Sarabande is coming back to New York.
The foundation started by Lee Alexander McQueen is reprising its “What Now?” event in the city, which connects recent graduates, students and more with present-day professionals. It will take place at The Standard, High Line in New York’s Meatpacking District on May 8.
While free of charge, attendees can register for the event on Eventbrite.
“Creative careers rarely follow a straight line, and breaking into the fashion industry in particular isn’t always straightforward. There’s a common misconception that the only path after studying fashion or the arts is to become a designer or launch your own label, when in reality the creative industries offer a vast range of roles and opportunities,” Trino Verkade, director of Sarabande, said in a statement. “‘What Now?’ was created to help young people see the breadth of those possibilities and connect them directly with the professionals who can help guide those first steps.”
Participating companies for the 2026 iteration include Marc Jacobs, Khaite and J.Crew.
In 2025, the event attracted 68 participants from Thom Browne, Coach, WWD, Hermès, Dazed and more, with hundreds of attendees.
The event joins Sarabande’s other efforts to bolster new talent, which include scholarships, subsidized studio spaces and more. As Verkade acknowledged to WWD in 2024, the rate of change is only creating more opportunity for entry-level employees, although it can be difficult to keep pace with.
“A large part of this event was to really point out that things keep changing so quickly. There are new jobs that did not exist five years ago,” Verkade said.
“Colleges are not equipped to be on top of these roles and to help people navigate what the industry is looking like now. That’s why it’s really important to get the brands here to say, ‘I need people who can do this right now,’” Verkade said. “It’s not as though they need everybody to be pattern cutters, but they may need somebody [to become] a pattern maker,” she added.
