9 Fashion Brands to Watch From February’s Coterie and MAGIC Trade Shows
The MAGIC and Coterie trade shows returned to New York’s Jacob K. Javits Center from Tuesday to Thursday. Across both shows, emerging labels and new exhibitors debuted new collections across ready-to-wear, footwear and accessories for 2024.
Many labels tapped into the top fashion trends such as “mob wife” faux fur outerwear (as seen from Unreal Fur); quiet luxury and minimalist tailoring (a la Acaria Studio and Meilleur Moment), and there was chunky gold jewelry galore. In addition, Halfdays presented its latest offering within Coterie’s new Après Ski section, which featured a selection of functional outerwear and cold-weather labels.
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Here, WWD highlights nine contemporary women’s rtw and accessories brands from the New York Coterie and MAGIC shows.
Coterie
Unreal Fur
Cofounders: Husband-and-wife duo Amir and Gilat Shani
Background: Prior to founding Unreal Fur in 2011, Amir and Gilat Shani were leading designers and manufacturers in Australia’s accessories market. A representative for the company told WWD that after years of sourcing and working with suppliers, the founders used their decades of knowledge to create a brand meant to create fashion industry progress toward the treatment of animals. “They knew they could make a swift and meaningful difference in the categories of fur and leather,” the representative said. Gilat leads all design direction across all outerwear categories.
For more than 10 years, the independent luxury outerwear label has become known for its mission to end animal cruelty through ethical design with animal-free, vegan materials (both faux fur and vegan leather). The brand’s headquarters — a dog-friendly office — is based in Melbourne, Australia.
The brand has been recognized with two PETA Fashion Awards and a National Indigenous Fashion Award in 2022.
Key Pieces: Ombre Leopard Boho coat; Elixir coat; Saint Tropez jacket; Montmartre coat; La Lune coat; Libertango coat.
Retail Prices: $350 to $500
Acaria Studio
Cofounders: Azize Ceylan and Elif Yauz
Background: Founded in 2023, Acaria Studio is an emerging contemporary Turkish fashion label.
“It’s been one year now since we’ve started a conscious story with the brand. My partner and I wanted to have luxury fashion in a sustainable world, because most garments are not timeless or conscious enough. Each garment within Acaria Studio has a sustainability [story] such as upcycled, organic or regenerative cotton and biodegradable products. We combine sustainability with timeless elegance,” Ceylan said.
“The Acaria Studio customer likes timeless pieces, but are also bold,” she said of the earth-toned fall collection, which is produced in Istanbul. This season marks the brand’s first time opening up to wholesale and exhibiting at Coterie.
Key Pieces: The vegan silk jacquard (60 percent cupro and 40 percent viscose) Maat dress, Night blazer and Night skirt; the semi-vegetal (100 percent genuine leather with 100 percent viscose lining) Journey trench, Root jacket and Root pants.
Retail Price: $200 to $2,000.
Bonnie Clyde
Cofounder, creative director: Jon Yuan
Background: “Bonnie Clyde is an indie eyewear label that says ‘no’ to cynicism and embraces love with all its absurdities. We merge generational manufacturing experience, contemporary culture and timeless sensibilities,” Yuan, who founded the company in 2016, said. “Basically we’re an accessories brand that wants to tell dumb love stories.”
While the brand began direct-to-consumer, it is now jumping into wholesale and added an optical range last year. Styles come in a wide range of colors. Based in L.A., Yuan uses the city to inspire the range of playful eyewear.
Key Styles: The Bicycle, sleek round metal; The Groupie, thick rounded frames with angular temples; The Angel, lightweight, sleek and curved wraparound.
Retail Price: Sun: $138-$188; Optical $138-$230
Fairchild Baldwin
Founder: Jill Fairchild
Background: Fairchild Baldwin began more than 10 years ago. Fairchild started with a condensed handbag collection, winning the emerging designer award from the Accessory Council, and lately, the brand’s earrings, which complement its trademark necklaces, have been getting traction.
“My mission when turning out any collection is to create designs that not only adorn the wearer but also evoke a sense of creativity, passion and individuality,” Fairchild, daughter of longtime WWD editorial director and publisher John Fairchild, said. “In short, to invite the beholder to embrace the beauty of art and design in a wearable form.”
The 2024 earring collection is vibrant, with diverse designs handcrafted in mixed media ranging from intricate beading and crochet to horn and lacquer, and hammered metal pieces. “Each earring is a unique piece of art, showcasing the skill and creativity of the artisan,” she said. As a woman-owned company Fairchild takes pride in collaborating with women’s livelihood communities for research and production, she said.
Key Styles: Drops, clusters, hoops, studs and dangles.
Retail Price: Earrings are priced from $50-$150.
