The flags came first. A joint color guard from the US Army and the US Navy opened Tuesday night’s New York Fashion Week debut of Vanderbilt & Seewald Global Studio at Grand Central Terminal — and with America approaching its 250th anniversary, the moment landed.
Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin and Michaela Seewald unveiled their new venture, V&S Global Studio, before a packed audience in the terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall. Emcee Mario Lopez led the evening, which also featured a musical performance by Leslie Ann Lopez.
The patriotic opening fit the setting. The Vanderbilt story is an American story: a family whose enterprise helped build the country’s railroads and, more than a century ago, helped shape Grand Central Terminal itself. Tuesday night, that history was on full display. AEXA Technology provided holograms of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Alva Vanderbilt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan — four generations of the family that helped build modern New York.
There is no more American room for it. Vanderbilt Hall sits inside a terminal that has welcomed generations of arrivals to New York, and on Tuesday night it welcomed a new American business with an international guest list.
The venture looks outward from that American foundation. V&S Global Studio combines investment, strategic guidance, media, technology and direct-to-consumer commerce to help international designers build a US and global presence — while keeping their ownership, creative control and brand identity. The message: come to America, keep your name on the door.
Three designers showed what that looks like in practice. Lorena Saravia brought Mexican craftsmanship sharpened into modern luxury. Dustin Glickman of DSTN carried Stockholm’s “dark cowboy” aesthetic onto an American runway. Nabil Hayari of Hayari Paris showed that Paris couture still wants a New York audience.
Costin is the founder and chief executive of House of Vanderbilt and a co-founder of SohoMuse. Seewald is the founder and chief executive of V24 Media.
The timing matters. As the country counts down to its 250th birthday, institutions are rediscovering the power of ceremony — and a fashion-week opening that begins with the Army and Navy, in a landmark built by American enterprise, felt exactly of the moment.
Under the ceremony sat serious commercial machinery: livestream e-commerce and Click-to-Buy technology, so viewers anywhere could purchase looks the instant they appeared on the runway.
And the show started on time — breaking a New York Fashion Week tradition, and setting a standard the rest of the week would do well to follow.
More information is available at vsglobalstudio.com.
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