Designer Daniella Kallmeyer: New York Fashion Week Is Thriving, Actually

New York Fashion Week isn’t dead—it’s evolving. And for designer Daniella Kallmeyer, that evolution is working just fine.

On the latest episode of "Nice Talk", Kallmeyer chats with editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike about launching her eponymous line and identifying the "void in the market ... between designer and contemporary" that she sought to fill. The designer also explains why she's "thriving" at NYFW—and why the changes the event has undergone are ultimately a good thing.

"It's clearly not [dead], because I'm thriving," Kallmeyer says. "I think that there's a new guard, and maybe people don't have their eyes open enough. Maybe the old guard has moved or shifted or changed. Maybe they've left New York ... And, you know, as they exit, so comes in a new class of designers. And it's hard to do it, and it's hard to make it, and sometimes it takes time for enough people to have eyes on things."

Kallmeyer points out that newer designers are showcasing their work in untraditional ways that people might not be used to. Kallmeyer, for example, didn't do a show for her first NYFW, but instead "it was a salon, it was high tea, it was lunch with the girls." Kallmeyer launched her brand—which has gained popularity in recent years—back in 2012. "Not everybody knew about it," she says of her first NYFW, "because it didn't have big, blazing lights."

Looking back on what some might consider New York Fashion Week’s heyday, when shows were staged in massive tents at Bryant Park, Kallmeyer notes that the structure of the event left far less room for variation in how designers presented their work.

"That was a time that doesn't make sense anymore, you know?" she says. "And that was also hard. You were in or you were out. I think it's more spread out. It's more unique. It's less formulaic than it used to be."

Kallmeyer was nominated for Womenswear Designer of the Year at this year's CDFA Fashion Awards. The honor was so unexpected that she nearly deleted the email notifying her about the nomination. "I read it out loud to [my publicist], and we both cried."

"It's hard not to have imposter syndrome," Kallmeyer explains. "We've been around for 13 years, and I've been grinding, and we have two stores, one store on Madison Avenue. We sell to some of the best wholesale accounts. We've dressed some of the biggest celebrities, and I still feel like I'm emerging."

But that first New York Fashion Week (without the “big, blazing lights”) ultimately became an ethos that still defines the brand today. "Kallmeyer doesn't shout," the designer says. "It introduces itself, and you'll meet us when it's time."

For more from Kallmeyer—including how she defines success and the role her queer identity plays in her line—check out this week’s installment of Nice Talk. The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.