Halfdays
Cofounders: Kiley McKinnon, Ariana Ferwerda and Karelle Golda
Background: “After competing in men’s ski pants at the 2018 winter Olympics, U.S. skier Kiley McKinnon had enough of the ‘unisex’ fits truly meant for men. Tired of the shrink-it-and-pink-it mindset, ill-fitting silhouettes and unapproachable legacy brands, Kiley and cofounders Ariana Ferwerda and Karelle Golda launched Halfdays with the goal of disrupting a male-dominated outdoor industry,” Ferwerda told WWD.
After launching with skiwear, Halfdays expanded into trail and outdoor products, Ferwerda said.
“They’re blazing new trails with their fashion-forward, inclusive offering for women who never want to sacrifice style or performance,” she added.
The brand launched entirely direct-to-consumer in November 2020 and was quickly approached by wholesale accounts. February marked the brand’s first time at Coterie, where it is working with Andrea Westerlind, founder of outdoor and lifestyle showroom Westerlind to expand into more independent and specialty retailers.
Key Pieces: The Murphy ski suit, Aston jacket, and ultra-flattering Alessandra pant.
Retail Price: Base layers start at $85 per piece; ski and everyday outerwear styles from $275 to $595.
Ayelet by Naot
Founder: Ayelet Lax Levy
Background: President of Naot footwear’s U.S. operations, the range takes the comfort shoe technology Naot is known for into a debut collection of Italian-crafted heels and boots. Each style in the 10-piece launch includes an innovative custom insole developed using brand-new technology. Lax Levy worked with designers to create the four-millimeter Poron insole to optimize cushioning.
“We are the first to create a four-millimeter Poron insole with memory foam in a heel” Lax Levy, who worked diligently with a factory outside of Milan, said.
Key Styles: Classic styles including pumps, booties and kitten heels.
Retail Price: Heels begin at $500 with boots topping out at $800.
Meilleur Moment
Founder: Jenny Qian
Background: Meilleur Moment (French for “the best moment”) was founded by Qian, chairman of the Eifini Group, in 2014. The brand focuses on minimalist style, quality and comfort; explores sustainable design and high quality materials with a less-is-more ethos.
“Every piece is timeless and made beyond the concepts of season, trend and ages, so our customers can appreciate their true beauty in every moment,” the brand said.
Key Pieces: The fall 2024 “Fluffy Journey” collection includes alpaca hair, camel hair, yak hair, goose down, wool and cashmere, which the brand said are all sustainable, and included a melange of the “‘90s-inspired urban office lady; Millennial strong woman, and gender-neutral looks,” the brand said.
Key styles include overcoats; cashmere cardigans and sweaters; goose down from Siberia, and clean, minimalist layers.
Retail Price: T-shirts start at $50; Main collection from $100 to $600, and premium cashmere from $600 to $1,499.
MAGIC
Little Layers from The Little Words Project
Founder: Adriana Carrig
Background: Founded 10 years ago, Carrig started Little Words Project with the intention to inspire and encourage people to be kind to themselves and to pay that kindness forward, one bracelet at a time. Customers choose a bracelet with a word or an affirmation on it that resonates with them, worn on their wrist as a daily positive reminder. And then eventually, once they feel fulfilled by the word or if they meet someone else who might need it more, they pass it on. Last fall, the brand launched Little Layers online, styles meant to be worn in between The Little Words Project pieces, and now is jumping into wholesale. Each piece is made of 14-karat gold vermeil.
Key Styles: Hearts by the yard bracelet, custom word bracelets, teardrop hoops and evil eye ring.
Retail Price: $45-$125
Denise Rae
Founder: Denise Ruiz
Background: Before launching Denise Rae in 2023, Ruiz worked in the fashion industry for more than 25 years at the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and Little Marc Jacobs. In 2020, during the pandemic, Ruiz’s mother passed away unexpectedly, which led Rae to quit her corporate job in order to focus on taking a break, reinventing herself and finding new joy. “Beautiful things are born from grief and pain,” she told WWD, of the inception of her loungewear pajama label.
“Growing up in New York City, my mom used to say, ‘You girls need to wear matching PJs. One, you don’t know who you’ll meet in your dreams and two, wear them if God forbid we have to run downstairs on the fire escape,'” she said. The line includes original prints inspired by Rae’s personal travels and her mother that can be seen across its signature matching pajama sets. In addition, each style features internal tags with slogans such as “I am strong, I am beautiful, I am enough.”
Each style is sustainably made, crafted from 100 percent organic cotton with prints that are free of harmful chemicals, and packaged in eco-friendly materials.
Key Pieces: The Cami & Robe set; long-sleeve pajama set; Nightie Night sleep dresses; short sleep set, and kids’ unisex pajamas. Key seasonal prints range from stripes and checkerboard to flora and fauna motifs in optimistic colorways.
Retail Price: $129 to $239.
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