As the saying goes: it’s always fashion week somewhere, baby! Across the summer, the likes of Berlin, Copenhagen, and Madrid played host to their own events, as designers including Jade Cropper, PLN, and Latimmier sent what they’d been working on the past six month down the runway. Now, though, it’s time for the big four, with the SS23 shows kicking off in New York this weekend. With the city palpably buzzing with excitement for the days to come, Dazed is on the ground to bring you everything you need to see right here, on TikTok, and Instagram.

PROENZA SCHOULER

New York really feels like it’s left the pandemic behind this season, and in light of that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez seemingly wanted to pull out all the stops. Always a major show on the city’s schedule, this season Proenza Schouler sent things stratospheric as it enlisted a mammoth cast of bona fide fashion superstars. Out first was Arca, who stomped through the cavernous show space in a cut-off cropped vest and a voluminous bubble skirt, closely followed by Kendall Jenner who served body in a slinky white crocheted slip. Joining them was Bella Hadid, Vittoria Ceretti, and runway legend Shalom Harlow, in a succession of polka dot, jewel embellished coats and slick tailoring finished with playful flourishes: this super-wide, swishy flares and cascading Flamenco dancer-esque sleeves. Special mention goes out to the vertiginous, sculptural heels: blown up and mega-clompy in stature, the ballooning style was essentially fashion catnip for an ugly shoe aficionado like me. 

COLLINA STRADA

If there’s one designer the NYC crowd is going to schlep out to a Brooklyn Greenway nature reserve at rush hour on a Friday for, it’s Hillary Taymour. Naturally, the show didn’t disappoint. As the sun began to set over the city, casting a hazy glow across the overgrown reeds and wildflowers the catwalk snaked around, the Collina Strada founder turned out a psychedelic, sustainability-centric collection that transcended time. Where previous offerings have been full of charmingly cobbled-together hanky skirts, hoodies, and oversized tees, this time things felt a lot more polished and slick – but in no way any less eclectic (shout-out to the Swarovski crystal-trimmed broccoli one model toted here). At the dressier end of the scale, there were were dip-dyed silk corsets paired with pannier skirts, bustling gowns with snatched waists, and boxy shirts with hems that cascaded into waterfalls of ruffles, alongside the usual kooky tees bearing the contents of your average fruit bowl (which brought to mind that iconic SS04 Chloé collection) bold batik flares, and slinky slips with straps that attached to the model’s nipple rings. As ever, casting called together Taymour’s eclectic community, with Alva Claire, Hari Nef, Aaron Philip, and Ella Emhoff all fluttering round the catwalk like cute Collina Strada butterflies. 

FENDI 

The internet began whispering about a Kim Jones x Marc Jacobs collab a few months back, but it wasn’t until last week it was confirmed. In celebration of 25 years of the Fendi Baguette, the house switched out Milan for New York to stage a very special SS23 Resort show, as longtime friends Jones and Jacobs debuted their top secret anniversary offering. Needless to say, it was a major moment, particularly as it marked Linda Evangelista’s long-awaited return to the runway – the iconic, OG supermodel who recently starred in Fendi’s AW22 campaign stepped into a minty-fresh opera coat and silver gloves, and slipped a crystal-encrusted Baguette up her arm to close the show. Alongside endless iterations of the bag turned out – including blown-up sequinned versions, and teeny-tiny mini ones strung from belt loops and necklaces – the Marc Jacobs segment stole the show. Huge fluffy hats were matched with uber-cosy robe style coats that mashed up the designer’s signature logo with that of Fendi’s à la Jones’ blockbuster Versace collab. Question is, now he’s linked up with Marc and Donatella, who’s next on the agenda? 

MARNI

Francesco Risso switched Milan for New York this season, and in the process kicked off a blockbuster world tour that will take him all the way into 2024, when the offbeat label celebrates the big 3-0. Taking over a railway tunnel in deepest Dumbo, the Italian designer staged yet another happening, where friend of the house Dev Hynes composed an original soundtrack and he himself joined the orchestra to perform it on the cello. Clothes-wise, Risso demonstrated exactly why the cool kids are clamouring to kit themselves out in full Marni looks, sending an offering that drew energy from the sun’s vivid glow. Models including bona fide icons Lara Stone and Mariacarla Boscono were joined by rising stars like Paloma Elsesser and photographer Tyler Mitchell, with all stomping down the runway in vivid looks that channelled the space race of the 1960s and early episodes of Star Trek. There were tiny cropped tops with even tinier hot-pants, oversized patchwork coats, floor-sweeping gowns, and standout chainmail tops, many of which were finished with glowing orbs in shades of burnt orange, retina-obliterating yellow, sunset pink and purple, and deep blues and greens. The whole thing had a distinctly cult-like feel, and tbh, if Risso were to start his own, we’d probably be first in line to join.

