One of the great things about New York is that there is still space for up-and-coming brands to make a splash. And every season there seems to be another relatively nascent brand that manages to break out and become the darling of New York Fashion Week. This time around, it seems like that breakout star may just be Fforme, and not for the first time.
The brand debuted to great aplomb in 2021 with Dutch designer Paul Helbers at the lead alongside entrepreneur Nina Khosla and fashion executive Laura Vazquez. When Helbers left just two years later, there was concern that such a new brand would struggle to find an appropriate replacement and continue its upward trajectory.
But designer Frances Howie appears to have Fforme well in hand. Her Fall 2026 collection was minimal and luxurious and has been the talk of the long weekend among members of the fashion press.
Howie took major inspiration from the 1990 Whit Stillman film Metropolitan — a comedy of manners about a group of young New York socialites navigating love and petty rivalries in a world of glamorous, but ultimately dull and dwindling debutante balls in the 1980s.
It was a throwback to a long-gone New York, but through the lens of 1990s minimalism. Even the fabrication was a throwback, with shearling, leather, and velvet pieces all made in the Garment District.”We wanted to reference the old heritage of New York, of the old elite 7th Avenue ateliers that used to make made-to-measure, one-of-a-kind, original pieces for people,” Howie told Fashionista‘s Catie Pusateri. “I think this culture of this craftsmanship in New York City is really something that Fforme is walking in the footsteps of.”
And yet, it all felt very modern. Very wearable. A mix of Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang with a little Vivienne Westwood thrown in to keep things interesting. Howies takes on tuxedo dressing felt especially successful as did many of the looks accented with electroplated botanicals, oxidized and turned into jewelry by Barcelona-based jewelry designer Alba Navaro of ANH Studio.
- Fforme Fall 2026
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- Fforme Fall 2026
It’s so exciting to see a new brand succeed. Here’s to the many more successes yet to come.
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