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Which NYFW Designer Has Influenced Your Neighborhood’s Look?

Kendall Jenner contributes to the Alexander Wang show, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week
Kendall Jenner contributes to the Alexander Wang show, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week | © Swan Gallet/WWD/REX/Shutterstock

Some of the best looks during New York Fashion Week (NYFW) happen off the runway. For years, New Yorkers have been using fashion week as an excuse to strut their looks on the streets of their favorite neighborhoods. In a see-and-be-seen city, stepping outside your apartment is always an occasion. This is especially true during fashion week. With that in mind, here are some designer-influenced looks you can expect in different NYC neighborhoods.

Bushwick

Known for artisanal cocktails, bohemian art galleries and being one of Brooklyn’s latest neighborhoods to go from street (i.e. working class) to chic, Bushwick has a style that reflects mobility. Designer Influence: Chromat. Chromat’s autum/winter 2017 show had #ChromatBabes electrifying the runway. Bushwick’s Becca McCharen-Tran said the line was all about “buoyancy.”

Chromat show, backstage, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week
Becca McCharen-Tran, left, the founder of Chromat, stands with Chromat designer Tolu Aremu and a dress they created for a small collection inspired by the film ‘Black Panther’

Upper East Side

The Upper East Side is a socialite’s playground, though the neighborhood has seen a bit more hipster influence of late. Designer Influence: Tracy Reese. The autum/winter 2017 presentation had a strong feminist vibe, celebrating the “female spirit in song, poetry, and fashion.”

Designer Tracy Reese, center, inspects photographs of models backstage ahead of her spring 2018 collection presentation during NYFW

SoHo

Long before Chanel, YSL, Prada and the $12 panini dominated SoHo, the neighborhood was a haven for artists and beatniks. Although all of fashion’s luxe players have moved in, the occasional skater boy will roll by you – Supreme, after all, is one of SoHo’s prime shopping destinations. Designer Influence: Derek Lam. Expect a look that’s cool, edgy, romantic, utilitarian and undeniably chic. As for a color way, black is the new black.

Upper West Side

The Upper West Side is Seinfeld’s neighborhood, populated with Columbia students and erudite philanthropists, not to mention some of the most beautiful brownstone real estate the city has to offer. Designer Influence: Cinq à Sept. Cinq à Sept debuted in the New York fashion scene in 2016 and gets its name from the French, which means “five to seven” – referring to the promise-filled, early evening hours. Malia Obama wore a color-block Cinq à Sept dress to President Obama’s farewell address. The autum/winter 2017 show was just as swoon-worthy.

President Barack Obama, with First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia, waves after Obama’s 2017 farewell address at McCormick Place in Chicago

Williamsburg

Since the 1990s, Williamsburg has had several identity crises, making the neighborhood live up to its angsty, hipster reputation. Designer Influence: Jeremy Scott. Autumn/winter 2017 was all about the art of peacocking. ’Cause I’m a ‘starboy.’

Models walk during the Jeremy Scott show, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week

Harlem

With gorgeous parks, tree-lined brownstone streets and a revitalization of 125th Street as a major thoroughfare, Harlem is still going through a renaissance, as residents are part of a booming music, art, fashion and food scene. Designer Influence: Hood By Air. Head designer Shayne Oliver has blurred the lines between femininity and masculinity with Hood By Air. Seductive prints and standout shapes have transformed the brand into one of New York’s most coveted labels.

Shayne Oliver models for Helmut Lang, spring/summer 2018, New York Fashion Week

Meatpacking District

The clubs. The cobblestones. The coy party girls you’ll see on the NYFW circuit – oh, Meatpacking, you deliver so many fashion-week delights. Designer Influence: Alexander Wang. Rock’n’roll, transgression, skin and minimalism collided at Alexander Wang’s autum/winter 2017 show, cementing Wang’s provocateur status.

Kendall Jenner models during the Alexander Wang show, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week

Chelsea

A postindustrial neighborhood with a melange of high art, street art, townhouses, projects – not to mention the piers and the High Line. Chelsea is one of the most culturally diverse New York neighborhoods. Its style is always progressing, without letting go of its past. Designer Influence: Proenza Schouler. When it comes to cultural collage and experimentation, this label is it.

Models participate in the Proenza Schouler show, fall/winter 2017, New York Fashion Week

About the author

Jill is a New York native who holds a BA in Literature from Barnard College, and an MFA in writing from Columbia University. She is the author of the novel Beautiful Garbage (She Writes Press, 2013) about the downtown Manhattan art and fashion scene in the 1980s. A former staff writer for The Huffington Post and Bustle, Jill comes to Culture Trip after working with Refinery 29, Vice, Salon, Paste Style, Los Angeles Times, Nylon, Shopify, Autre, and producing content for emerging fashion labels. She teaches classes about fashion and culture at Barnard College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her prized possessions are her Gucci fanny pack, vintage rocker t-shirts, and her grandmother's collection of costume jewelry. She's always on the lookout for a gem-encrusted turban.

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