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Fashion Month is here, and fashion is culture. It is one of the clearest records we have of what a society values, rejects, desires and wants to become. |
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What happens on the catwalk is only one part of it. The beauty looks backstage. The creators documenting the spaces between shows. The stylists translating fashion into how people actually dress. The brands finding smart, unexpected ways into the conversation. What happens around the clothes can tell us as much about where culture is headed as the collections themselves. |
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And now that we have entered the late 2020s, this decade is becoming remarkably easy to recognize. |
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After years of restraint, “good taste” has given way to something stranger and more personal. Hairstyles once considered ugly are suddenly desirable. Beauty is increasingly idiosyncratic. At a moment when much of the broader Western culture feels more conservative, fashion and beauty seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Conformity is out. Individuality and finding your tribe are in. Silhouettes are exaggerated, proportions are intentionally off, and microtrends appear and disappear at extraordinary speed. |
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It is a deeply paradoxical moment. We are hyper-individual and increasingly tribal. Nostalgic for the past while consuming the new faster than ever. Minimalism and maximalism coexist. “Quiet luxury” (eye roll) sits beside the weird, awkward and deliberately unattractive. There is no single dominant look because contradiction itself has become part of the look, with or without irony. |
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Personal style in the 2020s is a collage of references, identities and communities. We are watching the decade define itself in real time. When we look back, what will all of this say about who we were? |
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In this issue of The Pulse, we look at the people, brands and behaviors shaping fashion, beauty and lifestyle, what they reveal about where culture is headed next, and what brands should be paying attention to now. |
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Pulse Check: Beyond the Runway |
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| The runway may start the conversation, but it no longer controls it. Fashion Month’s most influential moments are increasingly happening around the shows, shaped by the creators, spaces, brands and cultural worlds that determine what gets seen, shared and remembered. ➔ |
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| BMF Connects With Lee Sterling, CMO Simon Property Group |
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| BMF Founding Partner Brian Feit caught up with Lee Sterling, CMO at Simon, on the enduring cultural pull of the mall, why discovery still matters in an increasingly digital world and how physical retail is evolving into a platform for brands, experiences and real world connection. ➔ |
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The New + The NoteworthyEverything Worth Doing/Seeing/Getting/Booking |
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| | Fashion Month may be focused on what’s new, but there’s something to be said for knowing what works. BMF client SPANX has mastered the pieces that earn a permanent place in the wardrobe, from great-fitting foundations to polished everyday essentials designed to go the distance. Find your next staple here. ➔ |
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| | While everyone else is planning their fall wardrobe, those in the know are scheduling their laser appointments. With less sun exposure, autumn marks the start of prime treatment season, and BMF client Solta Medical is behind some of the names to have on your radar, from Fraxel to Clear + Brilliant. In particular, Fall is Fraxel Season, so get ahead of the season and book your next appointment here. ➔ |
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| | From runway to skincare routine, Kendall Jenner is making it official with Anua. A fan of the K-beauty brand before becoming its first global ambassador, Jenner is now putting a very famous face to one of skincare’s fastest-rising names. Consider the secret officially out. Shop Kendall’s Essentials here. ➔ |
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| | Some of Fashion Week’s most interesting images may never come from a runway. From September 8–12, photographer Szilveszter Makó opens up his surreal world with Bauhaus Ballet, transforming the handmade sets behind his photographs into six immersive rooms. The experience will also feature new portraits of Gwendoline Christie and Adrien Brody, live performances, a Tove Lo DJ set and food by Jeremy Salamon—plenty to see before it inevitably lands on your feed. Step inside here. ➔ |
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| | Long before fashion lived on our screens, Yves Saint Laurent understood the power of a great image. Yves Saint Laurent and Photography, on view at New York’s ICP through September 28, brings together the photographers who helped define the house visually, from Richard Avedon and Irving Penn to Helmut Newton and Annie Leibovitz. A reminder that what we remember about fashion is often the image that captured it. See the exhibition here. ➔ |
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| | Where better to spend the time between shows than on a New York stoop? This season, iconic Italian legwear brand Calzedonia brings that neighborhood feeling to life with The Stoop by Calzedonia. On September 12–13, the brand takes over a SoHo space with coffee, beauty touch-ups, personalized knee highs and a magic mirror photo booth. Consider it a place to reset and catch up between shows, while celebrating hosiery as a fashion staple. Find out more here. ➔ |
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| | Cherry Bombe, the media company and community celebrating women and creatives across food and drink, is throwing a ten-day house party, and everyone’s invited. From September 9–18, Cherry Bombe House takes over three floors in the Meatpacking District with chef pop-ups, dinners, live podcasts, books, fashion, and shopping. It’s the kind of meeting point where a dinner can become a collaboration and one conversation can lead somewhere entirely unexpected. Get tickets here. ➔ |
