The August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper* is a paean to the country’s creative resilience in turbulent times. Among a vanguard of US creatives is a raft of fashion designers – from those working at heritage brands to up-and-coming rising stars – who are creating collections that draw on the long-held traditions of American sportswear. Namely: a mood of ease and pragmatism, interpreted through a multitude of cultural perspectives and design philosophies (as well as the occasional shot of pure Hollywood glamour).
Photographed by Brooklyn-based Geordie Wood and styled by Wallpaper* fashion and creative director Jason Hughes, the work of 11 of these designers – largely taken from their A/W 2025 collections – is captured amid the desert plains of Twentynine Palms, California and on the National Trails Highway, formerly known as Route 66, a symbol of American freedom and escape.
Lost highway: 11 designers defining American style
Coach (top)
British designer Stuart Vevers (who was recently awarded an OBE) has been at the helm of American powerbrand Coach since 2013. In an era of ever-changing creative directors, Vevers has proved he has staying power: honing a youthful, 1990s-inflected vision he has courted celebrity endorsements and designed hit handbags (the Tabby, with its C-shaped clasp, is his most ubiquitous creation). For A/W 2025, Vevers talked about the mining ’the optimism of youth’ with a collection which mashed up Coach codes with a subcultural undercurrent. ‘My vision for fall was to ground the collection in all the things that make Coach so distinct as a fashion house,’ he said after the show. ‘Our heritage materials and palette, our commitment to repurposing and “re-loving” secondhand garments through craft, and our belief in the power of community and self-expression.’
Khaite
Jacket, £3,780; trousers, £1,310; boots, £1,190, all by Khaite (available khaite.com)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Khaite was founded in 2016 by Catherine Holstein on the principles of American sportswear: namely, a feeling of ease and functionality, albeit rendered in luxurious style (an early adopter was the actress Katie Holmes, who wore an unbuttoned cashmere cardigan and matching bra to hail a taxi in 2019, an image that would go viral in style circles). In the decade or so since, Holstein has evolved the label with cinematic runway shows and more challenging, experimental designs: for A/W 2025 she posed the question, what if David Lynch remade a Merchant Ivory film? The resulting collection was one of power-shouldered leather outerwear, Wild at Heart leopard prints, and deconstructed riffs on corsets, mutton sleeves, and bustles.
Michael Kors Collection
Top, £1,115; skirt, £3,434, both by Michael Kors Collection (available michaelkors.co.uk)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Michael Kors is a stalwart of American style: the Long Island-born designer founded his eponymous label in 1981 after a stint at FIT (he dropped out after nine months) and a formative time at Lothar’s boutique on Fifth Avenue (he credits his love of fashion to his mother, who worked as a model before starting a family). His A/W 2025 collection captured his signature vision of insouciant, Uptown-inflected glamour: described by the designer as ‘dégagé chic’, the collection had started with the idea of a woman throwing on a coat and stepping out into the evening, hands stuffed in her pockets. ‘This show was inspired by the laid-back elegance that imbues the spirit of our homes and our new Madison Avenue store,’ he said at the time. ‘Timeless, warm, modern, architectural yet sensual, [it] exemplifies [a sense of] cosy modernism and hands-in-the-pockets chic.’
Fforme
Opposite, dress, price on request, by Fforme (enquire fforme.com)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
‘The female form was the starting point for this collection in every way,’ said Frances Howie of her first collection for Fforme, a New York-based label which was co-founded by Silicon Valley product designer Nina Khosla and CEO Laura Vazquez in 2022 (the original creative director was Paul Helbers, alumnus of The Row and Louis Vuitton; both Vazquez and Helbers have since exited the label). Howie’s debut, presented in February in New York, saw luxurious wide-shouldered tailoring (fabrics were meticulously sourced in Italy) meet moments of softness, from fringed detailing to sinuous satin dresses, cut on the bias.
The Row
Shirt, £1,440; roll-neck, £1,650, both by The Row (available therow.com)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
The Row needs little introduction: founded in 2006 by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and taking its name from London’s Savile Row, it has arguably been the most influential American brand of the past decade, ushering in a much-replicated aesthetic of restrained elegance and undone luxury. Showing each season in the brand’s Paris headquarters (a European sensibility undoubtedly infuses the label), the pair’s latest presentation – which took place in March 2025 – was composed of layers for warmth and protection, from slouchy roll-neck sweaters and elongated mittens worn as scarves to raised-collar opera coats and twisted-sleeve wool dresses, which had a homespun appeal (indeed, in lieu of shoes, models walked the runway in stockinged feet, as if padding about at home).
Diotima
Dress, $2,295, by Diotima (available diotima.world)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Diotima, which was founded by Jamaica-born, New York-based designer Rachel Scott in 2021 after a 15-year career in fashion, is one of America’s most exciting young labels. Based on the art of crochet – though since expanding into numerous other categories, including tailoring – Scott’s label is known for a sensual, body-tracing line with moments of embellishment and handcraft (Jamaica, and the Caribbean, remain prescient inspiration points in her work). It is an approach which has brought her wide acclaim: in October 2024, she won the CFDA Award for Womenswear Designer of the Year.
