Six Brooklyn designers to watch at New York Fashion Week

By Cole Habersham

Welcome to another New York Fashion Week. Held every February and September, the event marks the official beginning of the fashion month calendar, which includes shows in London, Paris and Milan. Throughout the week, New York-based designers present the culmination of months, and in some cases years, of work: expertly crafted and designed collections that communicate their unique visions.

Put on by the trade group Council of Fashion Designers of America, this fashion week will see the return of several highly anticipated Brooklyn-based designers, while many emerging designers get their footing with off-calendar presentations and runway shows.

Ahead of the week’s craziness, Brooklyn Magazine caught up with the borough’s must-know names to learn their plans, survival tips and the meaning of NYFW.

Jackson Wiederhoeft of Wiederhoeft | 📍Bay Ridge

With the initial focus of Jackson Wiederhoeft’s namesake label being special occasions and bridal dressing, the upcoming Spring 2024 collection is an exciting evolution for the brand as he builds on the ready-to-wear he introduced earlier this year. Growing beyond if-you-know-you-know status — thanks, in part, to an impressive roster of celebrity clients, including New York’s own Julie Fox, who wore the now viral Resort 23 poodle frock opener — Wiederhoeft has become a must-see.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
We are doing our most theatrical show yet. It’s a lot more performers than we normally work with. Admittedly I’m a bit nervous, but I’m really excited to see it all come together and hopeful the dedication to the vision pays off.

How do you define a successful Fashion Week? How do you prepare?
Since we started the runways last September, I’ve been trying to really push what we can do every time: the limits of the artistry and production itself. I feel successful taking risks, trying new things. Being open to last-minute possibilities but also to letting go of things that seemed concrete. Mental and physical exercises to remain flexible.

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
Not just one, but countless little treats to reward myself and keep the momentum going. Sometimes it’s a six-minute nap, sometimes it’s a cookie, et cetera.

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
The feeling that anything is possible. It’s like, you’ve been working on this collection for months with nothing to show, and suddenly the collection appears out of nowhere, like an oasis in the desert. Now with our show a week out, it feels like the mountain is finally emerging from the mist.

Pro-tip: What’s one thing every Fashion Week newbie should know/remember?
Get those knees up!

Olivia Cheng of Dauphinette | 📍Dumbo

Since launching in 2018, Olivia’s Cheng’s Dauphinette has established itself as one the happiest brands on the NYFW calendar (and quite possibly, earth). With previous collections touting origami birds, chili-adorned chainmail and gradients of heavenly feathers, the makeup of this Spring 2024 show — the brand’s 10th collection and fifth show — is anyone’s guess.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
Our show itself, of course!

How do you define a successful Fashion Week? How do you prepare?
Fashion week is one of the only forms of marketing we invest in. Most of the clothes we show, being upcycled and one of a kind, are also not for sale. Compared to other brands, fashion week for us is less of a commerce platform and more of an opportunity to showcase a living art exhibit and also our best hospitality. It’s also an opportunity to communicate and develop the story of the brand.

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
Two things: phone and snacks.

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
Seeing everyone in one place!

Pro-tip: What’s one thing every Fashion Week newbie should know/remember?
Be punctual, respectful and communicative, whether you’re hosting, walking or attending a show.

Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell of Tanner Fletcher | 📍East Williamsburg

Despite being in its fourth New York Fashion Week season, Tanner Fletcher is only just now making a (highly anticipated) runway debut. After successful previous presentations — including Spring 2023’s bows and feather-full collection, which landed on Bad Bunny, Tom Daley and more — Tanner Fletcher continues with a runway show titled “Beauty Pageant,” complete with models cosplaying as contestants.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
This is our first runway show. In the past, we’ve done presentations, but we’re adding a runway aspect this season. On top of that, our show is acting like a beauty pageant, and our models are the “contestants.” I’m excited to see everyone’s walk!

How do you define a successful Fashion Week? How do you prepare?
I define a successful Fashion Week by how much fun me, my team and our supporters have surrounding Tanner Fletcher. Tanner Fletcher is a world that we invite our guests to step into. We know it’s been a success when our guests walk away feeling inspired, intrigued and wanting more! It all comes from the authenticity of the brand.

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
Constant break time. Fashion Week is go go go for most designers, but I don’t work that way. I need break time so that I can rest my mind and continue more thoughtfully after. I also need my note pad so I can constantly be writing things down and adapting my to do list.