ECKHAUS LATTA 

New York Fashion Week is renowned for being pretty relentless, but there was a moment of respite to be had on Saturday afternoon in the East Village. For their SS23 show, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta – otherwise known as Eckhaus Latta – took over a cute community garden in which verdant trees took over the space and wild flowers sprung up from the grass throughout. To the strains of a live harpist, the two celebrated, as they always do, the committed community that has sprung up around the brand across the last decade. With Hari Nef, Caroline Polachek, Paloma Elsesser, and artist Martine Syms on the model line-up, the collection flitted between shaggy DIY knitted tops and matching pelmet skirts, textural two-pieces, as seen on Elsesser, and languid tailoring, all of which was offset by run of glittering foil looks bearing kaleidoscopic artworks by Matthew Underwood. A good friend of Zoe’s, the artist passed away in 2021, and SS23 was really about celebrating him and his spirit, she explained post-show. 

COACH 

Falling out of a club starry-eyed at sunrise was the starting point of Stuart Vevers’ SS23 collection at Coach. The designer erected a full-scale boardwalk in Park Avenue, on which models mingled about chatting before the show itself kicked off. Inspired by the hazy morning feeling when you might just still be a little high and decide to head off on an adventure (“maybe the ferry to Coney Island!” he floated post-show), the show saw the label look to the point where the beach meets the city for the new season. It’s not an area Coach has been known to explore, but don’t think for a second this meant teeny-tiny bikinis or easy-breezy linen separates. Instead, soft, buttery leather shorts were matched with utilitarian waistcoats, and cute mini dresses were overlaid with hefty patchwork coats with broad imposing shoulders, perhaps scored from someone you’re planning on taking home, or otherwise a lucky find in the lost property box. Beyond the clothes themselves, a blockbuster moment came via a special cameo courtesy of Lil Nas X. The rapper was recently announced as the house’s latest ambassador, and stomped down the runway in an understated leather vest and shorts set. 

TORY BURCH 

As the sun began to sink into the horizon of the Hudson, 30 models in Tory Burch’s SS23 collection made the journey across an enormous pier, and back over the designer’s memories of the 90s. Things felt a little slinkier this season, with sheer knits, double layer skirts, and gauze-like columns making up the vast majority of the offering, their relative simplicity giving way to embellished evening wear, embellished with mirrored sequins and gilded sari patterns. Burch said it could be defined “by opposing instincts: to experiment freely and to pare everything back” – meaning sleeveless, hourglass suiting was offset by the cascade of a lace-edged skirt; featherweight, metallic slips were worn over thick-belted office attire; and ruched bandeau skirts were tugged over the bellies of starchy, open collared shirts. True to the 90s, metallic armbands vined-up models’ forearms, and wrapped around the biceps, like those beloved by Aaliyah or Nicole Kidman on the red carpet. 

WILLY CHAVARIA

This season, fashion fans worshipped at the altar of Willy Chavarria’s high-waisted, wide-legged trousers, which emerged in silky, languid fabrications at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. Everything was oversized – there were behemoth double-breasted blazers, bulked-up football jerseys with blouson sleeves, floor-skimming trench coats, rose-festooned opera coats, and plenty of turbocharged, drop-shoulder chore jackets. The sexy priest is one of the culture’s most enduring tropes and Chavarria’s SS23 collection would have ardent believers baulking at the sight of a man in sequined pedal pushers – much like John Galliano’s couture collection in 2000, but with collaborations with Dickies, Pro Club, and FB County. If Chavarria’s overblown silhouettes are the embodiment of reclaiming space, then this collection might have gone beyond the cosmos, tapping into our prayers. 

BARRAGÁN

With guests huddled behind metal barricades, models emerged from a graffitied portaloo in the West Village, wading through dollar bills, plastic bottles, and bits of cardboard. It was the 21st anniversary of 9/11 and Victor Barragán’s post-pandemic return looked to the American notion of “business as usual”, which the Latin American designer believes is enmeshed with whiteness – a point he articulated with a cast of all-white models. It was meant to be a takedown of capitalism; all businessman ties, shirting, hunting camo, stars and stripes, and old briefcases, with models rolled-up in strips of laminated cash a la Kim Kardashian at Balenciaga. 

Wardrobe staples had been frankensteined into mash-up mutations, like hybrid bombers jackets, one-shouldered polo shirts, and belted cargo pants unzipped to reveal spangled budgie smugglers. And while “Meth” football jerseys, mullets, toothless grins, and Karen wigs were an obvious parody of the tropes of white trash – this only served to reproduce an all-American strain of classism. A particularly ghoulish moment arrived when belts had been strapped around the arms of strung-out models. This soured the collection, which not even irreverent t-shirts and hoodies bearing the words “homophobia”, “white tears”, “cancelled twice”, and “J’adore your hole” hoodie could salvage.

JONATHAN SIMKHAI 

LA-based designer Jonathan Simkhai has become known for his soft tailoring with an edge, and SS23 proved to be a bumper season for exactly that. Alongside slinky, draped pinafore, and swooping silky evening gowns came crocheted dresses dotted with shell-like accoutrements, and a series of particularly standout looks bearing bold, abstract prints. A collaboration with artist George Harvey, the motifs were a nod to the fossils that inspired this season’s offering, and played out across second-skin sheathes, sexy minis, and ruched, asymmetric skirts.