Brooklyn’s People’s Runway Returns, Putting Emerging Designers At The Center Of New York Fashion Week
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By PAGE Editor
Fashion has always been one of New York City’s most powerful forms of cultural expression, but access to the industry can often feel like a different story. This September, Brooklyn is once again challenging that narrative by putting emerging designers directly in front of the city that helped shape them.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Brooklyn Arts Ambassador Colm Dillane, the creative force behind KidSuper, have announced the return of The People’s Runway, a fashion competition and public runway experience designed to spotlight some of Brooklyn’s most promising creative talent during New York Fashion Week. The initiative reflects a growing movement within the industry to make fashion less exclusive and more connected to the communities that continue to influence it.
On Saturday, September 12, Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza will transform into an outdoor runway as part of the CFDA’s Spring/Summer 2027 New York Fashion Week calendar. Unlike many Fashion Week presentations scattered throughout Manhattan behind guest lists and velvet ropes, The People’s Runway is intentionally built for the public. The event will be first-come, first-served, standing room only, with ADA accommodations available.
Last year’s inaugural event established the blueprint. More than 1,000 spectators gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall, while a front row featuring Ms. Lauryn Hill, A$AP Ferg, Busta Rhymes, Ne-Yo, Kodak Black, Jordan Clarkson and Francisco Lindor helped turn the runway into a cultural moment. Five Brooklyn designers—Amhrii Johnson, Daveed Baptiste, Kent Anthony, Rojin Jung and Shriya Myneni—were given a platform that extended well beyond the traditional fashion ecosystem.
The 2026 edition builds on that momentum, but the most significant element may be what happens behind the runway.
After reviewing hundreds of applications, Reynoso and Dillane selected five Brooklyn-based designers who will each receive a $5,000 grant, alongside direct mentorship from Dillane and leading figures across the fashion industry. The structure is less about awarding a title and more about creating tangible resources for designers attempting to turn creative practices into sustainable careers.
“Not just give someone a trophy or a title, but give them a real platform, funding, mentorship and access at the exact moment when those things can make a difference,” Dillane said.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Brooklyn Arts Ambassador Colm Dillane
That philosophy feels particularly relevant in an industry where emerging designers are often expected to build a brand, produce collections, generate content, find funding and create cultural relevance simultaneously. A runway can create visibility, but resources can create longevity.
For Reynoso, the initiative is also an extension of Brooklyn itself.
“Fashion, culture, and self-expression are so integral to our identity as Brooklynites,” he said, emphasizing the importance of investing in local talent and ensuring Brooklyn remains visible during one of the city’s biggest cultural weeks.
The 2026 cohort represents the breadth of that creative ecosystem.
Kuai Li , @quine_li_, founder and creative director of Quine Li, approaches fashion through sculpture, exploring the relationship between body, structure and space. With an MFA in Fashion Design from FIT, Li has already seen her work appear in publications including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Office Magazine and CNN, while being worn by Katy Perry, Kylie Jenner, Michelle Yeoh and Doja Cat.
Lamin Rey Jaiteh, @reyjaiteh, the Gambian-born designer behind Rey Jaiteh, brings a distinctly New York perspective to luxury streetwear and tailoring. Rooted in Harlem and informed by lessons learned alongside his father, Jaiteh creates handcrafted garments that examine identity, transformation and craftsmanship while pushing modern menswear toward something more personal.
Laurel Tiange Fang, @by_laurelblue, founder of Laurel Blue, occupies a space where fashion and technology increasingly intersect. With degrees from Parsons and NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Fang explores wearable innovation and the relationship between fashion and the natural world, positioning clothing as both design object and technological platform.
Moses Aina, @igbosisun, the designer behind IGBO-SISUN, brings fine art, luxury fashion and global cultural influences into statement-making pieces designed to command attention. His work has appeared in Vogue, OUT and New York Magazine, while his garments have been worn by United Nations leaders and Emmy and SAG nominees.
And Roderick Reyes, @reyes_roderick, a Brooklyn native raised by Dominican and Mexican immigrant parents, brings the story full circle. A graduate of FIT and the High School of the Fashion Industries, Reyes works across fashion design, tailoring and styling, creating looks for red carpets, stages and press appearances. For Reyes, fashion was not simply a career discovered later in life—it was the ambition he wrote into his elementary school yearbook before he could even correctly spell “designer.”
Together, the five designers represent a version of Brooklyn fashion that refuses to fit neatly into one category. There is sculpture, tailoring, technology, luxury, fine art, streetwear and personal history—all converging in a borough that has consistently produced some of New York’s most influential creative voices.
The significance of The People’s Runway is therefore larger than a single runway show. It is an acknowledgment that fashion’s next generation does not necessarily need to be discovered somewhere else. The talent is already here.
Brooklyn has long been a cultural engine for music, art, design and fashion. What makes this initiative compelling is its attempt to connect that creative energy with institutional support. By bringing a public runway to Borough Hall, the city is effectively turning one of its civic spaces into a stage for emerging culture.
For Dillane, whose KidSuper universe has always blurred the lines between fashion, art, comedy, community and storytelling, that intersection feels natural.
“Brooklyn is at the core of KidSuper,” he said. “The energy, the diversity, the people, the feeling that anything can happen here, all of that has shaped who I am.”
Now, that same feeling is being handed to five designers with the opportunity to shape what comes next.
As New York Fashion Week continues to evolve, The People’s Runway offers a reminder that the future of fashion is not only being decided inside established studios, luxury houses or invitation-only venues. Sometimes, it is being built in the boroughs, among communities, by designers who simply need someone willing to bet on them.
And this September, Brooklyn will once again make that bet in public.
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The People’s Runway will return to Brooklyn Borough Hall during New York Fashion Week, giving five emerging Brooklyn designers a public platform, $5,000 grants and direct mentorship from KidSuper’s Colm Dillane.