NYFW's Midsize Revolution: Chic, Confident, and Effortlessly Yours

Jennifer Atilémile is the definition of a woman who does it all. A true multi-hyphenate, she is a model, writer, creative, activist, and intellectual. As an editor in residence, she gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry.

This season, New York felt fresh, like she'd begun to find herself again. After a few seasons of playing it safe and feeling like there wasn't a clear vision of who the New York woman was, just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, so too did the New York fashion scene. You might still hear rumblings that NYFW is dead, but personally, the people saying that aren't looking in the right places.

According to Business of Fashion, 50% of the designers on the schedule were female, and that's how these collections felt: They finally had the modern New York woman in mind. And in Felicity Hayward's "Including the Curve" seasonal size-diversity report, she shares that there was an increase in the number of midsize looks shown on the runway. A sign of the times to come? The modern New York woman has no size distinction; she loves to express herself through clothing, to evoke a mood, feeling, and vibe.

What I felt most was that the trends themselves are inclusive of all bodies, meaning the trends can be re-created on women of any size. Even if we don’t see ourselves on the runway, I can see myself in these clothes. These are the trends I believe will be the biggest to emerge from NYFW, along with how to re-create them at home.

Joyful Dressing, or More Is More

From Tory Burch to Conner Ives to Altuzarra, we're having fun with fashion again. Clashing prints, mixed textures, furs, and beaded embellishments—the New York runways gave women permission to express who they are through their fashion again. Now, you can overdo the maximalism, but who am I to judge? A lot of plus-size clothing tends to be either really vibrant, maxed-out prints that aren't chic, or just ugly cuts. I've said it multiple times: I still believe in flattering clothing. But it's not about hiding your body; it's about knowing what cuts and silhouettes work best for your shape and proportions. So when it comes to joyful dressing, my rule is this: Either do blocks of color or pops of print, and then accessorize.

Purple, the New Blue

Blue continues to be everywhere this season, but a hot new contender is purple. From lavender to lilac, amethyst to plum, we're about to start seeing a lot more of it. My mum always said she wouldn't be seen dead in purple, that it washes her out, but she was talking about the lighter shades, the lavenders and lilacs. Personally, I love a deeper, more vibrant shade for myself. I know I just wrote about the pops of blue at Copenhagen, but blue always needs her secondary sister! After all, it sits next to blue on the color wheel and is a part of the jewel-tone register while also pairing well with other warm, vibrant colors like red, aquamarine, and chartreuse. Wear it as an accent, a purple sweater, purple shoes, a handbag, or go all in with a whole dress or skirt. Purple feels more luxurious than blue, and with jewel tones having their moment in our wardrobe palettes, it's no surprise it's in the mix.

The Accentuated Waist

Cummerbunds, belts, and sashes were a standout this season, and defining the waist is one of the best trends to come out of this fashion week because it appeals to every body type. At its most structured, it showed up as corsetry, the boned, architectural waist we saw at Wiederhoeft, where the waist became paramount to the silhouette. As someone with an hourglass figure, I love to accentuate my waist or just break up my proportions. Belts and sashes do a great job of breaking up a look and adding visual tension, creating the illusion of shape on all figures. I saw it done beautifully at Kallmeyer, 6397, Heirlome, and even Carolina Herrera. The key to defining the waist is to play with where the accentuation hits. A good corset or structured waist can be a friend to a bigger bust because it creates definition beneath it. What I loved in a few different collections was the juxtaposition of prints or colored fabrics as belts, which drew you in visually while also providing the tension and playfulness that comes from printmaxxing, or doing a little more with fashion.

Fringe and Movement

There were so many clean lines and quiet luxury silhouettes this season that fringe becomes the effortless drama, a little bit of playfulness even in a neutral wardrobe. It invites you to have fun getting dressed again; it's all joyful. But it's the contrast that really works. Fringe against cleaner lines, like jeans or a blazer, adds the tension that makes an outfit feel elevated and cool. Long fringing in particular adds elongation, and the way it moves with the natural lines of the body makes anyone who wears it look polished. Whether it's an entire fringed dress or a jacket with a more Western feel, fringe is here to stay.

The New Feminine

Call it modern feminine power. This is the rock-and-roll New Yorker, the Khaite woman, the kind of opulent femininity we saw at Tory Burch but also the modern woman at Altuzarra and Proenza Schouler. This woman wears her style in a cool, effortless way. At Ralph Lauren, think elegant brocades paired with dirty denim washes; at Khaite, it was floral lace and leather—the dichotomy of soft and tough, all at once. It's a little bit boho because the trend here is the attitude; it’s your personal style. Embracing what’s yours makes you the rock star. And personal style means you know yourself, you know what works on your body, and you dress like the woman you already are, not the one trends tell you to be. For a midsize woman, I love that Ralph Lauren nodded to his old collections (that's something that we can be scouring resale markets for). Take a few of the trend pieces and then add them to what you already own. This is an attitude and an embodiment of style.

In Conclusion…

If there's one thing to take from this season, it's that each collection finally feels designed with the New York woman in mind. Joyful, structured, soft, colorful, tough, or even minimal, it feels reflective of the different women who make up New York—every shape, every size. You can be one or all, either standalone or at the same time. That is the beauty of fashion and of getting dressed. And that's the energy I love about New York: It allows you to be whoever you want to be. Fashion has always had the power to communicate that, but for a while, especially in New York, that message felt a bit lost. This season, though, it's back.