Ethics Magazine’s NYFW Debut

Brynna Quigley

10.21.2026

Image Credits: Sierra Desai

Fashion week returned to NYC this season, introducing an exciting new array of runways, pop-ups, and showcases.

For its NYFW runway experience, titled “Ten Thousand Very Loving Beautiful”, Ethics Magazine built up a large turnout of followers from NYC’s underground experimental alternative culture. The show, which took place on September 11th, drew a line of young creatives that wrapped around the block. Those able to make it into the venue eventually squeezed single file into a hazy, cramped basement and found a place to stand or sit on the floor surrounding the runway. 

The layout of the space was an immediate surprise–the installation clearly did not care to follow traditional NYFW runway conventions. The set-up involved a projector, two speakers, a smoke machine, and a clear tarp runway, immediately engaging the senses. Audience members draped in deconstructed luxury were crammed together, piling on the floor and lining walls. The makeshift arrangement, while incredibly uncomfortable, fostered a collective sense of anticipation. Could we endure what we were about to witness? 

Image Credits: Sierra Desai

In tandem with the unusual display, the start of the show was signified when layered eerie audio of distorted voices and rapid projections started to play. The first model came to the front of the runway, dead-eyed, displaying a military-esque, tattered look. He knelt at the head of the runway with his hands behind his head in surrender. Immediately, the show worked to choreograph a story instead of just showcasing garments.

Image Credits: Sierra Desai

Emerging from the haze, each model mangled and contorted their bodies towards the kneeling figure. The designs took inspiration from various punk-alternative subcultures, utilizing tactile gear, ragged layers, and black and translucent materials to tell an apocalyptic story. Some models chose to crawl and fight their way to the model kneeling at the front of the runway, while others emulated an aggressor by biting, tugging, and even, at one point, wielding a weapon near his head. 

The imagery’s ferocity was only enhanced by the disorienting nature of the space. The suffering was shared between the interpretive movements of the performers and the physical bewilderment and discomfort of the audience. This was not unbeknownst to the curator, True, who later described having meticulously layered the overplaying audio clips with an overpowering voice that repeated the statement “DON’T LOOK AWAY”.

Image Credits: Sierra Desai

Instead of following one curator’s new line, Ethics brought together a collection of emerging designers for one distinct vision. For those featured in the show, Ethics Magazine’s first runway allowed for the showcasing of work that otherwise might not have gotten the same mainstream recognition. True, who also acted as the main organizer of the show, commented, “We are very grateful to be a part of a community and not a scene,” speaking on the sense of collaboration and shared purpose within the magazine’s collective that fuels the creation of their diverse range of projects.

After everyone emerged from the basement post-show, sweating bullets, the conversation was inspired and alive. The confrontational nature of the display seemed to evoke a mix of reactions and sparked discourse around themes like war, fascism, religion, and technology. 

A previous collaborator of Ethics, Jamison Lung, spoke to True’s intentions with their messaging: “She’s not someone who’s making grand political statements…but she is in the realm of culture, and culture is inherently political.” True further confirmed, “I’m always thinking about how to find something beautiful in modernity…and how this post-apocalypse we're in is not a dystopia but a utopia.”

Ethics Magazine offers an optimistic look at the upcoming scene of New York creatives. Seeing the realities of the desolate world around us, they encourage originality and dialogue with their work. More importantly, in a competitive space like the New York fashion scene, they aren’t barring new creatives from the scene, but uniting to create something truly unique. Designer and audience member Ren Ryun Chang stated, “Within all the noise…love is the most powerful thing you can hear, and it ends in love.”