His Highness Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe returns to the New York fashion calendar as host of International Heritage Fashion Week Season 05, an expansive September presentation bringing international designers, heritage, performance, red-carpet culture, and the Spring/Summer 2027 collections together in Midtown Manhattan.

New York Fashion Week will welcome a distinctly international gathering on September 10, 2026, when International Heritage Fashion Week returns for its fifth season with His Highness Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe serving as event host. Staged at the 3 West Club in Midtown Manhattan, IHFW Season 05 is planned as an extended celebration of fashion and cultural identity, with two runway presentations, live performances, red-carpet arrivals, and an evening awards program.

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The event arrives at an important moment in International Heritage Fashion Week’s development. Season 05 continues a format built around designers whose work can speak simultaneously to heritage and contemporary fashion. Rather than treating cultural identity as a separate category within the program, IHFW places it at the center of the runway conversation.

For Prince Mario-Max, the 2026 engagement represents a return to the IHFW stage. He previously hosted Season 04, which brought an international group of designers and performers together during New York Fashion Week. His return for Season 05 provides continuity as the organization develops its presence within New York’s crowded September fashion calendar.

The September 10 program will run at 3 West Club, 3 West 51st Street, close to Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue. The location places the event within one of Manhattan’s established cultural, commercial, and hospitality districts, giving visiting designers and guests direct access to the center of Midtown.

The program is produced by celebrity designer Prashant Goyal, founder and producer of International Heritage Fashion Week. Goyal’s role extends beyond production. His Heritage India Fashions label is scheduled to appear in the second runway presentation with a Spring/Summer 2027 wedding collection, giving the producer a direct creative presence on the runway.

Prince Mario-Max Returns as Host

Prince Mario-Max is positioned as the principal host guiding guests through a program devoted to designers, artists, fashion, and international creativity. The role places him at the center of a schedule designed to move between runway presentations, entertainment, red-carpet activity, and recognition of members of the wider creative community.

His presence also reinforces an element that has become recognizable within International Heritage Fashion Week. Season 04 featured Prince Mario-Max as host alongside designers and performers representing a broad range of creative backgrounds. Season 05 develops that foundation with a more extensive program and a clearly structured day of presentations and events.

Holly Hester joins the 2026 edition as red-carpet host. She will welcome designers, personalities, special guests, and members of the fashion community as they arrive, giving the red carpet its own identity within the day’s programming.

The combination of a principal event host and a dedicated red-carpet host reflects the scale planned for Season 05. IHFW is presenting the day as more than a sequence of collections. The runway remains central, while arrivals, photography, media interaction, entertainment, networking, and awards are integrated into the experience.

Doors are scheduled to open at 1:15 p.m., ahead of the first runway presentation at 2 p.m. From that point, the program moves through an afternoon of designers and live performance before transitioning later into the IHFW S05 Awards Night.

The structure gives individual designers defined moments while preserving the rhythm of a collective presentation. That approach is especially relevant for an event centered on international participation, where different design languages, techniques, cultural references, and commercial perspectives share the same New York platform.

Two Runways for Spring/Summer 2027

The first runway presentation begins at 2 p.m. and introduces an eclectic group of participants. ICON Fashion Magazine is scheduled for a 2:15 p.m. runway presentation, followed by a live dance performance.

Rohan Narang Fashions follows at 2:35 p.m. The label’s placement within the first presentation contributes to the international emphasis of the afternoon and continues the event’s commitment to providing individual designers with a defined presentation slot rather than folding every participant into a single continuous showcase.

Willow Bean is scheduled for 2:50 p.m. The name will already be familiar to followers of International Heritage Fashion Week. Jennie Fear’s Willow Bean Studio participated in Season 04, where its collection drew on a refined historical fashion vocabulary interpreted for a contemporary runway setting.

That continuity is meaningful for an event entering its fifth season. Returning participants help create a recognizable creative community around IHFW, while new designers expand the range of perspectives represented on the runway.

Following the first runway finale, the program allows time for photography and red-carpet moments before the second major presentation begins at 4 p.m. The break creates a natural transition between the two showcases and gives designers, guests, photographers, and media an opportunity to engage beyond the runway itself.

The second presentation opens with The Dark Arches at 4 p.m., followed by Steevteez at 4:15 p.m. A live dance performance is scheduled between the designer presentations, continuing the interdisciplinary format established earlier in the afternoon.

