Holding his NYFW Fall 2026 presentation at new Chelsea hotspot The Eighth, celebrated designer Marc Bouwer quite literally flipped the script.
NEW YORK, NY: Yolanda Adams and Marc Bouwer at Marc Bouwer’s Some Like It Haute FW26 presentation at The Eighth, Chelsea’s newest cocktail bar and restaurant (Photo by David Warren /Sipa USA)
Instead of models walking in formation, he delivered plot twists and cliffhangers with a collection that premiered as a six-episode vertical micro-drama.
NEW YORK, NY: Consuelo Vanderbilt-Costin and Marc Bouwer at Marc Bouwer’s Some Like It Haute FW26 presentation at The Eighth, Chelsea’s newest cocktail bar and restaurant (Photo by David Warren /Sipa USA)
Titled “Some Like It Haute,” the presentation was directed by Amber Gray, letting the collection unfold episodically. Created specifically for the 9:16 screen, the very modern presentation reframed fashion week as a mobile-first series designed for the scroll, the pause, and the replay.
Fashion in the Age of the Vertical Screen
As you know — because, let’s face it, you’ve been scrolling through them on your feeds — vertical drama has emerged as one of the most powerful engagement formats in global entertainment. The mobile-first model is built for velocity, cliffhangers, and repeat viewing.
NEW YORK, NY: Haley Kalil and Marc Bouwer at Marc Bouwer’s Some Like It Haute FW26 presentation at The Eighth, Chelsea’s newest cocktail bar and restaurant (Photo by Tom Concordia)
In many ways, it could be said that innovation has defined Bouwer’s trajectory thoughout his career. In 2009, he was the first designer to place a virtual show on the New York Fashion Week calendar, anticipating the digital pivot that would later reshape the industry.
And with Fall 2026, he once again positioned himself ahead of the curve, aligning fashion with culture AND contemporary consumption behavior.
Attendees included Haley Kalil, Gina Gershon, Yolanda Adams, Denise Bidot, Consuelo Vanderbilt-Costin, Grimanesa Amoros (artist), Garrett Swan, Instagram personality Tika The Iggy, Dania Ramirez, and Marc Bouwer’s Fall 2026 cast of models.
The Eighth: Celeb and NYFW Fave
If Bouwer’s format challenged the runway, the setting elevated the concept.
NEW YORK, NY: Grimanesa Amoros and Marc Bouwer at Marc Bouwer’s Some Like It Haute FW26 presentation at The Eighth, Chelsea’s newest cocktail bar and restaurant (Photo by David Warren /Sipa USA)
Officially opening for reservations (psst: go to Resy) on February 28, 2026, The Eighth is an intimate cocktail-driven restaurant that offers an alternative to the speed and spectacle that often define New York nightlife… while also making its name on the social scene.
The venue is the brainchild of Opus Hospitality — the newly established hospitality group founded by award-winning interior designers Julien Legeard and Valmira Gashi of Legeard Studio — in collaboration with hospitality veteran Richie Romero, who serves as Strategic Marketing and Brand Advisory Partner.
And as NYFW kicked off, it was probably the location getting noticed on your feed for being the setting of Christian Siriano’s NYFW party with a guest list that included Natasha Lyonne, Taylor Momsen, Leslie Jones, Monica, Willa Ford, Coco Rocha, Candice Huffine, Anna Schilling, Ashley Longshore, Richie Romero, Valmira Gashi, Ali Lasky, Sergio Farias and more), along with influencer-packed events from The Daily Front Row, and more.
The Eighth is located at 132 7th Ave in Chelsea.
