Insight on The Future of Fashion

May 16, 2022

There are two big critiques of any art form: "It's not new enough" and "it's too new." There may be no form that endures this dicotomy more than fashion, a form that is both expected to innovate in design while also maintaing functionality. Imagine, then, the task entrusted to a young designer, to both reference the past, anticipate the future, and maintain form all at the same time.

This year’s FIT Future of Fashion showcase was at many points a jaw dropping and electric experience that addressed this task. The clothes and the ambition and experimentation behind them suggest a fearless future in fashion. The spectrum of what is possible and allowed in clothing making was picked apart and put back together in the form of beautiful garments by the crop of graduates. While not all garments attempted to reinvent the wheel, the energy and passion from each of the designers was evident and inspiring. The future of fashion looks bright.

Take a look at some of the looks from this year’s showcase.

Text by Saam Niami
Photos by Eric Mura

Above — Designed by Claire Greidanus

Fashion

Kim Shui's SS27 Collection Is All About Drama

September 15, 2026

Kim Shui’s self-titled womenswear brand was always about the connective tissue that allows for community. Centering the lives and stories of women of color and building cultural bridges is and has been an essential part of the brand’s DNA since the start. Which is why it makes perfect sense, thematically speaking, that her SS27 runway show occupied an alleyway on an ever-busy and bustling Canal St, where a mingling of cultures is commonplace but by all means celebrated. Quite literally turning the streets of New York City into a fashion show, Shui revealed her latest attempt at capturing that kaleidoscopic energy we all continue to be so fascinated by.

Her SS27 collection was abundant in decorative but intentional elements like feathers, fringe, draping, high saturation, and careful embroidery. She also toyed with the illusion of scale by using high-contrast proportions, creating oversized headwear, and dramatizing the human body through the use of corseted bodices.

These hyperbolized dimensions were not without reason. In fact, it goes back to her day-one intention of embedding feminism into her designs. “With oversized headpieces, scale becomes an expression of balance and strength-allowing the woman to take up space.” The headwear in question, alongside many of Shui’s other pieces, teeters on a fine line between accessory and sculpture. Her latest collection, therefore, is among the most artful, feminist, and theatrical we have seen this NYFW.

We caught up with Kim Shui backstage immediately after the high of her SS27 show to talk about the intention behind the looks she had just unveiled.

Words by Selena Aiyla
Photography by Izzy Robertti

How did the collection derive from your own personal experiences?

I always kind of grew up in between worlds, and this [collection] is kind of the fusion [that results] from that. We were exploring the varying layers of performance. And we started out by exploring Peking Opera, which is something my grandfather used to play all the time. And then from there, I started looking into feathers. And that's where birds of paradise became a sort of inspiration.

Tell me about the detailing you chose for the collection. We saw lots of feathers, silk, etc.

Yeah it actually comes from Peking Opera and the birds of paradise! For Peking Opera, they use feathers. It's called Lingzi. They use it as a mode of showing emotion. So we kind of use that [concept] too. So, it's like if they're happy or they're sad, the feathers are up or down.

How did your passion for uplifting women make its way into this collection?

I think I've always loved exploring [how women can dress for confidence]. It’s just, every woman is strong. [With this collection], I was like: everyone come out cunty... powerful... you know? Like, give us the drama.

See the full set of runway looks below.

Give us the drama.

Fashion

Living Proof: Backstage at Public School SS27

September 15, 2026

For Spring Summer 2027, we went backstage as Public School New York continued its return with Living Proof, the second collection from designers Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow since the brand’s comeback last season. If the show in February marked a homecoming, the latest collection looks outward, considering the city and everything that comes with navigating it.

The palette moves through navy, black, grey, and stone, with pieces designed to be mixed and matched for a uniform that feels versatile rather than rigid. Backstage, that balance comes through in the way the collection plays with proportion. Broad, structured shoulders sit against short shorts, bringing a lighter element to the collection’s layers. The contrast gives the wardrobe a sense of movement while keeping the Public School attitude intact.

For Living Proof, the idea of the uniform becomes less about a traditional dress code and more about preparing for whatever comes next. Functionality is worked into the clothing without becoming overly technical. Across the collection, practical details are balanced with softer fabrics and unexpected proportions, keeping the clothes grounded in the ease that has long defined Public School New York.

After a six-year hiatus, we saw Maxwell and Dao-Yi return to the brand with a renewed focus on the New York fantasy that has always been at its core. Living Proof pushes that idea forward, building a wardrobe for a city that is constantly changing.

Photos by Spencer Stovell
Text by Dylan Andrews

Check out more from backstage below.

Fashion

TTSWTRS' Virtual Wonderland

At the launch of TTSWTRS’ collection, models strutted about in shattered glass and rose-adorned evening wear on the roof of Nine Orchard in the Lower East Side. In the center of the roof stood a large dining table, with VR headsets on porcelain plates inviting guests to get their fill of TTSWTR's imagined world. The wonderland digitally constructed by the AI team, Katsukokoiso.ai, was guided through by a white rabbit, showing the designs in a dark world of excess and overproduction that collapses for a new world to be formed. In person, it was brought to life for beautiful people. Brocade dresses dripping in fringe, skin-tight marbled activewear sets, and petals overlaid to look like feathers were among the offerings shown by statuesque and silent models standing in front of the New York City skyline.

Attendees were encouraged to try on the VIVE virtual reality headsets as their main course, and then for dessert, some smart glasses, Vive’s antithesis to the Meta glasses. Talking to VIVE, they were adamant about informing me that the intent behind these glasses was privacy first, ease second. Now that technology has long-since moved beyond utility and into accessories, it’s only logical that fashion brands would collaborate with tech companies who are trying to produce their own apparel.

And yet, consumers balk at that reality, as the association of fashion with being beyond commerce never seems to fade, no matter how much we’re reminded that clothing is a business. However, there is hope in beautiful things, and TTSWTRS would like to remind us of this. To instill some faith in humanity’s desire to beautify our surroundings, perhaps all we need is a clear heel with a raffia cocktail dress, hopefully engaging with the global supply chain sustainably.