Five Brooklyn Designers Take Over Borough Hall for NYFW Runway Sept. 12

Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza will once again transform into an open-air catwalk on Sept. 12, when five emerging Brooklyn designers present their collections as part of New York Fashion Week. The event, called The People's Runway, gives each designer a $5,000 grant, direct mentorship from KidSuper founder Colm Dillane, and full municipal production support — from hair and makeup to lighting and model casting — before an audience that's open to the public and free to attend.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Dillane announced the 2026 designer cohort on Aug. 24, according to Brooklyn Paper. The pair reviewed hundreds of applications submitted after they launched an open call for emerging designers in June, per the same report. Reynoso, who serves as Brooklyn Borough President, said the event would highlight five talented designers and place Brooklyn at the center of New York Fashion Week. “The People's Runway is proof that nowhere in the world is doing it like Brooklyn,” he said, according to the outlet.

Dillane, who holds the title of Brooklyn Arts Ambassador and is the creative force behind KidSuper, said the program is designed to give designers more than just a trophy or a title. He described it as providing a platform, funding, mentorship and access — the kind of structural support that's typically out of reach without serious private capital. Dillane's own résumé lends weight to that mentorship: he won the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize in 2021 and became Louis Vuitton's first guest creative director for its Fall/Winter 2023 menswear collection at Paris Fashion Week, according to Glossy.

Five Designers, Five Distinct Visions

The 2026 cohort includes Moses Aina, Laurel Tiange Fang, Rey Jaiteh, Kuai Li and Roderick Reyes, per Brooklyn Paper's reporting. Aina, founder of Igbo-Sisun, has dressed United Nations leaders and Emmy and SAG nominees, and will present “Legacy,” a collection inspired by her great-grandfather, Sylvanus Olympio. Olympio served as the first president of independent Togo from 1961 until his assassination during a 1963 military coup, according to Britannica.

Fang, founder of Laurel Blue and holder of a BFA in fashion design from Parsons and an MPS from NYU ITP, will show “Forms of Water,” a collection inspired by the ocean and changing states of water that uses kinetic systems, digital fabrication and handcrafted textiles. Jaiteh, a Gambian-born, New York-based designer behind his eponymous label, will present “IDEK,” a collection about uncertainty before transformation. Li, founder of Quine Li and an MFA graduate in fashion design from FIT, will show “Tender Armor,” a five-look collection exploring protection, vulnerability and visible inner strength.

Reyes, who was born and raised in Brooklyn to immigrant parents of Dominican and Mexican descent and graduated from FIT and the High School of Fashion Industries, will present “Gettin' Fly,” a collection critiquing modern survival and a broken system. The collection incorporates authentic security tags and anti-theft protection materials, according to the outlet's account of the cohort.

Building on a High-Energy 2025 Debut

The People's Runway launched in 2025, staged on the steps and plaza of Brooklyn Borough Hall starting at 8 p.m. on Sept. 14 that year, according to the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. That inaugural show drew more than a thousand fashionistas and featured a celebrity-studded crowd that included Ms. Lauryn Hill, A$AP Ferg, Busta Rhymes, Ne-Yo, Kodak Black, Jordan Clarkson and Francisco Lindor, per Brooklyn Paper. The debut cohort — Ahmrii Johnson, Kent Anthony, Shriya Myneni, Daveed Baptiste and Rojin Jung — closed out their presentation with a live performance from the Brooklyn United Music and Arts Center marching band, the borough president's office noted.

This year's show is officially part of the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Spring 2027 New York Fashion Week schedule, per Brooklyn Paper's reporting. Municipal guidelines for the 2026 open call required all designer submissions to be original work with no use of artificial intelligence, and selected cohort members must finalize their collections by Aug. 31, according to the borough president's office.

What to Know Before Sept. 12

Doors open at 5 p.m. at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza, 209 Joralemon St., with the show beginning at 6 p.m., according to Brooklyn Paper. The event is standing room only on a first-come, first-served basis, and organizers have confirmed ADA accommodations will be available. Ahead of the show, an open, in-person model casting call is scheduled for Sept. 2 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Brooklyn Borough Hall, organized in partnership with Fashion Week Brooklyn, per the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.

The 2026 edition is backed by a coalition of corporate and civic partners, including MAC Cosmetics, Poppi, City Point, Brooklyn Org and the Brooklyn Arts Council, according to the same office. The selection process for this year's cohort, open to any Brooklyn resident aged 18 and older, ran from June 15 through July 12 and evaluated hundreds of applicants, as reported by Bushwick Daily.

A Bigger Bet on Brooklyn Fashion

The show arrives as New York City leans further into fashion as an economic engine. The city's fashion industry generated $7.9 billion in total economic impact and supported 32,200 jobs in 2024, while citywide Fashion Week events historically generate close to $900 million in annual economic impact, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The city has also worked to build out Brooklyn's manufacturing base through the Made in NY Garment Manufacturing Hub in Sunset Park, projected to generate more than 460 local fashion jobs and $57 million in direct economic output, per the same agency.

Whether The People's Runway becomes a permanent fixture on the official CFDA calendar, or how last year's debut designers have translated their exposure into lasting business, remains to be seen. For now, the plaza outside Borough Hall is set to once again serve as a free, public stage for Brooklyn talent during one of fashion's biggest weeks.