New York’s most iconic fashion designers are having a major comeback

From Tommy Hilfiger to Tory Burch, Anna Sui to Michael Kors, Jessica Bumpus explores the renaissance of the American fashion greats.

Amid a flurry of new and emerging names in the American fashion capital over recent years, it is the heritage and legacy brands that are now back in the spotlight.

Tommy Hilfiger is back on the New York Fashion Week calendar, Diane von Furstenberg's wrap dresses are having a moment (again), and Anna Sui is capturing a new Gen-Z audience, who are hitting eBay and Depop to snag vintage designs. Read on to explore the NYC-based brands we're getting excited about, the second time around.

Tommy Hilfiger

It was in January this year that Tommy Hilfiger announced a return to the official New York Fashion Week schedule for February’s Autumn/Winter 2024 season, having sat out a few seasons prior. The venue was Grand Central Station’s Oyster Bar – a quintessential New York spot for a quintessential New York brand. It was a bit of a moment and one that is set to be followed up with something equally impressive as the designer resumes a spot on the traditional calendar once more.

“This season, we’re proud to build on our legacy of breathing new life into the city’s most iconic institutions,” shares Hilfiger, revealing he’ll be presenting on the MV John F. Kennedy Staten Island Ferry. “The decommissioned vessel, with its original interiors still intact, provides the perfect setting to celebrate the city’s deep connection with our brand.”

Anna Sui

According to the trade title WWD, Anna Sui has become the go-to brand for Gen Z. Having started her brand some 40 years ago (the designer is a contemporary of Marc Jacobs, and a 1990s cohort of fashion names who remade American fashion through their own lens), she is known for her 1970s blend of vintage grunge-meets-hippy chic.

Sui is one of those rare designers who continues to maintain momentum, with the likes of Debbie Harry, Marc Jacobs – with who she collaborated for Heaven by Marc Jacobs – and Sofia Coppola – sitting front row at her latest show. Meanwhile, Dua Lipa and Olivia Rodrigo have been spotted wearing Sui's designs, and Gen Zers are taking to Etsy and eBay to purchase vintage pieces. Joyful and not too retro, it is easy to see why Sui still resonates.

Diane von Furstenberg

Meanwhile, 2024 is a big year for the iconic Diane Von Furstenberg. Though the designer currently does not show at New York Fashion Week, she is part of the city’s fashion seams. The brand is celebrating 50 years of the wrap dress, an easy-to-wear wraparound style that revolutionised women’s wardrobes when it debuted back in 1974 – and, just as Anna Sui has found herself appealing to a whole new audience, DVF’s rewrap.dvf.com website enables a new generation to discover the wrap dress via pre-loved options.

As part of the celebrations, the brand has launched a limited-edition capsule with exclusive new prints. And there was a second instalment of the Woman Before Fashion exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Centre in LA in October, which had debuted in Brussels last year. There is also the documentary, Diane Von Furstenberg, Woman In Charge, on Hulu, which charts the designer’s remarkable story and career trajectory.

Tory Burch

The same can be said for Tory Burch ballet flats – though that is not why the designer has become a leading name at New York Fashion Week and every cool girl’s favourite brand. Some two decades since those flats started pounding the pavements of New York, the brand’s collections have gone from strength to strength to build real fashion kudos.

According to the New York Post, the moniker “Toryssaince” is now trending and a more artful approach from the designer with cute-quirky flourishes here and there among serious but sensuous tailoring has reset her trajectory.

“I could not be more proud to be an American designer at New York Fashion Week,” says Burch. I truly believe it has never been more inspiring or more relevant than it is right now.”

Michael Kors Collection

“Heritage is all about history, craftsmanship and having a strong point of view that allows you to adapt to the times without losing who you are,” says the fashion designer Michael Kors. “It’s about evolution, not revolution.”

His is a reputation built upon modern American style – sporty, sleek and sophisticated; the Autumn/Winter 2024 collection was, appropriately, called Timelessness. Moreover, the house is moving away from logo-heavy items, stripping back branding on their ever-popular bags and we're here for it.