New York Fashion Week 2025: Tech, AI, and Cultural Power
Photo via © COS
New York Fashion Week 2025 is becoming a lab for experimentation, message-making, and visibility. Below are what some brands are doing that feels different, and why it matters.
Jamie Okuma: Heritage Meets Flow
When Jamie Okuma showed on the official CFDA NYFW calendar for the first time, she chose a more intimate, grounded, or understated approach, focusing on the clothes, the story, or the cultural meaning, rather than relying on flashy theatrics to make a statement.. Her collection leaned into tradition: beadwork, natural motifs, prints drawn from her Indigenous heritage, but translated into ready-to-wear with summer silhouettes: linen, bamboo, silk. Pieces felt wearable, grounded, and intentional. Dresses, jumpsuits, caftans moved gently; details like dentalium shells and elk teeth didn’t feel show-off, but part of each garment’s story.
Okuma’s work affirms heritage as design input, not trend-inspiration, but source material.
Calvin Klein Under Veronica Leoni: History, Tailored for Now
Calvin Klein returned to NYFW this season under Veronica Leoni, its new creative director. The collection leaned into the brand’s archive minimalism: slender tailoring, clean proportions, but carried a softer edge. Bow details, poet tunics, subtle volume in coats, and use of draping suggested familiarity and newness simultaneously.
The show carried a lot of weight: Klein’s legacy, the nostalgia of the ’90s, and the pressure of relevance in 2025. But Leoni seems aware that heritage alone doesn’t move fashion forward; her designs map onto consumer moods that want both groundedness and elegance.
COS: Adaptability, Texture, and Real Use
COS, always a quiet player, pushed its Spring/Summer 2026 runway with contrasts: structure and fluidity, sharp tailoring and softness. Materials ranged from pony-effect leather to sheer fabric panels, delivering looks that feel both editorial and livable. Editors styled the collection in ways that pointed to wearable reality: blazers with soft pants, coats over knits, bold textures anchored in neutrals.
What’s interesting about COS’s approach is how it balances drama with discipline. Nothing felt purely for the runway; many looks seemed like they could leave the venue, hit the city, and hold their own in everyday life. That’s increasingly rare and increasingly needed.
Vivian Wilson & Alexis Bittar: Performance, Identity, and Political Edge
Vivian Wilson, daughter of Elon Musk, made her debut walk for Alexis Bittar this season, in a show with a strong conceptual core: Miss USA 1991: a Dream Sequence. She represented Miss South Carolina (though she’s never lived there) as part of a broader commentary on anti-trans legislation in various U.S. states. The show intertwined theatricality, costume, activism, and identity.
Designers and brands doing this kind of performance-driven narrative are leaning into the belief that fashion can be active: capable of conversation, criticism, and provocation.
AI & Tech Layered In
Brands are weaving AI and tech into presentations, backdrops, and even customer interactions. Ralph Lauren introduced Ask Ralph, an AI style-assistant tool in its app, while Alexander Wang used AI-generated art as part of his runway visuals.
These actions are evidence of adaptation, not just trend-chasing. Tech is affecting how clothes are made or shown, and also affecting how people consume, shop, and experience fashion.
Why These Moves Matter
Authenticity over gloss. Brands that lean into personal identity, heritage, narrative, or social relevance are drawing more attention, not just from critics but from consumers who want more than ‘aesthetic’ images.
Wearability is back. Even ambitious designs include pieces people might actually wear. COS, Okuma, and others demonstrate how runway designs can translate seamlessly into everyday wear.
Purpose & politics aren’t optional. Political and cultural contexts inform every aspect of the collections from Alexis Bittar and Okuma, making identity a core element rather than a visual accessory.
AI & Tech Layered In
New York Fashion Week closed with one message: the city continues to be fashion’s barometer, capturing both where the industry is and where it’s heading. In 2025, that means designers are balancing identity, commerce, and culture in real time, proving that New York still sets the stage for fashion’s next chapter.
Photo below via © COS
