The ball for this "fall-winter 2023" season opens on Friday with Rodarte, one of the rare renowned brands to return to the New York calendar.

Another return, the designer with the always theatrical parades Thom Browne, new president of the American fashion union (CFDA), who succeeds Tom Ford.

"There are very few names (on the calendar) that matter in the American market," said Jacqueline Quinn, professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Parsons School of Design in New York, to AFP. who confides that his students have their eyes turned more towards Paris or Milan.

Among the headliners, we can still count on the regulars Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, Coach, Sergio Hudson, Carolina Herrera, Gabriela Hearst or Michael Kors.

Coach show, during the previous edition of New York Fashion Week, September 12, 2022 © ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Rihanna at the Super Bowl

But the program, which ends on February 15, once again has a number of absentees, such as Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren or Marc Jacobs, who presented his collection in New York, but last week.

Quite a symbol, it is at the Super Bowl, in Phoenix on Sunday evening, that the singer Rihanna, who exhibited her Fenty lingerie collections in New York a few years ago, will make her comeback with the halftime concert.

A creation by Elena Velez during the previous New York Fashion Week, September 10, 2022 © Theo Wargo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

As a result, this fall-winter 2023 ready-to-wear season offers above all an avalanche of young talents and new brands.

This is the case of Elena Velez, 28, named “emerging designer of the year” at the CFDA awards, who has made a name for herself by playing on unstructured forms and incorporating Midwestern craftsmanship into her creations. , like the metals recalling the industrial heritage of Milwaukee, his hometown.

Around twenty creators on the calendar are under 30, such as New York-based Nigerian Taofeek Abijako (Head of State), Indian Kanika Goyal (KGL) or Emma Gage (Melke).

parade magic

For Elena Velez, the Covid-19 pandemic has created "a renewed desire to live, it reminds us of the fragility of life and it encourages young people like me to be bold in their passions".

A precarious vitality: "to be honest, the lifespan of a young brand is not very long", she adds to AFP.

Danish designer Christian Juul Nielsen prepares the next show for his Aknvas brand for New York Fashion Week, February 10, 2023 © Ed JONES / AFP

Having worked for Dior, Nina Ricci and Oscar de la Renta, and today creative director at Hervé Léger, Dane Christian Juul Nielsen already has years of experience in fashion.

But in 2019 he launched his own brand, Aknvas, where tank top sweaters with long fringes rub shoulders with dresses with an abundance of ruffles.

"I want to restore all the theatrical side that I received from John Galliano and all the modernity of Raf Simons" at Dior, in collections at less excessive prices than haute couture, he explains to AFP.

"We have good outlets on the American market with +lookbooks+, but I really wanted to be able to express myself on a catwalk, because a fashion show is the ultimate way to show your passion. It places a brand at a another level", continues the designer, before his event on Monday, which he was able to finance with sponsors from Fashion Week.

Designer Emma Gage prepares for her Melke brand show for New York Fashion Week, February 10, 2023 © Ed JONES / AFP

"A lot of small brands can't fit into the calendar in Paris" but "in America, there is this enthusiasm for novelty (...) And I want to help make the fashion scene attractive in New York," he added.

© 2023 AFP