With Fe Noel, though a fashion brand it might be, it’s never just concerning the clothes. Brooklyn-based, Grenada-bred designer Felicia Noel said it herself on Instagram, “I only take part in Latest York Fashion Week] when I actually have a special message to share,” she wrote. (In any case, pulling off a runway show is an expensive, laborious feat). And a message Noel did share. Amid a stream of the designer’s signature light and airy silhouettes, it was one which extends beyond the glamour, the brand, or an interest in fashion itself. 

Following a sneak peek of what was to return via social media, anticipation from the style collective settled expectedly high for the designer’s second show on the official Latest York Fashion Week calendar. Noel has a way of delivering fashion that embodies a palpable sense of freedom, confidence, self, and hope that seems to resonate with everyone within the room — Again, no easy feat. 

For the brand’s first show in 2020, Noel took attendees on a visit to her home country. The brand’s Spring 2023 collection, in fact, builds on that narrative (up to now, there at all times appears to be a nod to West Indian and African countries within the designer’s work), but the actual focus this time, in a partnership with financial services organization TIAA, was retirement inequality. Noel’s big message became greater than apparent by the show’s closing, but a line of intricately crafted ready-to-wear delighted the group first. 

The opening look, a slender but billowing and ever-so-sheer maxi dress with exposed seams. The look set the tone for the colour palette of the show — for probably the most part, a soft mix of peaches, seafoam greens, and champagnes (a really Fe Noel-esque lineup of hues, if there ever was one). There have been moments where the gathering entered a moody, romantic fantasy of sorts — a gardenia-like floral print embroidered on a see-through hot-pants one-piece and the same balloon gown. Then, to play up the romance exaggerated ruffled and puffed sleeves and pants throughout. Quite a few other elements are sure to be successful run with fans as well — match sets, lingerie elements as outerwear, and sheer, ruched dresses. 

Near as opulent as a Latest York Fashion Week closing gets, the look to finish Fe Noel’s Friday night show introduces the brand’s first-ever couture piece — a corset-bodice gown tiered with $1.6 million in (faux, but entirely real-looking) dollar bills. It’s not a random number — it’s the quantity of potential savings lost for girls, per a 30 percent retirement income gap. Noel tells WWD her primary goal with the gathering was to spark conversation. With a monumental piece as big because the statement made, it feels secure to say mission completed. 

Discover more of the moving collection below.

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