NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 2025: DAY 4
words JOYCE ONUORAH and MARIA MOTA
editors MARIE-PAULINE CESARI and MAREK BARTEK
SANDY LIANG
all images SANDY LIANG via vogue.com
On Sunday, February 9th, the Sandy Liang playhouse opened its doors in New York, inviting us into a world of girlhood and nostalgia.
FW25 felt like a childhood dream rediscovered through a grown-up lens. Midi skirts, polka dots, and suit pants flirted with officewear, while fleece jacket-and-skirt sets carried a femme-sporty look. The art of layering and styling remained at the heart of the collection, embracing playful mismatching more than ever. Business-casual elements like shoulder pads and buttoned-up ties found their place among thermal sets and floral-patterned leggings. Miniature garments sewn onto the real-life size looks, plush shearling trims adding texture and prints of all-things-girly broke up the signature softness. Liang’s bows, of course, remained. It wouldn’t be a Sandy Liang collection without them. This time, in smaller, more subtle details on bags and shoes, and in the form rosettes pinned to the tops. And we couldn’t help but notice yet anotherWildflower Cases’ brand collaboration, with models holding their phones (in cases) on the runway: the ultimate girly accessory.
This season, Liang took a step away from her usual muted tones and replaced them with the pops of bright orange, blue and green, venturing into something bolder. More colours, more patterns, more playfulness, more contrast, more exaggeration – maybe this is a new direction for the brand, or maybe it’s just a natural evolution. Either way, we loved it.
MERUERT TOLEGEN
all images MERUERT TOLEGEN provided by the brands
This season Meruert Tolegen came further into her defining the direction of her brand. Moving away from previous seasons that offered more airy and lacy feeling, she sent more shapely and textured pieces down the runway. The pieces were much more sculptural with her use of chunky knits and layering of tulle. Tolegen referenced moments of her past collections in reinvented ways such as the all white lace look, but gave a lovely introduction as to what the future of her brand holds.
TIA ADEOLA
With this season marking her 10th year anniversary, Tia Adeola dove deeper into her roots to produce this collection. In addition to her signature ruffles, she incorporated coral beads, cowry shell beads, and braiding hair into her runway designs. These materials told the story of her Nigerian roots, and celebrated the culture she comes from. The silhouettes such as the mini skirts and peek-a-boo pants and dresses bridge the worlds between said tradition while still embracing the original identity of her brand.