Nili Lotan, R13, Libertine and More

Ulla Johnson is expanding her brand universe, in more ways than one. The designer’s fall 2026 offering reflected burgeoning categories as well as her established strong suit. “We’re known for our dresses and silks, but our denim, outerwear and evening are all rapidly growing categories for us,” she said. “I really wanted to put together these very diaphanous things with things that felt very sturdy.” In that vein, she also contrasted jewel tones with pastels, perhaps best epitomized by an early pairing of a dusty rose sweater against fuchsia satin trousers.

As the name of her brand implies, Heirlome is all about meaningful connections, and for fall, that came through in potter Angelica Morelos’ Michoacán folklore characters. The woven baskets they carried on a silky blouse were taken alone, appearing elsewhere on a double-breasted blazer and wrap skirt. “We’re always pushing what we do with our artwork,” said Suberville who describes her seasonal collaboration prints as “conversational.” Although they always draw the eye, a pair of solid charcoal bustle trousers and a feather-light funnel-neck leather coat will be just as likely to spark up a conversation.

If you haven’t heard about it yet, “looksmaxxing” is beauty’s latest fixation. It is part of a subculture of trans-humanism where people are using AI, lighting filters and more to achieve cosmetic perfection. While remaining true to the brand’s DNA of gorp, heavy metal, and industrial-like garments in denim and leather, Elena Velez juxtaposed this trend with light and fragile pieces, like steel welded corsetry, to push the boundaries of what femininity can be.  

After dissolving into gimmicky merch, the 50-year-old brand Boy London has charged former AllSaints designer Can Tran with bringing the line back from IP death. His initial offering, which stormed the aisles of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Friday, remained faithful to Boy’s anti-establishment roots, albeit with too many Ann Demuelemeester references. Navigating a maze of straps, snaps, D-rings, zippers and removable pockets, this phoenix still has a way to go before it can rise from the ashes.

A Scottish native, Jac Cameron certainly has good advice for cold-weather dressing: “I just pile on the cashmere,” she joked during a fall walkthrough at the Twenty Two hotel. With New York still experiencing a brutal winter, one was tempted do just that by stealing her argyles, cables and funnel-necks right off their hangers to layer on top of one another. Continuing to evolve Rùadh beyond denim, Cameron also offered Victorian-inflected jackets and blouses, oversize suiting and regenerated leather pieces, which comprised a fuller wardrobe that would work just as well in the Highlands as it would on city streets.

For designer Jane Wade, her latest collection “feels the most like herself.” While previous collections closely referenced the designer’s time in corporate America, this season she took inspiration from her childhood adventures skiing and snowboarding with her family in the Pacific Northwest. And the references were there — from the use of paracord detailing, a rayon and nylon blend dress and a batting-lined wrap skirt. The inspiration also came full circle with Wade’s first collaboration with outdoor footwear brand Sorel, which resulted in multiple takes on its Callsign shoe model, including a thigh-high boot, a pony hair version and a mule.

Omar Bertona continued to push the envelope at Bugatchi with his elevated Italian Daydream collection.
The Milan-based designer, whose résumé includes Isaia, Caruso and Maurizio Baldassari, introduced the Made in Italy collection last season, bringing a fresh perspective to the men’s essentials brand without losing sight of its heritage.

As Bugatchi prepares to celebrate its 45^th anniversary, it has successfully moved beyond its roots in shirts and the Italy-made collection sits at the pinnacle. The fall lineup included plaid cashmere cotton blazers, single-breasted suits in a double-face stretch jersey fabric, a range of shirt-jackets, and shirts with a solid exterior and patterned interior that coordinated well with the brand’s core collection.

Marina Moscone gave a masterclass in source material in her fall 2026 collection, which contained all her wardrobe staples — delicate gowns, basque jackets and draped jersey — but upped the ante on their fabrications. Case in point: the brushed alpaca coat whose marled blues drew inspiration from Joan Mitchell paintings, or the bias-cut organza rhomboids creased, crinkled at the edges and stitched together into intricate-yet-unfussy wares.

Add Ossou to the list of luxury brands in New York treating denim like an art form. Inside the Pierre Augustin Rose gallery, where Ossou cofounders Nina Khosla and Talia Shuvalov presented their second collection, a Romanesque sculpture echoed the sculptural fits of their jeans, including a pleated velveteen pair and a trendy boot-leg with creased fronts. Surprisingly, the highlights weren’t denim at all, but shirts and knits in shades of brown, bone or butter that wrapped around the models’ bodies. “Denim is rooted in the West and we loved the feeling of Western blankets,” said Khosla.

Silvia Tcherassi’s fall collection was an exploration in contrasts, pitting soft against bold colors, matte against shiny textures and metal hardware against fluid draping. Leaning away from vacation wear toward red carpet and event dressing, the Colombian designer hit her stride, especially when exercising the bias cut for gowns that looked almost like they could “slide off the body,” she said. 

After whetting appetites with his spring debut, WWD one-to-watch Stephen Biga said he wanted to flesh out the “meat and potatoes” wardrobe of his medieval Mel Usine universe. Taking inspiration from the rearend of a Jules Coutan sculpture, he described the “real Mel” this season as a sexy bread-baker’s wench, dressed in jacquard tailoring or a sheer cape and skirt topped with a leather apron. Biga certainly proved his chops, leaving one hungry for his third course.

After visiting Sanssouci Palace outside Berlin, Libertine designer Johnson Hartig was so inspired by the palace’s architecture and ornamentation that he revamped his fall collection to incorporate elements of the building into the line. That included treillage and sun motifs that he recreated on the elaborate hand-embroidered coats and jackets that have become his signature, along with a range of gold tweeds that referenced the gilded interiors. There were also a number of more subtle patchwork cashmere sweaters, some floor-length, that proved Hartig, who is approaching his 25th anniversary, can still stretch his limits.

What would the Duke of York wear to an underground rave? Just ask Chris Leba, whose R13 collection looked like if a group of punks ransacked an English haberdashery. While he isn’t reinventing the wheel design-wise, Leba sure packs a whole lotta attitude into his style collages. Of this one, he said: “It’s a little Goth, a little ‘30s — it’s the R13 mix.”