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
The theater of it all! I love to make a spectacle! Fashion week is quite the scene, and we want to show up and make our mark. I also love to see other designers’ interpretations of the same concept. There’s all these characters walking around, going to all these crazy shows and events. When you take a step back, it’s almost bizarre. That’s what I like about it!

Pro-tip: What’s one thing every FW newbie should know/remember?
Remain calm! For a designer, it’s the most hectic time of the year. It’s just my partner Tanner and I running the show, and it’s a beast to keep track of. Get organized, don’t allow yourself to become too overwhelmed, and only put out authenticity. People notice.

Tala Barbotin Khalidy of Tala Barbotin Khalidy | 📍Brooklyn

Tala Barbotin Khalidy is one of dozens of young designers making their NYFW debut this season. She runs her namesake brand between Brooklyn and Beirut. With a signature style that includes crochet, patchwork and intricate patterns in rich colors — callbacks to her Lebanese roots — this most recent collection is a fusion of craft techniques with contemporary clothing.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
I’m going to be showing at NYFW for the very first time, at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn, presenting my Spring/Summer 24 “Tannourine” collection, with an all-SWANA (Southwest Asian, North African) cast. I’m a French-Lebanese designer working with Lebanese and Syrian artisans to revitalize local endangered craft techniques with contemporary clothing, and being able to present my work and my culture at fashion week is priceless.

How do you define a successful FW? How do you prepare?
I would say, as a designer, managing to move people’s minds and hearts in a way they didn’t expect, challenging their preconceptions and opening their minds to new textures, cultures, and ideas. I prepare with a lot of help from my team, organizing my master to-do list according to how much energy I spend on each task as opposed to the nature of the task, finding some time to meditate, exercise, listening to a lot of music and eating chocolate sorbet.

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
I don’t know about “things” but definitely a good support system: my friends, partner and phone calls/help from my mother all the way from Lebanon. I bundle in one of our soft crochet sweaters at the end of the day for comfort, and wear a good pair of sneakers during the day for running around!

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
Seeing what every other designer has been holing up to work on for the past six-plus months! I love seeing creative shows, styling, etc., and I’ve also loved looking at street style pics since the Sartorialist times.

Pro-tip – what’s one thing every Fashion Week newbie should know/remember?
Hydrate! And no, Diet Coke doesn’t count.

Wenjue “Lulu” Lu and Chufeng “Michael” Fang of Wenjüe Lu | 📍East Williamsburg/Bushwick

Also making its New York Fashion Week debut is Wenjüe Lu, a multi-disciplinary creative studio co-founded by Wenjue Lu and Chufeng Fang. Founded in 2020, Studio Wenjüe Lu creates across a range of mediums, including soft sculptures, garments, fiber art, poetry and installations. The studio’s 2023 garment collection will be introduced alongside a performance piece titled, “NEITHER,” representing the unstable, untouchable, undefinable energies that permeate Studio Wenjüe Lu’s universe.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
To be able to present our work against the Fashion Week format in Fashion Week.

How do you define a successful Fashion Week? How do you prepare?
This is our first public presentation during Fashion Week ever. We are nervous. We don’t have experience to inform us about the amount of preparation we need to successfully and fully communicate our vision, so we can only keep preparing until there is no more room and time for more prep.

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
Love from the people and an all-encompassing communal dream.

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
Whenever creative entities, whether individuals or collectives, could carve out a space to express something truly unbounded by the existing frameworks that are seemingly outdated and overly pedantic.

Pro-tip: What’s one thing every FW newbie should know/remember?
Start early, plan early, breathe in and out, constantly. Build a team like a family, build it with trust, love and a common drive. For us, we’re on a rope together in the constant battle, against a world that seeks to define us with a singular definition.

Sam Finger of Sam Finger |📍Brooklyn

Sam Finger’s NYFW debut was just in February, and now he returns this season with HEATWAVE, a reminder that summer isn’t over yet. Finger’s debut collection featured one-of-a-kind basics, edged up with upcycled fabrics and asymmetrical lines — a welcome addition to the seductive imitates he’s also known for.

What are you most looking forward to this Fashion Week?
My show! I’m particularly looking forward to the set design this season.

How do you define a successful Fashion Week? How do you prepare?
A successful fashion week for me is when I remember to have fun and be grateful for the opportunity to do what I love. I try to stay prepared with healthy sleep schedules!

What’s the one thing you need to survive the week?
A phone charger!

What excites you most about Fashion Week generally?
The meeting of the minds and creatives collaborating to bring the vision to life.

Pro-tip: What’s one thing every Fashion Week newbie should know/remember?
Ride the wave! Everything always happens as it needs to.