Liz's NYFW Exposé
Start spreading the news— what could be a better Valentine’s Day plan than flying to NYC for New York Fashion Week? There’s nothing else I’d rather do as a fashion writer for two of VCU’s student media publications.
Day 1: Saturday- Feb. 14, 2026
I arrived at Richmond International Airport with the rest of the Ink Magazine team sharply at 7:00 a.m., rocking a casual look consisting of a red turtleneck sweater (very festive), acid-wash jeans, Reeboks, and a London Fog overcoat.
Armed with my jam-packed suitcase, a coffee, and a new playlist featuring all the songs I Shazamed at the airport—I was ready for my first ever flight. My eyes remained fixated on the speck-like trees and frozen lakes on the ground below as the plane streaked through the puffy clouds.
The Statue of Liberty appeared minuscule as we flew past New York Harbor and made our way to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. After checking into our hotel in Tribeca, the team and I headed to our first activity of the afternoon– a visit to the NYFW Collections showroom at the High Line Nine gallery in West Chelsea.
I spoke with several New York-based designers, including luxury footwear designer Tiannia Barnes and jewelry designer Gwen Beloti, about their creative processes and the inspirations behind their work.
We also attended a “Source Code: Fashion as Technology” panel session at the gallery hosted by Dario Calmese, founder of the Institute of Black Imagination and the first Black person to photograph the cover of Vanity Fair.
This space was set up as an immersive reading room featuring a curated selection of books from the personal libraries of Vogue’s first fashion news director and first Black creative director, André Leon Talley and Trinidadian-American actor and dancer Geoffrey Holder.
The guest speaker, author and professor of Africana Studies at Bernard College, Monica L. Miller, analyzed how Black fashion and archival materials create powerful cultural narratives across timeand space.
Day 2: Sunday- Feb. 15, 2026
On the second day, I wore a vintage Barbara Moss suit and a G-III leather coat with Calvin Klein kitten heels for a retro, yet timeless corporate inspired look. A quiet morning in the Canal Street subway station made for the perfect backdrop while we waited for the train to arrive.
We started the day off with coffee and breakfast at Ralph’s Coffee on Madison Ave.—a.k.a the Ralph Lauren coffee shop—and afterwards headed to the MET to explore the galleries for the afternoon.
Although we spent nearly three hours at the museum, that wasn’t nearly enough time to take in the vastness of the history and culture featured in each gallery. I began my self-guided tour in the Robert Lehman Collection, a 2,600-piece gallery of Western European art dating from the 14th tothe 20th century.
Day 3: Monday- Feb. 16, 2026
The third day of the trip was dedicated to the photoshoot for Ink Magazine’s spring print edition. Central Park in the snow was a beautiful sight that wouldn’t be complete without people on carriage rides blasting Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York.”
Although the outfits we wore for the shoot weren’t ideal for the freezing temperatures, we had fun and made the most of the frigid weather.
Day 4: Tuesday- Feb. 17, 2026
I slept in a little on the last day and took in the final moments of the. New York sunrise peaking through the blinds. I began my morning with a bagel (because Lender’s just doesn’t hit the same) and a cappuccino at a coffee shop called Gotan in Tribeca–which is right between two movie locations, the Ghostbusters HQ and Bubby’s from The Devil Wears Prada!
I had a mini work session there so I could get a head start on drafting content from the trip before we headed to Penn Station and embarked on our six-hour train ride back to Richmond.
I am so grateful to have gone on this trip and got to experience New York during NYFW. None of this would have been possible without student media. The experiences I’ve had due to my involvement in various student media publications have elevated my college experience in ways I never thought were possible.
Photos by Akili Williams & Liz DeFluri