Craftsmanship and Heritage Take the Runway

Ruchi Goyal Crochet is scheduled for 4:25 p.m., bringing handcrafted crochet fashion into the Spring/Summer 2027 program. The presentation is framed around artistry, individuality, and contemporary design, placing handwork within a modern fashion context.

Ruchi Goyal is another returning creative presence within the IHFW community. Ruchi Goyal Crochet appeared during Season 04, alongside labels and designers including Heritage India Fashions, Prashant Goyal Couture, Daniel Martinez, Elfida Artinoff, Liliana Mijangos, Franklin Rowe International, Olesja Mueller, and Jennie Fear.

The return of crochet to the runway is particularly aligned with IHFW’s wider interest in craftsmanship. Techniques that visibly retain the maker’s hand have an important place in discussions about heritage fashion because they allow construction, material, and cultural knowledge to remain legible within contemporary clothing.

At 4:50 p.m., Heritage India Fashions is scheduled to present its Spring/Summer 2027 wedding collection under Prashant Goyal. The presentation is conceived around Indian heritage viewed through a contemporary New York perspective, bringing traditional craftsmanship and detailed formalwear into a modern luxury setting.

For Goyal, the presentation joins two dimensions of the same project. As founder and producer, he is responsible for creating the framework in which the international roster appears. As a designer, he participates in the creative exchange that the event is intended to encourage.

Heritage India Fashions has been an established component of previous IHFW programming, and its Season 05 presentation reinforces the role of cultural continuity within the event. Wedding fashion provides a particularly rich setting for this approach because ceremonial dress frequently carries generations of technique, symbolism, material knowledge, and family tradition.

A Fashion Week Built Around International Identity

International Heritage Fashion Week was founded around the principle that fashion can cross borders while retaining a meaningful relationship with cultural origin. Season 05 continues that direction by bringing emerging and established designers into the same program during one of the industry’s most internationally visible weeks.

The concept gives IHFW a specific position within the New York calendar. The event is interested in contemporary fashion, but it also makes room for the histories behind garments. Heritage is approached as an active design resource that can inform silhouettes, textiles, embellishment, construction, ceremonial clothing, and modern luxury.

That approach accommodates a wide spectrum of fashion categories. The wider Season 05 presentation encompasses couture, eveningwear, bridal, menswear, children’s couture, swimwear, and crochet, reflecting a program that does not require international designers to conform to one aesthetic.

It also allows designers at different stages of development to appear within a shared professional setting. Emerging names can occupy the runway alongside returning participants, while photographers, stylists, models, beauty professionals, media representatives, and fashion enthusiasts form the larger audience around them.

The model is particularly relevant in New York, where fashion has long been shaped by international communities. A platform devoted explicitly to heritage gives designers an opportunity to present cultural references as part of forward-looking fashion rather than treating them as historical material detached from contemporary life.

Season 05 consequently places Spring/Summer 2027 within a broader discussion of identity and creative authorship. A collection can be international in reach while remaining specific in its cultural vocabulary. IHFW’s program is designed to make that specificity visible.

From the Red Carpet to Awards Night

The runway presentations form the afternoon core of the event, but the September 10 program extends beyond the catwalk. Red-carpet arrivals and photography are built into the schedule, with Holly Hester overseeing the red-carpet experience and welcoming members of the participating fashion community.

Later, International Heritage Fashion Week transitions into the IHFW S05 Awards Night, an evening program recognizing contributors to fashion and the creative industries. Designers, models, artists, beauty professionals, media, photographers, industry figures, and special guests are expected to form part of the gathering.

The awards component broadens the focus from clothing to the network of creative disciplines required to produce and communicate fashion. Runway culture depends upon an extensive professional community, and IHFW’s evening format provides space to recognize that collaborative structure.

Entertainment remains part of the event throughout the day. Live dance performances are scheduled between designer presentations, continuing a practice visible in the previous season.

Season 04 incorporated performances by Dance with Anjali, Capri Everitt, Willow Craig, and Ramilia Up. Their participation demonstrated how IHFW has used performance as an integrated part of its programming rather than limiting the event to conventional runway sequencing.

Season 05 maintains that interdisciplinary character. The result is a day in which clothing remains the principal focus while dance, photography, red-carpet presentation, media, and awards contribute to the larger cultural program.

A Growing New York Fashion Platform

International Heritage Fashion Week enters Season 05 with the benefit of an established history. The previous New York edition brought together Heritage India Fashions, Heritage Swim, Prashant Goyal Couture, Daniel Martinez’s bridal work, Elfida Artinoff, Willow Bean Studio, ICON Fashion Magazine, LC Couture, Franklin Rowe International, and Ruchi Goyal Crochet.

