Could Public School New York be preparing for a relaunch? Or do its founders, Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, have something else up their sleeves?
Reports have been circulating for months within the streetwear community that the duo was planning to revive their brand and make their triumphant return during New York Fashion Week.
The buzz got louder today when KFN, a group that is working to reimagine New York Fashion Week, teased that Osborne and Chow would be creating a “project” for KFN’s inaugural season. When KFN’s plans were announced in May, the designers were front and center for the photo op.
KFN, or KF Fashion and N4XT, cofounded by Imad Izemrane, is an extension of Kilburn Media, a diversified media and entertainment company with investments in film, TV and content-driven ventures. N4XT Experiences acquired L.A. Fashion Week in 2022, and specializes in creative direction, brand strategy and experiential programming. The group has lined up 30 designers for its inaugural showcase in New York, including Chow and Osborne.
Neither Osborne nor Chow could be reached and their longtime publicist said the duo is not prepared to share any further information about their plans at this point.
In May, the Public School New York Instagram site was active with clips from the duo’s custom design under the Public School label for Justin Jefferson for the 2025 Met Gala. Both Osborne and Chow were featured in a video styling the football player in a glen plaid suit with a high-waisted double-pleat pant and cape.
The New York City-born Chow and Osborne both worked at Sean John and created the Public School menswear brand in 2008. It quickly became the preeminent streetwear label and won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award in 2013, the CFDA award for menswear in 2014 and the International Woolmark Prize for menswear in 2015.
They were tapped to be the designers of the DKNY label in 2015, a role they kept for around a year until the brand was sold to G-III by LVMH. They returned to Public School and New York Fashion Week, but by 2018 decided to focus on selling direct-to-consumer and opened its first store on Howard Street. That store is no longer in business and the Public School NYC website just shows a photo of New York and a clock showing the current day and time.
In recent years, the duo has worked separately with Osborne creating AnOnlyChild, a line made entirely of deadstock materials, that launched in 2022. Chow has worked as the creative director of Brand New Era, a subbrand of the sports lifestyle company, as well as Italian heritage brand Sergio Tacchini and the now-defunct Brady Brand from Tom Brady.
One streetwear retailer said that despite the rumors that Public School is planning a return, no invitations to a show or event have been sent out yet, and no product has been revealed. “But within the community, all roads appear to be leading that way,” the merchant said.
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