THE UNBOTHERED WEARABILITY OF NYFW AND IT'S IT GIRLS

(Top image Zoë Kravitz in Still Here New York sport jean and Mansur Gavriel black dream ballerina)

Lara: If there’s one place that makes me feel most alive, it’s New York City. People love to warn you the city will drain you, it’s too much, you’ll be exhausted. Yet during fashion week I walked nearly 18,000 steps a day, running from one venue to another, barely eating, and somehow I wasn’t tired or hungry at all. That’s the paradox of New York. It does not wear me down, it charges me up.

TOTEME leather jacket, COS brown cashmere jumper, RÙADH The Quinn high-rise straight-leg jeans and HERBERT LEVINE fair and square leather loafers

Paris and Milan may lure the big names, but it’s New York’s stubborn independence that I love. Critics argue NYFW is dead, too safe, too commercial, not daring enough. I see it differently. The power of New York fashion lies in its wearability. These aren’t clothes made to shock, or to sit on a pedestal, but to live in. And if fashion isn’t wearable in today’s world, what’s the point? Cate Holstein of Khaite once said on a podcast, “I am so over apologizing for showing in New York. New York is the best city in the world quite frankly.” I couldn’t agree more. The brands I wear most, Khaite and The Row, are both led by women who live and design here. No coincidence. I guess I have been unconsciously dressing the New York way all along: jeans, leather, and shoes that never slow me down.

Khaite SS26

Khaite’s SS26 show nailed this sentiment: practical, a little tough, yet undeniably chic. Real women in a real city, dressed in black, mocha, and lipstick-red leather jackets paired with raw blue denim. Kallmeyer echoed the mood with draped sweaters, undone hair, and city flip-flops at the loungy Crane Club, close to how I dress myself. Toteme, COS (not American, but among my favorites and consciously showing in New York), and Tory Burch carried the same spirit with low-waisted pants, draped tops, and offbeat knits. Tibi leaned into denim and sharp shirts, as did Rùadh, a newer name on my radar. The New York message this season is clear: ease, quality, and clothes made to be lived in.

Toteme SS26

People on the streets are the true translators of the city’s fashion language, a very specific kind of unbothered confidence we once wrote about in our NYC It-girls newsletter on Chloë Sevigny and Zoë Kravitz. Jennifer Lawrence, also on that list, was spotted riding her bike on date night in silk navy Paloma Wool trousers (similar Massimo Dutti version here, or in brown wool here) and a distressed T-shirt. Annabelle Dexter-Jones (you might know her from one of my favorite series, Succession) sat front row at Toteme in a leather blazer and simple white top (her recent wedding dress from Gabriella Hearst was spectacular). Next to her sat Aubrey Plaza, most known for her role in White Lotus, in a short crinkled white sheath dress from the brand. It’s these women who balance the city’s grit and glamour, less styled and more like women who simply embody it.

COS Runway SS26 double faced wool cape in brown, KHAITE Dugan high-rise wool tapered pants, THE ROW leather ballet flats in red (as recently worn by Zoë in Rome) and THE ROW Agnes leather tote

No one does it quite like Zoë Kravitz. Her oversized headscarf, just like the ones at Calvin Klein Collection SS26, sporty shorts with ballet flats, and her signature Jessica McCormack jewels have me drooling. The Cou Cou Intimates pointelle slip skirt and bralette tank top she wore on the streets of New York went straight to my cart. Not the most autumn-ready set, but with a Cou Cou Intimates Bateau top, chunky cardigan and boots I will make it work for fall. Another full Kravitz look on my pre-order list is the Auralee SS26 skirt and top. The top reads like an old baseball tee but somehow looks impossibly chic (try this one from Veronica Beard). In our Fall Curriculum we wrote about the Still Here New York sport jean, but seeing them on Zoë was the final push I needed. They're a good runner up to the The Row’s Eglitta’s.

Harry Styles and Zoë Kravitz wearing The Row Kala Coat in Cashmere, The Row Ella sunglasses (sold out) and The Row Embroidered Stella slipper in leather and glass at Newark airport 10 days ago

These days, it feels like Zoë in full no-fucks-given mode pops up on my screen almost daily, hand in hand with Harry Styles. Harry, practically The Row’s unofficial ambassador, is often photographed in my favorite (and forever sold out) Jolene jacket (here pre-loved) or the classic soft loafers. Much like Zoë, he strips the brand of its polish by pairing it with the simplest pieces: slouchy jeans, a plain tee, and an attitude.

While the city projects an impossibly cool image, the reality is that style here is never too precious. For every carefully staged front row look, there is someone rushing past in a slouchy outfit that feels just as relevant. I have lost count of how many times I nearly got run over by a bike on the way to a show, the city reminding me that fashion is both everything and nothing at once. That is the beauty of New York: its style is not about perfection, but about life itself, messy, fast, unapologetic, and endlessly inspiring.

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