With Its NYFW Debut, Vettese Has Already Established Its Signatures

Presenting at New York Fashion Week for the first time is a daunting task for any young designer. If Kari Vettese was nervous about her Fall 2025 debut, it certainly didn’t show on the runway. And despite this being a first-time run, the lineup already established Vettese’s signatures. That was the Italian-American designer’s intention.

“There’s never a starting point,” she told Fashionista backstage. “I’m always designing and evolving pieces. Once I’m about a month out [from releasing a lineup], then I start to piece together which ones I want in the collection.”

The Fall 2025 collection built upon what most Vettese followers have come to expect from the two-year-old label. There are many tube dresses, lots of corsetry, and several instances of her signature woven design technique. She also stayed true to celebrating her Italian heritage, which is a common thread woven into every collection she’s made.

“[The theme] is definitely my heritage — my very Romanesque inspiration and [Italian] culture where my family’s from, but also intertwined with my American life, and seeing bits of California and New York in there,” she shared.

Take, for example, one of Vettese’s favorite pieces: a scarf belt coat, which features extra-long attachments that scarf around the neck and then can be tied as a belt to close it. “They’re so Roman but so New York, too,” she said of the design. For a more overt reference, one look includes a green, white and red color-blocked bandeau with a cutout of the Italian peninsula on the front.

Debuts often present a unique opportunity for designers to propose a fresh point of view through newness and innovation. While Vettese’s designs certainly stand out in the greater market, many of the looks felt similar to those she’s already created, leaving me wondering if she could’ve pushed herself a bit more. Still, it served as a strong introduction for a first-time NYFW run.

“I hope [this collection] really solidifies the commercial-and-luxury cross that Vettese is,” she said. “And I hope the impression it leaves [the audience] is that they feel something they haven’t felt in a while. That it resonated more so than words can explain.”

See the Vettese Fall 2025 collection below.