The pressure was on for New York to light the fuse for the Spring Summer 2026 fashion month and offer clues into the trends of the season ahead. SS26 has already, and frequently been referred to as the ‘great fashion reset’ due to its portion of defining designer debuts, and brands eyeing critical profit turnarounds. The season also collides with the ticking clock of luxury’s retail giants, whose standstill has been punctuated by price hikes, tariffs, and aspirational consumers turning to the high street for their fashion fix.
NYFW SS26 at a glance
New York Fashion Week began with Ssense's bankruptcy protection filing hanging in the air. A major stockist for emerging brands and long-time supporter of avant-garde labels, Ssense is a key buyer for a large number of New York runway brands. And, though it’s ‘business as usual’ for the company’s buyers, the news was a dampener for small businesses looking to stock their runway looks with the e-tailer.
However, — while the rest of the fashion world holds its breath for the Dior Chanel face-off in Paris — New York did, in fact, offer some clear insight into exactly what the city is doubling down on for next summer.
Despite runway-side reports of a lacklustre week, what we saw was brands not exactly playing it safe, but pursuing an ease of dressing and investing in their crowd-pleasers with a mix-and-match desirability designed to continually feed the wardrobe. Since the post-pandemic confusion of hybrid-dressing, deep Y2K nostalgia, and hyper-fast micro-trends, brands have largely been instructed to stick with what they know, build on their storytelling, and cater to their core consumer. Why go too far with conceptual motifs when tariffs have the potential to limit production, and are pushing consumers further into a sartorial safety net?
Runway highlights
If we look at Spring Summer 2025, the overriding themes were sheer layers, mini hemlines, big, boxy shoulders, and oversized tailoring, none of which really serve a true-to-life purpose or offer an option for longevity. In New York — white, black, and red Hamptons chic at Ralph Lauren, minimally rendered yet visually interesting work essentials at Tibi, perfect denim with worn-in layered basics at Eckhaus Latta, and the people’s choice, Rachel Comey — were prime examples of brands catering to a real-world human, with a real interest in aesthetics. Elsewhere, Khaite leaned into slimline, nipped-in leather essentials, mostly dropping the broad shoulders of seasons past, and echoing the predictions of consumers looking for more structured, tight-fitting silhouettes.
Coach went to further own its almost exclusively Gen-Z consumer base, with youthful and weathered frayed denim, shrunken jackets, grungy leather boots, and patchwork trousers and skirts. Designer Stuart Vevers said to the press, it was, “about having this sense of wanting to evolve what we do, to challenge ourselves to move forward. We’ve had a great response to fall, so you don’t want to leave it entirely behind, but at the same time, you don’t want to repeat yourself.”
Highlights included Tory Burch’s rendition of the working woman. Straight pants secured by a belt at the hip, and easy polo shirts with knee-length and box pleat skirts looked perfectly fresh, and at home amongst the city's show attendees. Rachel Scott’s half-debut for Proenza Schouler, and her own Diotima runway show, seemed like a continuation of what the Proenza shopper of ten years ago would be likely to covet now… but which brand will the shopper choose?
Despite the warm-weather dressing, a number of labels like Altuzarra and comeback kid Alexander Wang, followed on fur’s momentum, and applied their take on summer leather, somewhat reminiscent of the perforated Hermès items from the SS26 Menswear show.
A western flair lingered across the collections, with Brandon Maxwell’s bolos, Tory Burch’s beaded leather belts, and Khaite’s buckles, boots, and embroidered shirts. Fringes, hem flaps, fuzzy accents, and crystallized hanging embellishments look to be sticking around for another season, with the abundance of feathers a true question mark for after-hours dressing.
The trends
Aside from the sheer volume of black and white looks, the trends for next summer have started to become apparent. Flickers of boho, easy-living separates, down-to-earth colours, and the new must-have pieces.
Long and lean
As we move away from super oversized tailoring and short, punchy mini skirts, designers have begun to translate easy summer dressing into long, lean silhouettes and column dresses crafted in light and airy fabrics. Calvin Klein Collection’s first looks were minimal, full-length pinafores, Grace Ling’s goddesses were slimline and statuesque, and Michael Kors’ resort pieces focused on drawing out the body. We noted last summer the abundance of swimwear-style bodysuits; this has evolved into new editions of fitted tank tops with suit pants and midi skirts, with the long pendant necklace the accessory of choice.
Earth tones
New York’s designer realism extended to the colour palette; greens, browns, sand, and khaki were apparent as a more subdued option to dress for daily life at Ffrorme, Michael Kors, Eckhaus Latta, and Tibi. Flecks of chartreuse offered a more worldly take on earthy green tones, while brown continued as a strong and warm alternative to black for business at Tory Burch, in leathers at Brandon Maxwell (plus a cow print), and in a variety of textures and tones at Altuzarra.
Bunch of balloons
Call it the Chemena Kamali for Chloé effect, but the balloon pant had a major uptick across New York Fashion Week. A calling card at Altuzarra, the pant silhouette is a bohemian, slightly humorous way to offset tailored, structured top halves, and elsewhere acted as a relaxed, yet sophisticated poolside pairing. Billowing at Prabal Gurung and tied at the ankle at Ralph Lauren, and crocheted under skirts at Diotima — will this silhouette lift off?
Summer in capri
The early 2000s pedal pushers and capri-length pants continue to forge their way into the zeitgeist, with this season’s taste makers elevating them from their athleisure origins into new players in the wardrobe of now. Seen over the summer on everyone from Hailey Bieber to Kendall Jenner, and with analysts reporting a 56% increase in demand compared to the previous year, the polarising pant took on a French Riviera approach at Ralph Lauren, downtown attitude at Area, and fabulously fun at Proenza Schouler.
The birds
Feathers, lots of them. While some showgoers lamented the limited presence of individual flair, feathered and fuzzy textures are set to take even the most low-key outfit up a notch. Diotima wowed with a swan-like finale, where traditional Carnivale feathers were mimicked through shredded rayon, while Altuzarra peppered jackets, collars, and waistlines with feathered accents. Fforme, Luar, and Ulla Johsnon also closed out their presentations with a bird-like bang.
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