That roster illustrated the breadth the platform is designed to accommodate. Bridal design could appear beside couture, culturally rooted fashion could share a program with contemporary independent labels, and performance could connect individual runway segments.

The fifth season builds on that foundation while keeping the focus on accessibility to a wider fashion audience. The event is open to fashion enthusiasts as well as buyers, stylists, photographers, influencers, designers, and industry professionals, creating a guest mix that reaches beyond a strictly trade-only presentation.

Different ticket experiences reflect that range. Promotional materials identify general admission runway access at $75, a premium runway experience at $125, a VIP front-row runway experience at $150, and an IHFW S05 all-access VIP pass at $300. Individual ticket availability and pricing can vary through the official ticketing platform.

The all-access format is designed for guests seeking the broader Season 05 experience, including both runway shows, the Awards Night, VIP benefits, and red-carpet access. Premium options emphasize reserved or preferred seating and priority check-in, while general admission provides a more accessible entry point to the runway program.

With seating limited, the tiered approach allows guests to select the portion of the experience most relevant to them, whether that is a single runway presentation or a fuller day extending into the evening program.

Media, Fashion and an International Audience

The event’s promotional campaign identifies Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Grazia, Harper’s Bazaar, and Fashion X Magazine among its premium media sponsors, alongside additional international media partners. Smartwater and Perrier are identified as official beverage sponsors for Season 05.

Their presence in the event materials reflects IHFW’s effort to place participating designers within a broader fashion and lifestyle environment. For independent and internationally based designers, visibility around a New York Fashion Week presentation can be significant, particularly when runway imagery and media activity continue circulating after the physical event concludes.

Photography therefore occupies an important place in the format. The red carpet, runway, designer finales, and awards program create several distinct opportunities for visual coverage across the day.

For designers, that documentation can become part of the longer life of a collection. A runway presentation lasts minutes, while images from the event can continue to introduce garments, techniques, and creative identities to editors, clients, collaborators, and audiences in other markets.

The same principle applies to the models, performers, stylists, makeup artists, photographers, and production professionals involved. International Heritage Fashion Week is structured as a meeting point for multiple areas of the fashion ecosystem, with the runway providing the central reason for those communities to come together.

Prince Mario-Max at the Center of Season 05

Within that framework, Prince Mario-Max assumes a visible role as the figure connecting the stages of the program. Hosting a fashion event of this scale requires movement between designers, performances, guests, and ceremonial moments while maintaining continuity across a long schedule.

His return also connects Seasons 04 and 05. For a relatively young fashion platform, recognizable continuity can be valuable. It establishes a sense of identity while the designer roster and individual collections continue to evolve.

Holly Hester’s role on the red carpet adds a complementary dimension. With Hester greeting the arriving fashion community and Prince Mario-Max guiding the principal event, Season 05 establishes clearly defined hosting roles around the runway production.

The result is a format designed to give the audience a complete fashion-day experience. Guests can encounter designers on the runway, see personalities and participants on the red carpet, experience live entertainment, connect with members of the industry, and continue into the awards program.

For International Heritage Fashion Week, that breadth remains tied to a focused purpose. The organization has built its identity around bringing heritage and contemporary design into direct conversation, providing a New York stage where international creative voices can present their work without leaving cultural identity outside the fashion discussion.

As Spring/Summer 2027 begins to take shape across New York’s September calendar, IHFW Season 05 offers its own perspective on what international fashion can represent. Its designers arrive with different disciplines and traditions, its program moves across runway and performance, and its fifth season demonstrates a commitment to developing a recurring platform around global creative participation.

On September 10, Prince Mario-Max, Holly Hester, Prashant Goyal, Rohan Narang Fashions, Willow Bean, The Dark Arches, Steevteez, Ruchi Goyal Crochet, Heritage India Fashions, ICON Fashion Magazine, the participating performers, models, photographers, media professionals, and guests will converge at 3 West Club for a program extending from afternoon runway presentations into an evening of recognition and celebration.

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International Heritage Fashion Week Season 05 ultimately presents New York Fashion Week through an international lens grounded in craftsmanship, identity, creative exchange, and contemporary design. With Prince Mario-Max returning as host and Prashant Goyal directing the production, the 2026 edition continues IHFW’s development as a dedicated stage for fashion that carries heritage confidently into a new season.