On Monday evening, guests gathered on the upper plaza of The Rink at Rockefeller Center as prominent designers, including Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Tommy Hilfiger, and Tory Burch, posed for a group portrait in front of 130 newly unveiled flags representing every U.S. state and territory.
The installation, United Flags of Fashion, is a joint project from Vogue and the CFDA—created with America250 and Rockefeller Center—that tapped more than 100 designers to reinterpret the nation’s flags in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Prabal Gurung, fashion designer and vice chair of the CFDA, described the evening as a celebration of creativity and community. “At the end of the day, our job as creators is to make people feel seen,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing today—gathering everyone in solidarity and in celebration of joy.”
Cynthia Rowley incorporated childhood memories into a flag reflecting both the state’s rural settings and Chicago’s cultural influence. “You can take the girl out of Illinois, but you can’t take Illinois out of the girl,” she said.
KHIRY founder Jameel Mohammed titled his own Illinois flag Free and Fighting, honoring the state’s decision to enter the Union as a free state. “Ultimately, I believe we’re all on the same side, and we can find union together,” he said. Rowley added, “I feel like this is a real coming together. It’s amazing that we can inject a new vision into something that has been such a tradition.”
The installation represented a unification of the eclectic and diverse creative talent across the U.S. Bernard James, a Brooklyn-based jeweler, used New Hampshire’s motto as the starting point for his flag. “‘Live Free or Die’ really resonated with me,” he said.
Public School’s Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow reimagined the Tennessee flag, playing with proportions to make the design their own. “I think we should put it in the running for their new state flag,” Osborne joked.
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Around 6:45 p.m., CFDA Chairman and designer Thom Browne opened the evening’s remarks by calling the creativity, diversity, and individuality on display “pure American.”
“America is not made up of one voice,” he said. “It’s made up of all of ours.” CFDA CEO Steven Kolb shared that designers researched each state’s “history, culture, setting, and people” before creating their designs.
Anna Wintour thanked the designers “who always, always say yes” and her Vogue team, adding that the project had been in the works for over a year and a half. She then introduced Tony Award nominees Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty, stars of Broadway’s Two Strangers, who performed a duet of “America the Beautiful”.
As the duet ended, a light rain began to fall, prompting everyone to gather beneath the umbrellas for a few moments before the evening carried on. The flags will be on display through Sept. 4.
One of the key aspects of this project is that it brings together different perspectives and ideas, allowing people to see the country in a new light. By reimagining the flags, the designers were able to add their own unique touch and creativity to the project, making it a truly special and memorable event.
United Flags of Fashion will be on display through Sept. 4 at Rockefeller Center. The event celebrated America’s diversity and creativity, showcasing the country’s eclectic and diverse creative talent. Dao-Yi Chow of Public School said, “Being able to do this with this group of designers, showcasing the idea of diversity and extending that out to the rest of the country, feels like exactly what we should be doing here in New York City.”
The installation highlights how collaboration across different fields can produce meaningful results, bringing together a wide range of perspectives to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Comfortable footwear often plays a role in these creative gatherings, allowing attendees to focus on the art rather than their own comfort.
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