Frederick Anderson — a renowned figure in New York’s arts and fashion landscape for more than a decade — closed New York Fashion Week with his Fall/Winter 2024 collection on Feb. 14 at The Prince George Ballroom in NoMad.

Anderson took inspiration from the evolution of music, focusing his collection around the theme of blues and ’90s rock and roll music.

“I want to move forward and tell the new story,” Anderson said. “But we do have these little pockets that inspire us. We don’t take things from the past and leave them there.

Anderson chose a myriad of fabrics and textures for his collection, creating a grungy contrast within each outfit. For the first half of the show, models displayed a fusion of sheer, chiffon dresses and knit asymmetrical tops and skirts that perfectly exhibit Anderson’s true style of lace and crochet sets. A series of satin and sequin suit sets with wide flare pants also referenced both ’90s rock and roll and country flare. Throughout the collection, the garments had leather accents to add an edgy touch to the soft laces and chiffon.

The show saw a departure from lace and leather with a gauzy, sheer polka-dotted dress fit for swaying to a country song. As an ode to his southern roots, Anderson crafts garments that represent himself.

For the second sequence, he showcased a mélange of reds and blacks experimenting with deep V-neck cuts and an abundance of satin and leather. Off-the-shoulder knit pieces paired with leather and black fringe skirts and belts meshed together to embrace the designer’s laudation for such eclectic art forms and genres. 

A particularly bold take on a little black dress, Anderson expertly uses mesh to evoke a sense of punk rebellion and dance club chic. Crocheted shorts with sequins paired with a billowing leather blouse was a perfect dichotomy of blues and rock and roll. 

Anderson, who has also worked on Broadway as a singer and dancer, remarked that the collection was reminiscent of the time when he first moved to New York. Models wore punk rock hairstyles as a homage to Anderson’s admiration for rock and roll as music reverberated through the room.

The designer emphasized that his curation relays the importance of the convergence of cultures and art forms — like fashion and music — that allow the viewers to see beauty in togetherness.

“We need to converge,” Anderson said. “We need to think more often about the beauty in us being together, not the beauty in us being separate.”

Contact Sara Sharma at [email protected].