This is Issue 33.

CONNER IVES COMES HOME

Conner Ives brought his label to New York Fashion Week for the first time, creating a homecoming moment for the American-born, London-based designer. Ives has built his reputation by reinterpreting American culture from a distance, combining vintage garments, deadstock materials and references drawn from everything from Hollywood glamour to everyday American archetypes. Bringing that perspective back to New York gave the collection a different energy, allowing the designer to confront the culture that has shaped so much of his work directly. The result continued Ives’ fascination with character, nostalgia and the contradictions of American style while demonstrating how far his label has developed beyond its emerging-designer beginnings. His NYFW debut also brought another distinctive independent voice to a schedule increasingly searching for a new generation of designers capable of defining American fashion.

PROENZA SCHOULER - RACHEL SCOTT SETTLES IN

Rachel Scott is continuing to establish her vision at Proenza Schouler, using the Spring 2027 collection to push the New York house into a more relaxed and expressive direction. Scott approaches the brand’s existing language with respect rather than nostalgia, balancing recognizable elements of Proenza’s history with softer silhouettes, stronger color and a greater sense of movement. The return of familiar house codes, including the PS1 bag, creates continuity while allowing the designer to gradually reshape the label around her own perspective. Rather than attempting an immediate reinvention, Scott appears to be building the next version of Proenza Schouler collection by collection. At a time when creative-director appointments often arrive with dramatic resets, the slower evolution feels increasingly distinctive.

SABYASACHI GOES GLOBAL

Sabyasachi Mukherjee is positioning his namesake company for a much larger international future as the Indian designer strengthens his presence in New York and pushes the idea of an Indian global luxury house. More than two decades after first showing in the city, Sabyasachi returns with a considerably different level of influence, having built a business around Indian craftsmanship, jewelry, textiles and an instantly recognizable visual universe. His international ambitions arrive at a moment when the geography of luxury is beginning to expand beyond its traditional European centers. Rather than adapting the house to resemble established Western luxury brands, Sabyasachi’s opportunity lies precisely in maintaining the cultural specificity that made it successful. The question is no longer whether Indian design can participate in global luxury, but whether a house rooted in India can become one of the companies defining its next era.

MONSE MAISON - A REBIRTH

Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are beginning a new chapter for Monse with the introduction of Maison, expanding the label’s established language through a more elevated approach to construction and craft. The designers have long built Monse around disrupted classics, taking familiar garments and twisting, cutting or reconstructing them into something unexpected. Maison pushes that idea further through more intricate techniques and a greater emphasis on craftsmanship, bringing elements traditionally associated with couture into the brand’s unconventional world. The development arrives as Monse continues to mature beyond the immediate impact of its early collections and searches for ways to evolve without losing the tension that made the label recognizable. Instead of abandoning its identity for a complete reset, Kim and Garcia are using craftsmanship to give that identity a new level of depth.