Is NYFW undergoing an identity crisis as major American designers continue to stray?

More and more American designers are opting to show outside of the United States in lieu of major European cities in the hopes of boosting brand exposure, connecting with a wider client base, and safeguarding future profit - but what impact is this having on NYFW?

Steven Kolb, CEO and President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), painted an optimistic picture for the future of New York Fashion Week (NYFW) during an opening event at the Rockefeller Center last Wednesday evening, celebrating the boldness and creativity of American fashion within the context of New York City’s milestone 400th anniversary year. His vision was expansive and hopeful: fashion as a force that connects people, drives inspiration, fuels culture, powers business, and above all, champions creativity first.

However, his words and rhetoric seemed to fall flat against a particularly quieter backdrop for NYFW SS26. Coming to an end yesterday evening with runway shows from Pamella Roland, Elena Velez, and Agbobly, this season ended with a slightly less than packed schedule and a growing sense that perhaps the fashion capital of America may be losing its pull on its own designers. It’s no big secret that the NYFW schedule has become increasingly thinner over the past years. 

NYFW's opened with an optimistic facade as US designers opt out

More and more American designers and brands, from Carolina Herrera to The Row, to Thom Browne and Rick Owens, are opting to present their collections overseas in European cities instead, aiming to capitalize on the focused press coverage, enhanced consumer engagement, and premium positioning that comes with departing from the conventional fashion week showing.

Notable absences from this season’s official NYFW calendar include Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Carolina Herrera. US designer Ralph Lauren decided to present his eponymous brand’s Spring 2026 women’s collection at his private design studio at 650 Madison Avenue, on September 10, a day before NYFW kicked off. 

Carolina Herrera announced that it would be presenting its SS26 collection at the iconic Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, on September 18, and Marc Jacobs opted to showcase his brand’s AW 25 collection off-schedule during a special catwalk show at the New York Public Library on June 30. Other former NYFW heavy hitters missing from the SS26 schedule include Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Do, and Helmut Lang. 

Combined with NYFW’s structural fragmentation and an increase in unconventional brand partnerships, debate around the union and global relevance of NYFW continued this season, despite international brands such as Cos, Off-White, and Toteme showing on schedule. Many industry insiders are quick to highlight that many of the issues NYFW is grappling with go back more than two decades, which is when IMG took control of the bi-annual fashion week from the original organizers, the CFDA. 

The agency sought to commercialize fashion week further, selling show packages for as much as 45,000 US dollars to international brands looking to show in New York and gain brand exposure, which diluted the event’s appeal. The calendar at the time started to grow, leading to coordination difficulties and scheduling conflicts between IMG and the CFDA.

From centralized to scattered: NYFW's venue problem

From 1994 to 2009, Bryant Park served as the beating heart of NYFW, hosting all the main shows and offering designers standardized, cost-effective infrastructure. However, following the 2008 global recession, IMG made the pivotal decision to abandon this consolidated venue model. The agency began relocating events across various locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, moving away from the centralized approach that had provided both logistical efficiency and concentrated industry presence.

While the diversification of venues did allow for more personalized show formats, it also led to an increase in production expenses and created logistical challenges for attendees. For years, buyers, press, and influencers attending shows have voiced the stress of having to travel across the city to attend various presentations and shows during the week. These operational issues also coincided with escalating financial demands.

Current baseline show budgets frequently exceed six figures, with a New York Fashion Week, with runway shows costing anywhere from 125,000 dollars to more than 300,000 dollars on average, according to Vogue Business, depending on the venue, complexity of the production, models, staging, and more. Looking at these figures, it’s unsurprising that more brands are looking to redirect resources towards other forms of exposure, like digital marketing campaigns, events overseas, and influencer partnerships, which offer immediate audience engagement at reduced costs.

The fissures in NYFW only deepened between 2015 and 2020, as the central hub was moved across several venues, including Spring Studios in Tribeca, Clarkson Square, and Skylight at Moynihan Station. Leading designers and brands continued to choose external independent show locations, and following pandemic disruptions, brands have increasingly gravitated toward unconventional presentation spaces, from cultural institutions to industrial facilities.

Increasing fashion week show costs & the funding gap impact NYFW

Additional factors, including the shift in celebrity and influencer attendance, with brand ambassadorships creating contractual restrictions that prevent A-list personalities from attending competing shows, and limited municipal support compared to European fashion weeks, where local authorities provide financial assistance for event development, have further diminished the strong brand identity once linked to NYFW.  

Current city officials have shown limited interest in revitalizing the event’s institutional distinction, despite the fashion industry employing roughly 180,000 New Yorkers, approximately one in every twenty residents, according to statistics. Such limited support becomes particularly striking when considering the event’s substantial economic footprint: NYFW generates nearly 900 million dollars for the city annually, according to the Economic Review, yet receives proportionally little public investment in return. 

The funding gap puts New York at a clear disadvantage compared to European fashion capitals, where local governments actively partner with fashion week organizers through direct financial support and infrastructure investment. Without governmental backing, New York’s fashion community relies heavily on private funding for everything from venue costs to emerging designer support programs, making participation increasingly expensive and exclusivity harder to maintain.

CFDA launches reform measures for NYFW

In response to these structural challenges, the CDFA has initiated collaborative reform measures through a strategic partnership with KFN, a newly established fashion platform entity. KFN’s inaugural initiative, which launched this season, focused on developing physical and digital experiences that expand the reach and impact of NYFW, while the CFDA maintains its foundational role in organizing the official designer calendar.

The partnership’s primary intervention involves establishing a decentralized infrastructure model featuring ten complementary venue options, the Venue Collection, all positioned within close geographic proximity under 34th Street. The initiative sought to offer participating designers more cost-effective alternatives for various presentation formats, including traditional runway shows, static presentations, and private appointment settings. KFN ensured that these venues were available to designers for free this September, representing a direct response to the escalating production expenses that may have deterred participation.

Additionally, industry discussions have emerged regarding a fundamental restructuring of NYFW’s biannual format. The proposed modification would consolidate the current February and September presentations into a single annual September event, though official confirmation from the CFDA remains pending. A big shift, this potential transformation reflects broader conversations about calendar efficiency and resource allocation, though implementation faces anticipated resistance from established brands that have integrated the current dual-season structure into their operational frameworks.

As NYFW continues to search for firmer ground, these potential changes unfold within a sector already facing significant headwinds. The fashion industry at large is contending with reduced consumer expenditure and executive transitions across major fashion houses, alongside geopolitical tensions and disrupted supply chains. Given this confluence of challenges, NYFW’s current identity crisis is likely both inevitable and symptomatic of broader industry upheaval.

The question now becomes whether these reform initiatives can help restore the event’s gravitational pull or if New York Fashion Week will need to fundamentally reimagine its role in an increasingly fragmented global fashion landscape.