The Resort 2025 Contemporary Market at New York Fashion Week

Here, WWD rounds up a mix of brands that have big businesses in the contemporary market, highlighting their collections, trends and newness for the resort 2025 season.

Retrofête

The ‘80s career woman Ohad Seroya looked to last fall must’ve quit her day job and become a full-time socialite. This season, Truman Capote’s Swans were his muses.

While Seroya only recently caught on to “Feud,” the Hulu miniseries that’s led to many a Swan-themed collection, he doesn’t mind arriving to the party late. It hasn’t officially begun until Retrofête gets there anyway. “When I got to watch the show, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is so chic,’” he explained over FaceTime. ”To see them all sitting in the restaurant and gossiping with their cigarettes…” 

Seroya was referring to La Côte Basque, the famed Upper East Side watering hole for women like Babe Paley and C.Z. Guest, but the metallic leathers, HotPants and nude-illusion gowns he showed would be far better suited to its 21st-century equivalent, Zero Bond.

Any references to the midcentury style of Paley and Guest was circumstantial and sexed-up all the way. Tweed lady suits with pearl buttons were cut ultrahigh on the leg, while knit twinsets and tennis dresses shed even the slightest hint of prep, bedazzled with plunging necklines.

Seroya did attempt modesty elsewhere (“I love to challenge myself,” he said), offering draped dresses in Christmas shades of emerald and ruby, which could be layered underneath structured blazers or cardigans with removable fur trim. Still, his go at ‘60s Mod was what felt most fresh. A pastel pink baby-doll silhouette showed a softer side he should continue to explore.

Kobi Halperin

If Kobi Halperin’s Hasidic-inspired fall collection was about bringing awareness to widespread antisemitism, resort was his means of respite from it. “I’m trying to run away,” explained the Israeli designer of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, “but it’s impossible because every day when you open the TV or Instagram, you just see sadness and so much suffering.” 

Nonetheless, Halperin ran farther east to the newly opened Palace Museum in Hong Kong, finding himself enamored with the “overwhelming richness” of imperial China. 

Photographed against a bamboo forest, his chinoiserie felt a tad on-the-nose, but was no less heartfelt. Cranes and magnolia flowers (Chinese symbols for luck, longevity and peace) were sprayed across all manner of bell-sleeved, caftan-ey silhouettes, for which Halperin pulled loosely from the hanfu robes in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film, “The Last Emperor.”

In shades of fucshia, jade and dragon red, they made ideal cover-ups for his Kobi Beach swim line, launching exclusively with Saks Fifth Avenue. “It’s not necessarily even about the swim,” Halperin admitted. “It’s about everything that’s beside it.” Other styling companions included adorable short sets in tweed and cotton eyelet and blouses with knotted tassels. A less-expected homage to Chinese tradition came by way of hairpins piercing through blazers and denim jackets.

Halperin also made a more conscious use of his interlocking “K” logo, adding it in gold to buttons on cuffs. The exaggerated shape, he said, “reminds us to spread our wings and fly.” 

PH5

PH5 designers Zoe Champion and Wei Lin are looking forward to the Year of the Snake for their resort 2025 collection, taking inspiration from the reptile in multiple ways.

“We wanted to give a feeling of the end of the year — renewal, the chance to do something different and change it up,” Champion said. “Snakes, they shed their skin. Throughout history they’ve been used as a symbol of renewal because they create this circle and these never-ending spirals, so it just felt like a nice way to look at this collection and the starting point.” 

The designers leveraged the snake inspiration through two prints inspired by snakes’ scales, which were superimposed on PH5’s signature knit fabrics. The prints were used on PH5’s bestselling wavy dresses and on separates such as suit jackets, crop tops and the brand’s jean-like knit trousers. This offered a range of styles that continued the brand’s balance of feminine and masculine aesthetics. 

PH5 also experimented with eveningwear this season, which was a refreshing update to the brand’s core daywear. The designers utilized a knit fabric with woven sequins, which they used on several floor-length dresses that offered a balance of minimalism and eye-catching detail. 

Cinq à Sept

Jane Siskin looked to the many fashion trends of the ‘60s and ‘70s for Cinq à Sept’s resort 2025 collection, offering an array of dresses, suiting and separates that embodied the brand’s signature femininity. 

