Conner Ives Finally Brought His Label Home for a New York Fashion Week Debut

Conner Ives put on his first New York Fashion Week show on September 12, years after establishing his label in London. The designer, who grew up in Bedford, New York before leaving for Central Saint Martins in 2014 and building his brand in London since his runway debut there in February 2022, staged Spring 2027 at The Grill's Pool Room in Midtown Manhattan, where guests sat around a pool bearing the brand's logo. The cast included Iris Law, Lila Moss, Hari Nef and Dominique Jackson.

"My work has always explored where I came from and the people I met growing up there," Ives wrote on Instagram ahead of the show. "It's grown to encompass a lot more, but home has always served as a cornerstone for me." In his show notes, he framed the collection as "a tale of two cities. The places I knew then, the places I return to now. And how much I've changed and how much I've remained the same. A flamboyant kid, who loves to put on a good show."

The collection leaned into that flamboyance rather than dialing it back for a hometown crowd. Gowns came in hand-painted fish prints, outerwear ran short and fur-trimmed, and denim came with black Victorian-style piping in one look and gold and pink beading in another. A red slogan tee read "Bring Back Shame." The finale look, a mint-green gown nicknamed "Lady Liberty," was inspired by the Parisian couture house Callot Soeurs — a French reference point for a collection built around America.

Conner Ives

Tailoring, and what the clothes are for

Tailoring was new territory: bespoke men's suits made in partnership with Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, a category WWD called new for Ives, worn with patterned cummerbunds and brightly colored shirts. It's his second season of men's looks, after he first added them for Fall 2026, on a label built on womenswear.

Conner Ives

Ives is better known for slogan tees, above all Protect the Dolls. First sold in 2025, that shirt has raised more than $600,000 for trans-led organizations, and its slogan has turned up on Pedro Pascal, Troye Sivan and a run of other wearers since. "Bring Back Shame" reads like a companion piece — another one-line statement built to be worn, not just read.

None of it required a New York show; Ives could have kept sending American references across the Atlantic instead of home. Bringing the label back to the city he grew up outside of is its own kind of statement — a bet that showing up in person matters, for him and for a fashion week trying to hold onto independent designers who could just as easily plant their flag in Paris or London.