Natasha Zinko took direct inspiration from the word “resort” for her resort 2026 collection and thought about the adage “my last resort” and what that would look like for different characters.
“The whole thing is very American and these characters are just stepping outside for some sun, which is kind of like a vacation, but next to the house, so it’s not a real vacation — it’s their last resort. They’re going away mentally,” said the London-based Ukrainian designer.
There’s a car salesman, a mechanic, a hooligan, a muscle man, a cigarette mom and her daughter in her collection — all shot in front of a garage door.
The car salesman is dressed in a “Danny DeVito-style” suit that hangs loose in a corporate gray and the mechanic in a cargo jacket and pants made from upcycled fabrics, but everything has been turned inside out with the inside pockets and stitching on display.
Zinko grew up with a father that was a race driver and she would watch him fixing cars regularly.
The designer incorporated several tongue-in-cheek elements, from the hooligan character which looks like he’s wearing two pairs of jeans on top of each other to the muscle man’s padded jersey tank top that volumizes the muscles.
Zinko played with the fabrics in the collection by twisting and washing leather to give it a retro texture; turned toweling cloth into dresses with secret corsets installed underneath, and large handbags disguised as beach towels.
She even printed on leather to make it look like a paper bag with replicas of the receipts from her 17 Brewer Street store in London’s Soho.
