New York Fashion Week has returned with a strong lineup of shows and presentations. This season features four emerging brands making their official on-calendar NYFW debut: Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen, Gabe Gordon, Kari Vettese and LeBlanc Studios.
New York Fashion Week has officially returned, with a strong schedule of shows, presentations and appointments showcasing designers’ latest fall 2025 collections.week mainstays including the likes of Brandon Maxwell, Khaite, Carolina Herrera, LaQuan Smith, Tory Burch, Thom Browne and more will be showing through February 11.
In addition to Calvin Klein, under new creative director Veonica Leoni; Frances Howie’s debut at Fforme, and Christopher John Rogers’ anticipated return, the schedule features four emerging brands making their official on-calendar NYFW debut this week: Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen, Gabe Gordon, Kari Vettese and LeBlanc Studios. Here, WWD chats with each of the four fresh labels on their backstory and what they’re looking forward to this season.“After interning at Eckhaus Latta and working for Bless in Paris, I got a post-grad degree from Central Saint Martins in London before returning to NYC for the Parsons MFA Fashion Design and Society program, where I graduated in 2021. I worked for Interior before starting my eponymous label in 2022,” Whalen, who hails from Massachusetts and also received her bachelor’s degree inLeading up to New York Fashion Week’s Spring 2025 season, Whalen previously held off-schedule, intimate presentations, including her debut runway showcase held at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery at the end of February 2023.“My work is at the intersection of art and fashion, following in the footsteps of Bless, Susan Ciancolo and early Margiela. I work direct to customer and with independents like Maimoun and Café Forgot. Many of my supporters are artists, fellow designers and musicians, including Kelsey Lu, Eartheater, Glasser, Rosalia and Precious Okyomon. All of my garments are crafted in studio with dead stock or vintage material. Many of the silhouettes harken to a time before the Industrial Revolution, proposing a new way of relating to clothing, our bodies and earth for a more prosperous and emotionally tuned-in future,” she said.The Napkin dress ; Half-tee ; Spiral denim jean ; Stomacher Tank ; Stomacher , and the Stomacher Dress . The brand is currently available direct-to-consumer via its e-commerce and with retail partners Maimoun, Cafe Forgot and APOC. “A large part of my work is about connecting with our humanity through the emotional context clothing provides, and using performance and fashion week to do so. This will be my 5th presentation during NYFW, and my first show on the CFDA calendar. I am so grateful that the council is recognizing the intersection of art and fashion as an important space to support within the diverse landscape of New York fashion,” Whalen said.The Caribbean brand is proudly from Santo Domingo. At the time of its founding, Arbaje came to New York City to finish his studies at Parsons School of Design and cut his teeth working with Willy Chavarria, Bode and Connor McKnight. Meanwhile, Beato remained in the Dominican Republic to manage the brand’s presence while working as a filmmaker and creative director, “deeping the brand’s ties to its culture,” they told WWD, including cultivating “an authentic presence amongst the country’s youth.”“The brand aesthetic is informed by political archival material, graphics, and the corrosive hues of colors of the Caribbean, which defines our universe; a mix of formal wear, exploration of youth culture, rare colors, and strong graphics,” Arbaje and Beato said. “We celebrate the outsider. Someone who is diverse and interested in history, politics, and the humor behind how it all works. and of course someone who is interested in building a meaningful wardrobe.” “Our strongest channel is our own website, leblancstudios.com,” the duo said, noting they also sell at New York-based retailer Tumbao.“New York City is home to our largest community outside of the Dominican Republic, so it felt like a natural step for us to debut at NYFW and deepen our connection with our U.S. audience. The city is still a space where brands can push boundaries and introduce fresh, innovative ideas to the industry, and we wanted to be a part of that,” Arbaje and Beato said, adding that they are happy to be representing their country.We are enjoying this process a lot. So, we really look forward to keeping this energy, while we present our work physically on an international platform.”“During my second year in undergrad my father passed away, which shifted the trajectory of how and why I make work. Coming back to school I found catharsis in making garments and learning hands-on crafts like knitting and weaving,” Gordon, who graduated from RISD in 2022 after launching his namesake label in 2019, told WWD. “Creating clothes from yarn and developing my own fabric is super exciting because there is this feeling of continuous potential when creating from scratch. And I think cloth can have a life of its own, changing over time; it’s in a constant state of becoming. Nostalgia and the natural decay of clothing were the genesis point for Gabe Gordon. The brand has evolved and expanded since then but the core commitment to storytelling through handcrafted textiles remains,” the textile artist, creative director and designer, who is originally from Connecticut and now resides in Brooklyn, said.“I am inspired by the capacity for textiles to grapple with time, decay, comfort/discomfort and the eeriness of nostalgia. The pieces imagine a world without limits — acceptance, inconsistency, fear, comfort and bodily possibility are woven into the pieces and transformed on each wearer,” Gordon said.“Our first key pieces were our Vortex styles, which feature skewed cutouts from stretched button closures, asymmetrically wrapping around the form. Newer pieces have become more of a staple for the brand, such as our Space-Dyed hoodie, which is baggy with a cinched waist and made from Supima cotton,” Gordon said.Gabe Gordon sells direct-to-consumer via the brand’s e-commerce site and with retailers including Cafe Forgot, Everything Store, Maimoun, APOC Store, Domicile, One of a Few, Sucker, and Saloon. Why did you decide to debut at New York Fashion Week this season and what are you looking forward to during NYFW?: “It feels really special to present handmade garments in person. It’s important to be connected to the objects around us and preserve craft, which often gets lost due to the rapidity of consumption. Also, a lot of the storytelling in the garments are inspired by horror films and being able to show this new collection in front of an audience feels apropos,” Gordon said.“My background includes attending business school at University of San Diego, intertwined with a love and constant practice of sketching, drawing and creating ideas surrounding my world throughout my life and how I see it,” Vettese, the first generation Italian-American designer who is inspired by her heritage for her brand’s pillars of craftsmanship, quality and authenticity, told WWD. Following a design internship while in college, Vettese launched her label in November 2022 in Los Angeles; the brand’s production is based between there and San Diego.“Vettese is for the woman/man who is proud of who they are; they honor their roots, their freedom and their love for life,” the founder and designer said.“Elevated everyday essentials,” Vettese said. Other signatures include form-fitting dresses, as seen on Kylie Jenner and Latto; intricately wrapped and tied tube styles, and unisex suiting with plays on draping, fabric manipulation and proportion.Sheer Dressing Takes Over Grammys 2025: Madison Beer's Lacy Details, Bianca Censori's Dramatic Opacity and More Red Carpet LooksMelania Trump Dresses Down With Levi's for North Carolina and Los…. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the GoogleWWD and Women's Wear Daily are part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Fairchild Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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