121/ 6 Emerging Designers To Watch at NYFW + Trying-On Their In-Season Collections at Absolutely Fabrics
+ you're invited to the NYFW showroom + bonus Collina Strada, Chopova Lowena and Simone Rocha outfits
You may have heard that festivities are already well underway for New York Fashion Week. The official calendar begins tomorrow, and on deck is a recognizable cast of veterans (Carolina Herrera, Tory Burch, Altuzarra, Proenza Schouler, Philip Lim and, of course, Tibi) along with the now-established labels you’ve gotten to know over the last decade (Area, Brandon Maxwell, Monse, Marina Moscone, LaQuan Smith, Christopher John Rogers).
These brands get plenty of (deserved) coverage, including in this newsletter, so for this edition, I wanted to highlight New York’s next class of emerging talent, all of whom launched their lines in the post-pandemic world.
And, lucky for me, I was able to try on many of their pieces at another post-pandemic business here in Toronto: Absolutely Fabrics, a designer and vintage clothing store that opened in 2023.
Sitting on a long since gentrified stretch of Queen Street West,1 the strip is home to many globally recognizable high street brands. It’s what I was expecting to see when I walked into the chic sliver of all-white, painted brick with barely discernible signage. But, to my great surprise, I found myself standing in one of the city’s most innovative and fashion-forward boutiques.
It’s accurate to say that I was completely taken aback by the shop’s offerings. Toronto is a big city in terms of size and numbers and is, in fact, North America’s fourth largest city, behind only Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. Yet, when it comes to fashion, the shops here find safety in the more recognizable, already internationally-tested brands.
So, to discover that all of the emerging designers on this list were picked up by this barely one-year-old shop north of the border? To me, that speaks volumes about the knowledge, confidence and eye of its owner, Kaelen Haworth, an accomplished designer and stylist in her own right.
Note: this is (once again) not a sponsored post! A big thank you to Kaelen and her team for letting me spend a couple of hours in AF trying on clothes for this story and being so helpful in the change room!
And, by the way, I have a special invite to share with you. If you’re in New York this week, you can also view AF’s offerings at their NYFW pop-up. The pop-up will feature a curated selection of archival vintage, best-selling items and new releases for fall and will be open September 7 to 12, 10am-6pm at the WSA Building, 161 Water St, Suite 1708. An RSVP is required, so please RSVP here.
Okay, here we go….
1) ASHLYN
If you’ve been a reader of In Moda Veritas for a while, you’ll know that I discovered ASHLYN on a trip to Seoul last year and became obsessed. Ashlynn Park launched her line in 2021 after studying in Seoul, training as a pattern-maker under Yohji Yamamoto, and stints with Alexander Wang and Raf Simons when she moved to NYC in 2011.
Every one of Park’s collections speaks to me. Her pieces blend my love of classic tailoring, the undeniable influence of Yamamoto’s deconstructed style, together with an ethereal bend:
ASHLYN hit the racks at AF on the day I was there (two days ago!), so it’s not on the website yet, but here I am trying on a shirt dress from the FW24 collection:
I’m a terrible photographer, but I’m wearing AGMES’ Bodmer earrings in the above photo. AGMES is a NYC jewellery brand that makes beautiful, sculptural jewellery and worth a look:
