New York Fashion Week is just around the corner – and it’s bound to be another exciting season. Starting this Friday, February 9th, New York will be flooded with fashion talent from around the world making their mark on the city. The week is punctuated by household names, including Tommy Hilfiger and Thom Browne, but there is a crop of new talent making their debut on the Official New York Fashion Week Schedule.

While they may not be widely known names yet, they are certainly on their way to make their mark. Ahead of their launch, get to know the NYFW newbies.

Colleen Allen

A Central Saint Martins graduate that trained under The Row and Calvin Klein, the New York based designer is launching her namesake label this season.

What can we expect to see from your NYFW Debut?

This is my first womenswear collection. In the past I have always designed menswear, but I felt called to create this collection as a tool of personal exploration.

What is your inspiration for this season?

I’m exploring femininity through a mystical practice and clothing as ritual tools. Women as witches and colors that feel spiritual when you wear them.

What is your favorite thing about New York?

Its full of people who want to collaborate and create community.

Jane Wade

The independent designer launched her label in 2021, and already counts Bergdorf Goodman as a retailer. 

What can we expect to see from your NYFW Debut?

What to expect from Jane Wade FW/24 is a continuation of the brand’s constant conversation and study of how garments serve purpose to the wearer through modularity and tactile functions. This theme is the overarching umbrella that threads together each collection, ultimately establishing the brand’s advanced contemporary corporate identity with a utilitarian twist. “Out Of Office” is the study of our current corporate machine era, where being glued to our devices with an obsession of constant productivity has become the new norm. The collection reflects a liminal space between the office on a great expedition to nature and self re-discovery.

What is your inspiration for this season?

This season, I’m drawing inspiration from my roots. I grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where snow sports and active lifestyles are centralized. Ultimately, each detail is a study of my heritage in these spaces by juxtaposing corporate lifestyle wardrobes with tactical garment functions of active and sportswear.

What is your favorite thing about New York?

Ironically, my favorite part of living in New York and working in a creative field like fashion is the ability to feel like I’m never clocked out while enjoying my craft and community to a degree that feels like I’m never really on the clock either. This collection is a salute to both sides of my opposing lifestyles and interests, by fusing them through the collections details, styling, and collaborators.

Meruert Tolegen

Born in Kazakhstan, the multicultural designer is known for her mixed media designs. 

What can we expect to see from your NYFW Debut?

This season I worked a lot on exploration of self and our inner thoughts, pushing further into the brand’s identity. A print which brings this identity forward is depicted in the collection, with whimsical and botanical aspects creating a beautiful pattern is also used throughout. There are bouts of colorful shapes in our opening and closing looks, as well as art direction and set design in clean yetplayful notes. I am also excited to have music created for us by one of my favorite musicians, Andrew Van Wyngarden of MGMT. I’m so proud of our collaboration.

What is your inspiration for this season?

Fall 2024 is a moment of reflection for me, for grounding and connecting to my inner self and the world around me. I wanted to capture the essence of life and humanity coming together and wading through time as we search for our sense of self. In a turbulent and ever-changing world, it was important for me to touch on this feeling while depicting hope.

What is your favorite thing about New York?

I love its energy. New York has a sense of symbiosis between the city itself, its people and their connection between each other. I love that you can be alone, and yet simultaneously be intertwined with others. New York is a beautiful place of creative, ambitious, driven and diverse people. I love feeding off of this.

Bishme Cromartie

The designer was named the winner of Project Runway All-Stars Season 20, and has dressed the likes of Lizzo and Andra Day. 

What can we expect to see from your NYFW Debut?

You can expect to see more of my personality in my NYFW debut. I’m allowing myself to be a little bit more transparent with this collection.

What is your inspiration for this season?

This season I was inspired by this imagery world I created called “The Batrix”. It is a play on The Matrix movie. Although you won’t see clear references from the film translated into the garments , you will understand that you’re in another world and you’ll have a sense of where I’m coming from once you witness the collection.

What is your favorite thing about New York?

My favorite thing about New York is  the energy. There’s something in the air that is just unmatched. Every time I visit New York it’s always for something bigger and better than the last time.