The Paradise Club, located in the Times Square Edition hotel, was like a TV depiction of a fashion show. Inside, where Frederick Anderson was staging his fall 2025 collection, photographers huddled in front of the bar while Anderson’s friends and clients—many in their flashiest Fashion Week attire—exchanged compliments and air kisses. Soon the lights went down, the stage lit up, and acclaimed mezzo-soprano opera singer J Nai Bridges emerged from behind red velvet curtains belting “Habanera.” The high energy sustained as Bridges exited and a parade of models entered, walking the runway in everything from ruffled tuxedo tops under moiré suiting to faux fur outerwear and simple knit dresses.
“When I first moved here in the late ’90s and launched my collection, people were dressed up when we would go out,” Anderson said backstage. He recalled that spirit with a sleek sleeveless dress featuring three differing panels of guipure lace, as well as a sheer ruffle hem skirt. Though a backless sequin gown with a crisscross tie detail looked Grecian, much of the collection was inspired by the Moors of southern Spain. “Our ancestors had such influence all over the world,” said Anderson, whose 2025 pre-fall collection examined the African impact on Puerto Rican attire. His Moor messaging was seen in a Spanish tile scarf dress and a handful of floral pieces in what Anderson coined a “romance” print. “Not boyfriend romantic,” he said, “but romantic as in the idea of looking back to a time when there was a sense of innocence and excitement.” Again, a nostalgia for those dress-up days when he was partying at Bungalow 8, he said.
Anderson showed 41 looks. It wasn’t necessarily too many, but an edit would have made the show more cohesive; a sequin jumpsuit with a mesh keyhole and a modest knit midi dress are two very different aesthetics. “But that is our client,” Anderson said. “I’m taking her on an adventure, but I don’t want to take her so far that she feels that she doesn’t fit into the story. Yes, I want to make a big statement—and I made a big statement—but I also want every once in a while a little peek of something that makes sense for everyday. Just every once in a while.”
