Brandon Maxwell Aims to Make Fashion Week About the Actual Clothes

Photos&colon; Courtesy of Brandon Maxwell

There’s been a lot of conversation around the state of New York Fashion Week, and how the whole spectacle that surrounds it has been distracting designers and showgoers alike from the clothes themselves. Everyone is too focused on themes and gimmicks, it’s been said, less so the product propositions for the season.

Brandon Maxwell’s Spring 2024 show — staged at a small gallery just south of Canal Street, with four rows of seats for just about 120 guests and a request to not use phones (that was respectfully ignored) — quieted down some of that chatter. Maxwell showed a tight collection of pieces that are thoughtful and aspirational, in a way that feels made for actual people, not just celebrities.

A trio of creamy white ensembles, which look soft but are cinched in a considered way to create that refined silhouette the brand is known for, open the collection. A suite of black ensembles follow, with splashes of yellow, navy, grey and tomato red. There are none of the minis, trumpet sleeves or other more festive pieces we’ve seen from the brand in recent seasons; the tone is much more understated — less for nighttime and partying, and more for everyday living. The few embellishments throughout are similarly scaled back, including mini pearl-accented bows and paillettes color-matched to the fabric. There isn’t so much a theme to the collection as there is a feeling, of vacillating between strength and vulnerability.

Brandon Maxwell seems to be going through a transition of sorts. In addition to the much smaller, more intimate showing and the no-phones ask, there were no interviews (at least for Fashionista). The brand also wiped its Instagram completely clean.

All those things considered, the Spring 2024 collection can almost be looked at as a palate cleanser, with its light, sheer jerseys wrapped across the shoulders or floating by while revealing the undergarments worn beneath. The clothes aren’t meant to be flashy, but they still don’t go unnoticed.

See every look from Brandon Maxwell Spring 2024 below.