Once the headquarters of insurer AIG, 161 Water St. in Manhattan’s Financial District is now home to the offices of some of New York’s most popular labels—Rosie Assoulin, Bode, and Luar among them. It was fitting then, that after several seasons at Spring Studios and a fall 2024 presentation at a Chelsea gallery space, the Black in Fashion Council would stage its spring 2025 Discovery Showroom in the downtown creative haven.
This season’s participating labels included fine jewelry brand Adore Adorn , a collection of stackable, mixed-metal pieces; footwear brand Arch , which has already landed at Revolve; Atelier Ndigo, specializing in Caribbean-inspired womenswear; Borden , which is tapping into the elevated basics market; and Diallo , a workwear-luxury hybrid beloved by pro-athletes. More on each label, and the collections its founders walked Vogue through, ahead. Adore Adorn “I like to think about it like wearable art,” Sasha Flynn said of her jewelry collection, which recently expanded into the fine category through a Couture program.
“Right now I'm designing mostly with silver and gold vermeil, with the highlight on gemstones,” she added. Included in that range were Adore Adorn’s Shari Hoops —bedecked with bezel-set stones like topaz, garnet and green quartz—as well as the chunky Lilly Ring , which was on display in turquoise, sapphire and mother of pearl. Recently Flynn collaborated on a capsule collection, Kokiyaj , with stylist Amiraa Vainqueur, who had previously pulled Flynn’s pieces for clients.
“This collection was birthed from my trip to Ghana in December 2022,” Vainqueur said, noting that the designs are reminiscent of shells found on the beaches of Accra. From a brooch that could be worn as a pendant to rings that extended over two fingers, the pieces reflected a maximalist approach to accessorizing both Flynn and Vainqueur appreciate: mixing metals, mixing materials, and layering. Arch It’s hard to design anything heart-shaped without veering into twee territory, but Arch founder Jazmin Veney pulled it off with her NYC-based brand’s signature silhouette, coined Lovestruck .
“When people think of Arch, I want them to think of the heart heel,” she said. “I want them to be confident in wearing things that are fun and novelty [but] also know that these are functional and wearable. All of these shoes are really prioritizing comfort.
” Combining a wedge and a flared heel—and in colors including butter and electric blue, with red forthcoming—the Lovestruck heel adds to the NYC-based brand’s well-edited offering. Veney launched the label from her Harlem apartment during the pandemic, her first design being fuzzy, quarantine-friendly slippers . Her heart heels, a lace-up stiletto with an extended footbed, and a textured mule followed.
Next up is a heeled sandal embellished with ball beads and a Lovestruck ankle boot. Atelier Ndigo If you’re not already planning your next vacation, a glimpse of Atelier Ndigo’s collection of vibrantly-hued dresses and separates will prompt you to. Drawing inspiration from her Haitian roots, Miami-based designer Waina Chancy employed peau de soie for balloon-sleeve dresses, tiered midi skirts, and voluminous crop tops.
The pieces were brought to life by New York City seamstresses, many of whom refined their skills making custom looks to wear to church. Borden Many of us take style cues from the family members we’re most strongly bonded to. And though Eugene Marshall didn’t realize it when he was younger, his grandparents gave him a masterclass in dressing.
“They were very uniformal,” he said. “When I got older and started working in luxury, I was like, ‘I see what you guys did there.’” Borden, which is Marshall’s grandmother’s last name, sources Portuguese wools and cottons and Italian knits for a range of wardrobe essentials, among them a goes-with-everything T-shirt , a classic pair of trousers , a sophisticated front slit skirt , a tailored blazer, and a chic wool coat.
“I feel like fashion should be easy and I find some people make it much more difficult than what it needs to be,” Marshall said. “I wanted everything to work together, so whatever bottom you take, it'll work with each top.” Diallo The brainchild of NFL quarterback Tyrod Taylor and his longtime stylist Dex Robinson, Dillo launched in 2023—a mélange of workwear-inspired separates; boxy, cropped tees and shirting; and elevated takes on sweats and jerseys.
Diallo, which is Taylor’s middle name and means “bold” in the West African Fula language, was partially born from the duo’s fraught relationships with high-end fashion houses. “At some point, we realized we were putting a lot of money into these luxury brands, but when it was time to go to Paris, we couldn't get a seat at the show,” Robinson says. “I really felt that.
And so we were like, ‘You know what? Let's take some time and make a couple pieces just for us to wear.’ So we did.” Standouts included a great pair of suede shorts and a work shirt with a Diallo patch, the latter an homage to the many Black men who have worked in factories and as mechanics.
Though it can be hard to put one’s vision into words, Robinson does it well: “If Carhartt, Dickies, Bottega and J.W. Anderson had a baby, that's kind of the world that we live in.
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