“We try to encompass and speak to all the different little pieces of what that time was because there were so many different things going on,” she said. “There was the whole preppy thing and then there was the whole boho thing. Then there was this whole Mod thing. It’s just so much going on and so much to pull from that time frame.” 

Short dresses were key for Siskin this season, a style she’s been able to innovate season-to-season with fabrics and embellishments that give a modern take on a previous decade’s trends. This was seen through styles like a ruched pink bubble skirt dress, a Mod-style red turtleneck dress and an A-line white dress with metal embellishments. 

Siskin also offered new takes on her signature novelty denim, which has become a bestseller for the brand. She updated the style with pieces like a blazer and trouser matching denim set embellished with a sequined floral print. 

Derek Lam 10 Crosby

The show notes for resort read “in-between the lines,” a play on the artist inspiration this season, Agnes Martin. “As an in-between season we want some time to pay homage to what Derek built with the foundations. And we evolve the brand,” said senior designer Yana Popov, calling resort “a breath of fresh air” that translates to evolving the house staples, for example, lady jackets. A “standout” category for 10c — as it’s known internally — said brand president Katie Robins. They come in striped knit, denim, tweed like and even sequin, the perfect style to dress up a jean or a dress.

Shirting is another foundation, here with ruffle details, French cuffed, tuxedo ruffles down the front and some in a yellowish striped doodle print — a homage to Martin — each showcasing that it’s about little quirky design details that make the brand stand out.

Denim also is evolving with fashion shapes but the most covetable was a supersoft denim tux shirt and pant, a unique take on the classic. Mixed media on dresses like a button vest on top and accordion pleated A-line skirt were the brand’s spin on “pre-styling,” taking the guesswork out of dressing for a woman who wants to look pulled together without overdoing it. “We’ve got little tiny details that are simple but deliver a lot, which resonates with our customer,” Popov said.

Cara Cara

Cara Cara’s resort 2025 collection continued the feminine brand’s strength in prints, while further establishing itself in categories like knits, separates and solid styles. 

“We always like to tell a story with our look books and for resort it always feels like a weekend getaway,” said cofounder Katie Hobbs. “Even though it was shot in Palm Beach, I feel like it could be Cartagena or São Paulo and it’s kind of like her little kit for a perfect winter getaway — whether she’s going to a fabulous lunch or a sexy nightclub.” 

The resort collection delivered another array of fun and colorful printed dresses, updating some of Cara Cara’s popular dress styles in maxi and mini lengths. The dresses were created in a range of fabrics outside the brand’s go-to organic cotton poplin, such as jersey, jacquard and bouclé, the latter of which was new for the brand. The scope in prints and fabrics gave the collection a versatile vibe that could work for a wide range of customers.

Hobbs named the collection’s matching sets — which have become bestsellers — as key styles this season, and highlighted that the brand’s solid colored dresses have been gaining more interest. 

Tanya Taylor

Tanya Taylor offered a range of styles for resort 2025 that fit in with her feminine design codes. 

“I was very focused in thinking about just reenergized classics,” she said. “How you’re in between these seasons of fall and spring and it can still feel emotional and exciting, but the silhouettes need to feel really approachable.”

Approachability and seamlessness were the common themes throughout the collection. This came through styles like a dress shirt and matching skirt designed with various stripes, a T-shirt dress paired with a pleated skirt and an army trenchcoat with pleated details. The styles exuded a feminine and sophisticated vibe, while being easy to wear. 

The feminine aesthetic was furthered with a version of Taylor’s popular Barton satin dress, which was updated in a chartreuse hue and with floral beaded embroidery, and a sleeveless maxi dress designed in a hand-painted black-and-white floral print. 

Taylor’s resort 2025 collection showed her understanding of her feminine customer and how to update classic silhouettes in a fresh and exciting way. 

Yigal Azrouël

Yigal Azrouël hasn’t missed a beat since relaunching his brand in 2023 — his style of masculine-up-against-feminine dress, coated with urban polish, still very much resonates today. The designer referenced Helmut Newton during a walk-though of his lineup, but “in a very modern way.” He shot on balconies and the streets of New York City to help bring his resort lineup to life but the “modernity” was in the clothing.

