Fashion month is always a cycle of familiar names, established houses and collections we already know what to expect from. But every season, a few new names manage to break through. From a legendary costume designer stepping into menswear to CSM graduates bringing completely new visual languages to London, these are the designers making their debut — or their first major appearance — across fashion month.
NEW YORK
Zaldy
September 10–16 · NYFW
Long before putting his own name on a collection, Zaldy was behind some of pop culture’s most memorable costumes, working with artists including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, RuPaul and Michael Jackson. Now, after decades spent designing for the stage, he’s bringing his own menswear collection to New York. Zaldy is one of the designers newly added to the official NYFW schedule this season.
Why we’re watching: What happens when a costume designer responsible for some of pop’s biggest transformations turns the same eye towards everyday clothes?
Conner Ives
September 10–16 · NYFW
London-based, Central Saint Martins-trained designer Conner Ives is bringing his world of Americana, vintage clothing and pop culture to New York for the first time. He’s perhaps best known outside fashion circles for his viral “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt, but his practice goes much further, often transforming vintage and deadstock garments into highly personal pieces. This season marks his first appearance on the official NYFW schedule.
Why we’re watching: He’s already built a cult following in London. Now New York gets to see what all the fuss is about.
Hikari no Yami by Jakarie Whitaker
September 12 · NYFW
For Jakarie Whitaker’s Hikari no Yami, fashion is less about making a perfect garment and more about taking one apart. The label’s SS27 collection, Chapter 11: Parasite, explores the Ship of Theseus through reconstructed clothing, recycled fabrics, handwork and resin. After appearances in Tokyo and Paris, the brand is coming to New York for its first official appearance on the NYFW schedule.
Why we’re watching: Deconstruction taken literally — and one of the most visually intriguing collections on the NYFW calendar.
LONDON
Gui Rosa
September 17–21 · LFW
Lisbon-born, London-based Gui Rosa brings a playful approach to knitwear, best recognised through his sculptural pieces and instantly recognisable spiky hats. A Central Saint Martins graduate and one of this year’s new BFC NEWGEN recipients, Rosa is making his LFW debut this season.
Why we’re watching: Because fashion doesn’t always have to take itself so seriously.
Petra Fagerström
September 17–21 · LFW
Swedish designer Petra Fagerström is interested in what happens when clothes refuse to stay visually still. Her signature lenticular pleating creates shifting colours and textures as the wearer moves. A Central Saint Martins graduate and 2026 LVMH Prize semi-finalist, Fagerström is making her LFW runway debut this season as a BFC NEWGEN recipient.
Why we’re watching: Clothes that change depending on who’s looking — or where they’re standing.
Francesca Lake
September 17–21 · LFW
Jamaican multidisciplinary artist Francesca Lake approaches fashion through clothing, film, installation and writing. Her work draws heavily from Jamaican culture and personal experience, creating a world that exists somewhere between fashion collection and cultural archive. She is making her LFW debut this season as part of BFC NEWGEN.
Why we’re watching: Because her work makes fashion feel like a much bigger conversation than clothes.
Geordie Campbell
September 17–21 · LFW
Geordie Campbell plays with the codes of traditional British menswear, making them softer, stranger and more playful. His work brings together tailoring, camp and a deliberately imperfect kind of Britishness.
Why we’re watching: Traditional menswear, but with the volume turned up and the seriousness turned down.
PARIS
Paris is a little different. Rather than forcing a list of established designers making their first Paris appearance, the most interesting new voices are appearing through the city’s emerging-designer platforms.
Julie Kegels — our one to watch
September 28–October 6 · PFW
Technically, Julie Kegels isn’t making her Paris debut — but we’re making an exception. The Belgian designer founded her label in 2024 and has just won the 2026 LVMH Prize, putting her firmly among the most exciting young names in fashion right now.
Why we’re watching: She went from emerging designer to one of fashion’s biggest young names almost overnight.
Paris’s new generation
For anyone looking beyond the official runway schedule, Paris’s SPHERE showroom is one of the places to watch. Run by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, SPHERE exists specifically to support emerging brands and brings selected young labels together during Paris Fashion Week. This season’s showroom runs from September 30 to October 6 at the Palais de Tokyo, featuring brands including Maison J. Simone, Matho, Meruert Tolegen, Riz Poli, Sevali and Victoria Valette.
There’s another new addition to the Paris fashion-week landscape this season: SSENSE’s Salon des Refusés, a one-day showroom on October 2 inspired by the original 1863 Salon des Refusés. It aims to give emerging designers outside the traditional fashion system a platform in Paris. The first announced name is Paris-based Indian designer Kanika Agarwal, who debuted her first collection in Paris in March 2026.
Milan is playing it safe.
Milan takes a slightly different approach this season. Its first-time additions to the official SS27 calendar, Marques’Almeida and Miguel Vieira, are already established names, so our focus this fashion month shifts to the newer voices emerging across New York, London and Paris.
The takeaway
While New York and London are welcoming the most obvious new names onto their official schedules, Paris is creating space for emerging talent in a different way — through showrooms, prizes and alternative platforms. If this season proves anything, it is that the most interesting fashion doesn’t always arrive through the biggest runway.
