europe, similar initiatives often bring many designers into the same location, whereas here brands are given different spaces (forgive the term) that are less cramped than those often allocated to low-budget shows on our side of the ocean.

5.      Veronica Leoni’s new collection for Calvin Klein Collection

Third show for Veronica Leoni at Calvin Klein Collection. And we’re not interested only because Leoni is another Italian designer holding a prominent position in New York’s programming, but because her shows for Calvin Klein Collection are perhaps the only ones receiving comparable attention in both the USA and Europe. It must be admitted that Paris and Milan tend not to pay huge attention to American fashion, often seen as a remote and self-sufficient ecosystem.

Her first two highly publicized shows were solid but perhaps not particularly striking, coming on the tail end of the quiet luxury trend, yet expectations remain high. What will this new outing look like? The entire fashion press and critics are eagerly awaiting.