One of the many conversations around New York Fashion Week this season was about the ways this city can sometimes be inhospitable to the success of independent designers. Nevertheless, the young people for whom fashion is a singular obsession continue making their way here to bring their creative visions to life. Among the almost 100 shows, presentations, and appointments by established and emerging brands, we also checked out designer debuts. Although fashion week can be hectic and more than a little stressful, seeing an upstart designer whose strokes of brilliance are visible from the very beginning is one of the most exciting parts of our job. Below, meet four designers who we’ll be sure to keep our eye on these coming seasons.
LII’s Zane Li Wants Girls to Be Free
Zane Li graduated from FIT in 2023 and introduced his brand, named LII, by appointment at a small studio in Chinatown. Using a tightly edited and saturated color palette that included red, turquoise, blue, white, and black, Li presented a collection of deceptively simple deconstructed silhouettes in sturdy, technical fabrics that he pulled from his own closet, like heavy cotton twills and sporty nylons. “I feel like traditional womenswear fabrics are so precious—you’re scared about wrinkles and you have to think about specific occasions,” he said by way of an introduction. “I wanted to combine the ease of these fabrics with this sort of classic feminine, couture-y silhouettes that give girls the freedom to sit however they want and go to whichever occasions they want.”
Li plays with deconstruction and volume, but simplicity is at the core of his work. Take the humble t-shirt, which he reproduced two ways; a navy ringer “tee” which hits at the hip, is made from heavy cotton and fully lined so that it stands slightly away from the body; another is cut slightly more oversized and the shoulder seams are split open, which creates an effect akin to an unfinished ruffle. In white with red lining, it was particularly striking.
The designer also explored textures; a simple black shift dress had a panel of plastic affixed to the front, as if he had copy-then-pasted the pattern piece for the dress on top; while feathers made a surprising companion to colorblocked skirts in unexpected combinations like turquoise and red. His silhouettes are blown-up; they have structure and weight and yet they remain oddly romantic.—Laia Garcia-Furtado