She was once regarded as a rotting eyesore, but now she’s in fashion. Pete Davidson and Colin Jost’s decommissioned Staten Island Ferry will be officially introduced to the style set this Sunday as part of New York Fashion Week. Women’s Wear Daily reports that the vessel, the MV John F. Kennedy, will serve as the venue for designer Tommy Hilfiger’s spring 2025 fashion show. The Saturday Night Live stars, along with comedy club owner Paul Italia, paid $280,000 for the ferry in a January 2022 auction.
“New York City is the birthplace of the American dream, and the Staten Island Ferry represents the gateway to self-expression for so many across history,” Hilfiger said, according to WWD. “We will celebrate the quintessential New York City landmark, while writing our nautical-inspired codes firmly into the vessel’s iconic legacy.” Jost, a Staten Island native who rode the ferry to school every day as a teenager, will reportedly be in attendance at the show.
The 65,000-square-foot boat, which will be docked at Manhattan’s Pier 17 for the event, shuttled New Yorkers to and from Staten Island from 1965 until 2021. Davidson, Jost, and Italia have tapped architect Ron Castellano to convert the midcentury ferry into an entertainment venue and boutique hotel, complete with a comedy club, restaurants, and bars. The project reportedly has a $34 million budget. “It’s going to have the aesthetic of the original. It had a snack bar, beautiful bench seats. There’s baby-blue Formica and lots of pink,” Castellano told Curbed in March.
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Per WWD, representatives from Hilfiger’s label feel the John F. Kennedy’s original interiors “will become the perfect stage” for the runway show, which will bridge the vessel’s history to its new life as an entertainment destination, “blending nostalgia with contemporary fashion.” The designer’s most recent NYFW events have taken over other iconic NYC institutions; in February, Hilfiger staged a show at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar, and his 2022 show was set at Brooklyn’s Skyline Drive-in.