Cunard Transatlantic Fashion Week 2025 Sails with Bob Mackie

Cunard is planning to bring high fashion back to the Atlantic this autumn with Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Week 2025. The line said that Queen Mary 2 (QM2) seven-night crossing, departing October 31 from New York, will also feature an exclusive auction of sketches and costumes from designer Bob Mackie.

Timed to follow Paris Fashion Week, the voyage will showcase a rotating exhibition of Mackie’s creations. In partnership with Julien’s Auctions, passengers can preview and bid on his sketches and costumes. Mackie will also introduce a screening of his new documentary Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion and take part in a Q&A session.

The lineup will also include American designer Christian Siriano, presenting his first runway show at sea, and supermodel Coco Rocha, who will host her Coco Rocha Model Camp. The event is part of Cunard’s themed “Event Voyages,” which bring cultural programming to its flagship liner during transatlantic crossings.

Queen Mary 2 sails past Liverpool’s waterfront during Cunard’s 185th anniversary celebration, with fireworks lighting the night sky. Image courtesy of Cunard Line.

A Return After Six Years

Cunard describes this as the fifth Transatlantic Fashion Week voyage and a highly anticipated return of the event. Previous editions have traditionally sailed from Southampton to New York, tying into the start of New York Fashion Week. The 2025 edition marks the first time the voyage will begin in New York.

The inaugural Transatlantic Fashion Week in 2016 merged high fashion with ocean travel for the first time. That sailing featured Dame Zandra Rhodes, Colin McDowell, and Fern Mallis. Runway shows were staged in the Queen’s Room ballroom, students from the Royal College of Art presented new collections, and fashion workshops drew strong participation. Demand for some shows exceeded the ship’s capacity, requiring repeat performances.

By 2019 the event had become a well-established feature of Cunard’s programming. That summer crossing included runway shows by milliner Stephen Jones OBE, discussions with shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, and appearances by model Pat Cleveland. Cunard again partnered with the Graduate Fashion Foundation to spotlight emerging designers. Passengers experienced formal dinners, lectures, and catwalk shows threaded into the rhythm of a classic transatlantic voyage.

The 2020 edition was scheduled but did not sail after the cruise industry suspended operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. No subsequent editions were held, making Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Week 2025 the first since 2019.