Whether or not your August was filled with long, blissful days at the beach, September likely brings some kind of return — to school, to work, or simply to a more bracing pace of life. It’s no different for creative types, who often present long-simmering projects in fall, considered the height of the cultural calendar. As the food writer and chef Alison Roman says, “Fall is my biggest season. To me, it feels more like New Year’s than January does.” In search of ideas for how to shift with the seasons, we asked a range of artists what they have coming up, and what they’re doing to prepare.
Jakarie WhitakerFashion designer, Tokyo and New York, 25
On tap for fall: I’m hoping to pull off the New York Fashion Week debut of my line, Hikari no Yami. We’re going to do something that’s part presentation, part installation. Finding the perfect venue is usually the most stressful part. Getting the models, finessing the space — that’s more fun.
Reset plan: I stress out, of course. I make sure things happen the way they should. But I also try to go with the flow, so I’ve been getting back into meditation. For that, I need this special incense from the Noguchi Museum in Queens. You can’t get it online — only in the museum store, and I buy it in bulk. I also have a plug-in waterfall that I got at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and I’ve got to listen to music. There’s an anime playlist I made on YouTube that brings me back to my most peaceful form.
Alison RomanCookbook author and chef, Brooklyn, 41
On tap for fall: I’m opening a boutique grocery and cafe in Brooklyn Heights: There’ll be prepared foods and a wine bar. Right now, I’m making a lot of boring decisions about electrical and plumbing, the nitty-gritty. It’s the calm before the storm.
Reset plan: I would also like to, in a very serious way, get rid of half of my closet. I feel like my fall wardrobe needs the biggest reset. I trick myself into thinking that if it’s schlubby or cozy it’s OK, because it’s fall. But it’s really not OK.
Ayad AkhtarNovelist and playwright, New York, 55
On tap for fall: Usually, at this time of year, I’m less inclined to interrupt my regular 9 a.m.-to-2 p.m. writing schedule, but I have a book coming out in September. It’s called “The Radiance” and is a follow-up to my last one, “Homeland Elegies” (2020). The week before it comes out, I’m setting off on a 28-city tour, traveling across the country in 42 days. I’ve never done anything like it before.
Reset plan: I’ve been trying to work out every day. Over the summer, I swam in the pond near our house in Kinderhook, N.Y. Now, I go to the gym, do a workout video with my wife at home or go for a long walk. In theory it’s fun to travel and talk about your book, but it takes a lot out of you.
Lykke LiSinger and songwriter, Stockholm and Los Angeles, 40
On tap for fall: This September, I’m headlining the Met Live Arts program [at the Metropolitan Museum]. I moved to New York from Stockholm when I was 19 and was doing open mics, getting booed. So to be playing at the Met is beautiful.
Reset plan: To me, fall is a time to decide a little bit who you want to be: Am I trying to be a great artist, or accept the simple pleasures of life? Maybe this is the season I write a great song. I’m a hard worker in general, so I love the feeling of getting back to the grind. It’s a new chance. Time to buy new pencils.
Coumba SambaArtist, New York, 26
On tap for fall: In September, I have a show opening at the Whitney Museum. It’s my first solo institutional exhibition in the U.S., and so I’m happy it’s in my home city. I’ve been spending lots of time in my studio in preparation, reading and researching, writing and drawing in my notebooks.
Reset plan: I want to continue to grow my yoga practice. I’ve been doing yoga every day for over a year now, either in the morning or evening. I can’t always make it to a yoga studio, so I often find teachers on YouTube who are easy to follow. It helps me stay in tune with my mind.
Stefano SecchiChef, New York, 44
On tap for fall: The reason I live in New York is that people get things done here. Everyone returns after Labor Day and hits the ground running. We just reopened Massara [the Manhattan restaurant where Secchi is chef and a co-owner] after a fire, and are serving brunch and lunch again starting this month.
Reset plan: It drives me crazy to sit still and do nothing. When we go on vacation to Sardinia, where I’m from, I can sit on the beach for a day or two. Then I’ll go visit a pecorino sardo producer or see my aunt, who makes olive oil. Here in New York, fishing is one way I clear my mind; I’m going out to Montauk to fish for tuna this weekend. You get up at dawn, you boat out into the Atlantic for three hours and there are whales and seals everywhere. There’s no phone service so no one can get hold of you. It’s amazing.
Misha KhanArtist, Brooklyn and Hudson, N.Y., 37
On tap for fall: I have a solo show at [the New York gallery] Friedman Benda this fall, a collection of wood, cast-metal and upholstered pieces. Everything has a pretty intense surface design, but the form is dialed up to 11. In my studio in Hudson, N.Y., we had these wildly productive summer days where we were just working, working, working, and then we’d jump in the river. Winter is my quiet time, and in the fall I’m winding down. I feel like I spent my whole life being a reverse commuter, in almost every way.
Reset plan: I’ll go see a bunch of exhibits and be rejuvenated by other people’s labor: Arlene Shechet at Pace, Matthew Ronay at Casey Kaplan and a group show in what looks to be an abandoned office building at 260 Madison. I’m from northern Minnesota, where winters are so long and intense that in the summer, it was as if you were forbidden from being indoors. Then in fall, it’s acceptable to be inside again. I always look forward to seeing the inside of a restaurant.
Claire SullivanFashion designer, New York, 32
On tap for fall: I’m planning an event during New York Fashion Week to celebrate the five-year anniversary of my brand, Miss Claire Sullivan. I’m also gearing up for the final stretch of the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund competition.
Reset plan: I look forward to my morning walk every day, and I’m excited for the brisk fall air. I have an unhealthy number of fall jackets that I can’t wait to wear. But my biggest goal, not just for the fall but going forward, is to be easier on myself, and have more fun.
Josh SilverAuthor, Manchester, England, 36
On tap for fall: Until 10 weeks ago, I was working as a nurse and writing fiction for young adults in my spare time. Then “Fruit Fly” (2026), my first adult book, sold out in the U.S. and got optioned by A24, and my life changed. This autumn will be the first time I’ll be able to call myself a full-time writer, so I’ll be finding new rhythms and routines.
Reset plan: Running every day will be one constant. I’ve come up with the plots of all my books on runs: it’s a hugely important way for me to process my thoughts. In the north of England, where I live, autumn is gray and miserable most of the time. Going out in the early morning, when it’s cold and dark, I have to get my head torch on, my high-vis gear, my warm layers. It’s hateful for about three seconds, and then my brain just expands.
These interviews have been edited and condensed.