The standouts included leather jumpsuit shorts with utility details; denim designs that played with proportions; paper bag pants — a house staple; patent leather pieces; architectural knits; jumpsuits; overdyed silver Japanese gabardine utility suits, and layered mesh capes.

Colorful prints on sets and separates in Italian silks made for striking options against the more masculine tailoring. Azrouël’s work has many staple pieces — boxy blazers, jumpsuits, leather jackets — singular styles he continues to explore but each season with his sporty meets tailoring vibe, they come off as fresh takes.

Balestra

Sofia Bertolli Balestra paid homage to the brand’s roots for resort 2025, offering newness in core silhouettes, colors and fabrics. 

The collection was anchored by its jersey dresses, which balance simplicity and sensuality through effortless draping. The dresses were embellished with Balestra’s signature knot detail, which gave interest to the otherwise simple silhouette. 

The designer upped her use of the brand’s signature blue hue this season. There was a new oversize trenchcoat with a hooded detail, mesh dress and mini jacket dress that showed the brand’s heritage in tailoring and design. 

The collection was rounded out with a tribute to its archival prints, such as an abstract black-and-white floral that was recreated through hand embroidery and on fabrics like silk and organza. 

Rag & Bone

For resort, Rag & Bone’s women’s chief merchandising and designer officer Jennie McCormick said she and her team were inspired by “this sense of journey.”

“All the things that are happening in the [New York] city center, and the idea of needing to do things here during the holidays before heading out to another destination,” she said.

In that vein, she designed the collection with easy, transitional layers for day, including new jackets, spanning from an Italian wool herringbone trench and streamlined, collarless blazers to cold weather-friendly faux-fur outerwear (one in particular had a “feather” texture). The styles were piled atop riffs on brand staples such as head-to-toe denim (including new Miramar fleece, pull-on styles); minimalist-bent utility layers; vegan leather options; transitional knits, and a few dress up-or-down slips.

“All of the pieces in the collection have that underlying comfort and ease,” she said. The idea expanded into holiday-minded wardrobing, best seen through a sequined black turtleneck sweater dress, worn with a signature hardware belt and grommet-studded leather boots.

Veronica Beard

The resort season is all about the “(Mod)ern Lady” for Veronica Beard.

“A little nod to the ‘60s, and in fresh ways, we’re feeling a lot of femininity. Coming out of the understated and quiet luxury, we’re getting into a little bit of shine, pattern play and some prints but in very easy ways to wear it,” Veronica Miele Beard said of her and Veronica Swanson Beard’s collection.

The “Veronicas’” fresh interpretation of ‘60s Mod came through myriad matching sets, as in the season’s key look of cropped jackets and tunic-style vests with ankle-length flared trousers, which looked great in top-stitched denim or a sporty stretch knit. There was also a beige high-shine patent leather cropped jacket with soft shoulders and matching skirt, alongside Mod miniskirts with myriad lady jackets (including a fun sequinned version) and new feminine handbags that added playfulness to the elevated, girly lineup. 

The duo rounded out their “modern essentials for the lady on the go” with mixed-media layers (a hybrid trenchcoat), chic suiting, cute striped knits and easy printed shift dresses.

Lingua Franca

Lingua Franca founder and designer Rachelle Hruska MacPherson took her fall socialite and rock star muses — Liza Minnelli, Bianca and Mick Jagger, etc. — out of Andy Warhol’s Hamptons estate and into the city, partying at Studio 54. 

The glamorous, playful inspirations made for an ultra-fun, holiday-party-minded resort collection that continued to push into new categories alongside signature knitwear.

There were dance-floor-ready shimmering paillette tops and bubble skirts, as in a metallic mint-hued mini, styled with a feather-adorned black cardigan, or maxi-length skirts with cheeky cashmere crewnecks boasting Pop Art-y mushrooms, disco balls or “25mg” gummy bears — a nod to the late Lucien Pellat-Finet’s ‘90s marijuana leaf cashmere knits. 

She rounded out the assortment with holiday-esque sweet bow-adorned cardigans; matching alpaca, RWS merino wool and recycled nylon chunky jumpers and skirts with playful, colorful paillette trims, and a stellar hand-knit (by artisans in Peru) fringed alpaca blend, multi-stitch and -color tank top and matching skirt. 

Overall, the lineup exuded a lighthearted playfulness with ample ease and cozy wearability.