What Do You Wear When You Have to Keep Going?

No matter what’s happening in the world—and these days it could be any horror beyond your wildest imagination—we have to get dressed. We have to get out the door and make our way through the world. And, well, you might as well feel good about what you wear to do that.

New Yorkers are particularly adept at keeping on, regardless of what the day may throw at them: a sardine-packed subway ride, some interminable delay of some sort, really just name your Mayor Adams–induced chaos. And New York’s designers are especially skilled at outfitting them to meet whatever the moment may call for. That’s the legacy and promise of American sportswear: It is stylish and slick yet ruthlessly practical; it gets you where you need to go.

Michael Kors’s Fall 2025 collection, shown at a glossily refinished warehouse past Chelsea’s galleries, delivered on that promise with his signature swaggy uptown finesse. There was slouchy, oversize gray suiting, plus there were tough black leather trenches and jackets, cozy jewel-toned monochrome knit ensembles, touches of fluffy faux fur on vests and bags, and a bit of shine by way of loose sequin gowns at the end. Some of the camel-colored looks—like a coat worn over a high-neck turtleneck and trousers—recalled Kors’s memorable designs (then while at Celine) for Rene Russo in The Thomas Crown Affair, which is always a reference worth revisiting.

Downtown at Bortolami gallery in TriBeCa, following Kors’s slick runway show, Daniella Kallmeyer presented her Fall 2025 collection, which felt in conversation with Kors’s citified wardrobe (especially when Sarita Choudhury walked the runway in a cinched, ankle-length black leather coat) but also offered a counterpoint. Suiting, her sweet spot, was languid and sensual; trousers and slinky dresses were done in shiny, slippery silks. I loved the ties tucked behind a few looks; having become so used to seeing blazers styled open, often with half-buttoned shirts worn underneath, it’s refreshing to see it all worn buttoned up, particularly when the vibe is anything but.

Tory Burch presented what she called a “twisted” take on American classics. “I love sportswear, and I’m amazed that it was created here. We should celebrate that,” Burch told Bazaar’s fashion news director, Brooke Bobb, post-show. With Burch’s finely-tuned eye, even the humble sweatpant was elevated, made from Japanese brushed jersey and rendered in off-kilter two-tone color combinations like pistachio and cream or brown with a nubby oat strip down the sides. If the pieces were classic—blazers with sharp lapels, cropped boxy leather jackets, sporty quarter-zips, swingy full skirts, and sweats—the colors, textures, and weird details added that satisfying twist. I stared at the models' stockings as they walked past, fixated on a print that appeared at the ankle. It was a little white mouse. How very New York. Knits were chocolatey brown and marled. One standout coat was shiny and padded and held together by a long hat pin that looked like it had been jammed there with aggression. Elsewhere brooches were affixed on draped knits or slashed through near the lapels of a jersey top; a reference, Burch said, to former Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s famous broach collection and how she used them as commentary.

At Coach, Stuart Vevers doubled down on his charmed-out accessories; this go round, bags even wore pre-pilled sweaters wrapped around their handles in addition to the bits and bobs. A front row with a cumulative social reach well into the tens of millions (including JT, Halle Bailey, Sophie Thatcher, and Emily Ratajkowski) reflects Vevers’s canny appeal to the viral and very online. For fall he is outfitting them in skater-inspired wide-leg jeans worn hanging off the hips and cinched with an extra long belt. These were paired with cropped leather jackets with shearling collars or worn-in baby tees. Alternately, if you feel like covering your abs and hipbones, there were plenty of floor-length '70s-inspired duster coats or oversized blazers to toss over your jeans.

Some of the strongest statements came from independent designers creating a design vocabulary all their own. Rachel Scott, who won the CFDA award for designer of the year last year, exceeded all expectations with her latest showing, a collection that was deeply personal, highly emotional, and thoughtfully wrought. Her collection, dedicated to the idea of the matriarch, was inspired by photos she received after she posted a call to her community: “I am researching images of the black women that came before us and paved the way: the auntie, the trans mothers, the grandma, the matriarch.” The resulting clothes evolved her ruffled, ruched, and embroidered knitwear into a more sumptuous offering: a fluffy knit collar on a coat to mimic shearling (but much more interesting this way!); quilted jackets and skits were meant to evoke a duvet; drop-waist dresses embroidered with beads were worn over pants—such a great and accessible evening option. Even before I read about the backstory of the collection, the intimacy of the inspiration could be felt in the clothes.

And finally, at The Shed at Hudson Yards, Thom Browne closed out the week with another one of his singular shows. A bummer that Doechii wasn't there; Browne's suite of looks for her at the Grammy's was a show unto itself, she sharp tailoring and subversive proportions brought to life by one of the most exciting musical talents right now. If you were to try to read hope or optimism into any of the shows this week, it might be this one, with its references to birds and feathers (embroidered onto jackets, glued to eyelashes, hung from the ceiling as origami cranes). A recording of Emily Dickinson's famous poem " 'Hope' is the thing with feathers" played at some point. The colors, sherbets and tartans, broke up the standard charcoal grey and were especially delightful as ties, repurposed and sewn together as skirts and mini dresses.

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