Calvin Klein Collection
Jacket, £3,600, by Calvin Klein Collection (available calvinklein.co.uk)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Calvin Klein Collection, the runway arm of the powerhouse American brand, had lain dormant since the exit of Raf Simons as creative director in 2018. In February 2025, though, it was reinstated under Italian designer Veronica Leoni, an alumnus of The Row and Celine (during Phoebe Philo’s tenure), as well as the helm of her own LVMH Prize-nominated label Quira. Seeking to strip it all back to the sensual minimalism of Calvin Klein’s 1980s heyday, the buzzy opening act was an attempt to capture what she called a ‘sexitude’. ‘When it comes to sexiness, it’s more like an attitude,’ she said after the show, held at the brand’s Midtown headquarters. ’You own it in the way you wear the clothes. I think it’s really intimate being sexy – regardless of the silhouette, the amount of skin, it’s about the confidence.’
Altuzarra
Jacket, price on request, by Altuzarra (available altuzarra.com)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Joseph Altuzarra has been a mainstay of the New York design scene since he launched his eponymous label in 2008 after stints at Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Givenchy. In the near two decades since, he has honed a grown-up vision of contemporary womanhood – one of both American ease and Parisian polish (Altuzarra was born in Paris to a Chinese-American mother and a French father). Presenting his last two collections in the Altuzarra headquarters in New York’s Woolworth Building, the designer is having something of a renaissance: eschewing thematic shows, he is now intent on building an evolving wardrobe (one no doubt influenced by the success of brands like The Row). ‘It’s less wardrobing in the traditional sense, and more like when you walk into your own wardrobe, you have things that were passed down from your grandmother, and things that you bought last week, and things that you wear when you want to feel sexy,’ he says.
Tory Burch
Top, £550; shirt, £660; trousers, price on request, all by Tory Burch (available toryburch.com). Boots, £1,190, by Khaite (available khaite.com)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Another designer in the midst of a creative renaissance is Tory Burch, who has in recent seasons eschewed the preppy Uptown wardrobe for which she became known – and, indeed, built a billion-dollar business on – in favour of a more freewheeling approach rooted in experiments with fabrics and form. ‘I always heard people in the business saying “on brand” and it really bothered me I found out there was this perception of what that meant, and then a reality – because it wasn’t how I was feeling,’ she told Wallpaper* in 2024. For A/W 2025, she presented a ‘twisted’ take on American sportswear: ‘A second glance at classics… a wardrobe created over time.’
Brandon Maxwell
Coat, £3,440, by Brandon Maxwell (available brandonmaxwellonline.com). Shoes, £1,300, by Calvin Klein Collection (available calvinklein.co.uk)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
Texas-born fashion designer Brandon Maxwell rose to prominence as the fashion director for Lady Gaga, a role he began in 2012, working with the musician on some of her most memorable looks. In 2015, he founded his eponymous label in New York: a bold and unapologetic vision for dressing which was made for the red carpet – indeed, his creations have been worn by a slew of high-profile women, from Michelle Obama to Meghan Markle, alongside Lady Gaga, who wore an enormous fuchsia pink gown by Maxwell to to 2019 Met Gala, ‘Notes of Camp’. His A/W 2025 collection, though, marked a shift in focus towards real-world, on-the-street ensembles: ‘When I started I wanted to be the dress that they wore somewhere. Now I just want to be the sweater that they pick up in the morning and a really good pant,’ he said.
Commission
Jumper, £445; shirt, £542; skirt (worn underneath), £332, all by Commission (available commission.nyc)
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
A nominee for the 2020 LVMH Prize – and part of the 2024 Wallpaper* USA 400 – New York-based label Commission was formed in 2018 by designers Jin Kay and Dylan Cao, having previously worked roles at Prabal Gurung and R13. Drawing on their Asian-American heritage (they grew up in Vietnam and South Korea respectively before moving to the USA), their collections riff on memories of their parent’s working attire alongside references to Americana, vintage sportswear and New York street style, reimagined in offbeat style. ‘American fashion is an ever-changing concept as it’s been historically shaped by the many cultures and subcultures arriving from elsewhere,’ they told Wallpaper* in 2023.
Model: Mali Koopman at Supreme. New York Casting: Bert Martirosyan. Hair: Erin Piper Herschleb at L’Atelier NYC. Make-up: Allie Smith at Management Artists. Photography assistant: Kyle Johnson. Fashion assistant: Lucy Proctor. Producers: Tracy Gilbert, Danielle Quigley. Local producer: Sheriff Production.
The August 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from 10 July 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
(Image credit: Photography by Geordie Wood, fashion by Jason Hughes)
