Once the headquarters of insurer AIG, 161 Water St. in Manhattan’s Financial District is now home to the offices of some of New York’s most popular labels—Rosie Assoulin, Bode, and Luar among them. It was fitting then, that after several seasons at Spring Studios and a fall 2024 presentation at a Chelsea gallery space, the Black in Fashion Council would stage its spring 2025 Discovery Showroom in the downtown creative haven.
This season’s participating labels included fine jewelry brand Adore Adorn, a collection of stackable, mixed-metal pieces; footwear brand Arch, which has already landed at Revolve; Atelier Ndigo, specializing in Caribbean-inspired womenswear; Borden, which is tapping into the elevated basics market; and Diallo, a workwear-luxury hybrid beloved by pro-athletes. More on each label, and the collections its founders walked Vogue through, ahead.
Adore Adorn
“I like to think about it like wearable art,” Sasha Flynn said of her jewelry collection, which recently expanded into the fine category through a Couture program. “Right now I’m designing mostly with silver and gold vermeil, with the highlight on gemstones,” she added. Included in that range were Adore Adorn’s Shari Hoops—bedecked with bezel-set stones like topaz, garnet and green quartz—as well as the chunky Lilly Ring, which was on display in turquoise, sapphire and mother of pearl. Recently Flynn collaborated on a capsule collection, Kokiyaj, with stylist Amiraa Vainqueur, who had previously pulled Flynn’s pieces for clients. “This collection was birthed from my trip to Ghana in December 2022,” Vainqueur said, noting that the designs are reminiscent of shells found on the beaches of Accra. From a brooch that could be worn as a pendant to rings that extended over two fingers, the pieces reflected a maximalist approach to accessorizing both Flynn and Vainqueur appreciate: mixing metals, mixing materials, and layering.