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| | K-beauty is claiming another corner of SoHo. From September 10–12, Medicube brings Wellness Club X2 to 21 Greene Street, translating its cult skincare and beauty-tech universe into a three-day immersive experience made for trying, testing and discovering what all the hype is about. Find out more here. ➔ |
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| | Want to know what beauty and fashion will be talking about next? Glossy Pop NYC is a good place to start. Landing at FIT on September 11, the event brings together the creators, founders and experts influencing both industries, from Mary Phillips and Mara Roszak to Shereene Idriss and Kelly Cutrone, alongside immersive brand experiences and plenty of product discovery. Get your pass here. ➔ |
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| | No Fashion Week invite? Macy’s is bringing the designers straight to you. Six limited-edition capsules from Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Donna Karan New York, Theophilio, LAPOINTE, and Jonathan Cohen land September 8, putting a cross-section of American fashion directly on the shop floor. Expect each collection to offer its own distinct take on the season, from polished classics and elevated essentials to more directional, statement-making pieces. Shop the collections in store or online here. ➔ |
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The FrequencyWhat We’re Listening To Now. |
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| | Mia Moretti’s GET READY! arrives just in time for Fashion Month. The seven track EP moves between disco, techno, and late-night club sounds, making Moretti one of the names worth having on your September playlist. Listen here. ➔ |
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The DestinationNow Departing… London |
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| | Once New York wraps, the Fashion Week conversation heads across the Atlantic. London is next, bringing its own mix of established names, emerging talent and plenty happening beyond the shows. From new hotels and buzzy restaurants to galleries, shopping and cultural spots worth knowing, here’s where to stay, eat, shop and explore while you’re in town. ➔ |
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| | Let’s chat about how we can keep your brand in tune with the pulse of culture. |
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The SublimeCreators, Innovators, And Cool $#!+ You Should Know About. |
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| | Tommy Hilfiger is coming home for Fashion Week, quite literally. On September 10, the designer takes over The Plaza for his Spring 2027 show, where he and his wife Dee once lived for more than a decade. Following shows at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar and aboard a former Staten Island Ferry, Hilfiger is once again making the New York setting as much a part of the cultural moment as the clothes themselves. Check it out here. ➔ |
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| | Some names don’t need to be everywhere to be known by the right people. Hong Kong-based architect and interior designer André Fu has shaped some of the world’s most distinctive hotels, restaurants and residences, bringing a refined, highly considered point of view to modern luxury. His new Assouline book, A Designer’s Vision, opens the archive on more than two decades of his work. Consider yourself in the know. Explore the book here. ➔ |
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| | Vogue knows the runway is only part of the story. On September 22, Vogue World: Milano will transform the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II into a stage for fashion, art, performance and craftsmanship, bringing together the people and disciplines influencing culture well beyond the traditional Fashion Week calendar. This year’s focus on the human hand in the age of technology feels particularly well timed. See what Vogue has planned here. ➔ |
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| | New York is making room for two Fashion Week newcomers. Conner Ives and Magda Butrym join the official NYFW schedule for the first time this fall, bringing two distinct European perspectives stateside. Ives takes the runway September 12, followed by Butrym on September 13. Get acquainted before they make their New York debuts here and here. ➔ |
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| | If you want to know what the creative crowd is looking at for inspiration, start with the bookshelf. Marc Jacobs’ Bookmarc brings fashion, photography, art and publishing together in its West Village home, the kind of small cultural outpost where interesting people, books and ideas have a habit of finding one another. Stop by here. ➔ |
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The Week in ReviewICYMI... |
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Travel What Fashion Can Learn from Luxury Travel About Climate Action ➔ As International Travel Increases, Brands Are Showing Up In Hotel Room Closets, Room Service Menus and Airport Newsstands ➔ The Best Traveling Shows of 2026 ➔ Some Late Summer and Early Fall 2026 Travel Fashion Trends ➔
Fashion & Beauty Inside Victoria Beckham’s ‘Warm, Inviting’ New York Flagship ➔ Chanel Beauty Launches Immersive Fragrance Pop-Up in NYC ➔ The Fashion Month Street Style Trends Fashion Insiders Are Betting On ➔ Moncler Opens a New Exhibit at New York’s Grand Central Terminal ➔ True Religion Brings Y2K Energy Back to NYFW as Brand Builds Business Momentum ➔
Entertainment Which Summer Breakout Starts Will be Front Row This Fashion Month? ➔ See Every Major Red Carpet Look From the 2026 Venice Film Festival ➔ Gap Inc.’s Encore Membership Program Takes Over New York Fashion Week with Six Days of Member Access and Experiences ➔ Is Sports’ Big Bet on Hiring Fashion Creative Directors Paying Off? ➔
Technology Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and More Tech Fashion Transformers ➔ New York Fashion Tech Lab Unveils Its Largest Collective at NYFW ➔ Closing the AI Value Gap: How Fashion Can Grow Its Technology ROI ➔ The Vogue Business AI Tracker ➔
Media Fashion’s New Instagram Playbook, According to Eva Chen ➔ Nuuly Aims to Break Through Social Media Noise with a New Branded Rom-Com Microdrama ➔ How Vogue’s September Issue is Evolving Under New Editor Chloe Malle ➔ Confessions of a Fashion Editor ➔
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