Editors’ Roundtable No. 2: NYFW Fall Winter 2026 Reflections & Spring Trend Predictions
A biweekly dispatch from the editors of Fashion Talk
If you’re reading this from New York, chances are you’re tired of the constant snow, blizzards, ice, and raging winds we keep pretending are normal. The sidewalks are sheets of black ice, our boots are permanently soaked, and we’re collectively craving warmth and gentler days ahead.
So in the spirit of looking ahead, let’s talk about spring!
As New York Fashion Week Fall Winter 2026 wrapped, we’re reflecting on what stood out and what it might mean for the months ahead. Here’s what’s on our minds right now:
Samantha Hermans, Trend & Culture Editor
“NYFW was all about Rachel Scott’s world domination.”
Rachel Scott staged two major shows this week. First, her highly anticipated debut as Creative Director of Proenza Schouler, and then her Fall 2026 collection for her own brand, Diotima.
With Proenza’s founders, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, departing for Loewe, Scott had big shoes to fill. She was tasked with carrying forward the brand’s legacy of avant-garde yet wearable clothing while establishing herself as its rightful heir. Her Fall 2026 collection was designed for the busy New York woman. As she wrote in her show notes, “Today she is in a rush.” That urgency was translated into sharp tailoring and workwear textures — techniques Proenza is known for. Scott layered in elements of her Jamaican heritage through woven fabrics and subtle fringe, evolving the brand rather than overhauling it. She added a softer femininity while maintaining its edge and I’m excited to see where she takes it next.
With Diotima, I imagine Scott was able to relax more fully into her strengths, without being tied to a brand legacy she didn’t create. Collaborating with Wifredo Lam, she set out to create a politically charged collection centered on resistance through identity. In her show notes, she set her intentions beautifully:
“This collection takes shape in a political and cultural moment marked by exhaustion and division, where resilience, identity and memory become acts of resistance. It is about a woman who moves through it with radiance, force and radical self-definition. Not in spite of the times, but within them.”
The collection was a strong storytelling vehicle, using emotive prints inspired by Lam’s art paired with hand-stitched organza and intricate jacquard weaves. Lam’s Cuban heritage and Scott’s Jamaican roots intertwined to create something deeply personal and emotionally resonant.
Through both brands, Rachel Scott is creating wearable art for the modern woman — the woman bound to her schedule, and the woman within all of us who refuses to let political turmoil define her sense of self.
Divina Boko, Personal Identity & Archive Editor
“I see color taking on a bolder life beyond the usual pastels.”
I’ve been particularly obsessed with a collection that’s a bit more tame than my usual interests. Ossou’s Fall 2026 collection featured your typical winter staples: sweaters, scarves, trenches… but what stood out was the way the designer made them feel entirely their own.
I currently have a deep affection for asymmetrical tops. They’re a conversation starter and a way to elevate a look. Ossou found a way to marry asymmetry with wool sweaters, proving that just because the season is chilly doesn’t mean we have to completely shy away from showing skin. The designs already felt polished, but details like three layered belts (which I will definitely be recreating at home), oversized yet quiet enamel pins, and bursts of yellow and red added a cherry on top.
As for what spring holds? I see color taking on a bolder life beyond the usual pastels. This season, designers began experimenting more with colorful embellishments, sequins especially. A.Potts even used large rainbow sequins, something I haven’t seen before, particularly for a calendar show. I love the direction we’re heading in, where experimentation feels less intimidating and more embraced. I think creativity will truly flourish come spring, in both fashion and beauty, in ways that can’t be reduced to one or two trend buzzwords.
Amarissa Imoukhuede, Editor-in-Chief
“Oh the need to feel something… anything.”
There’s a certain hunger in fashion right now. We’re testing its limits again… materials, silhouettes, and what we’re willing to call clothing.
One material I keep noticing reemerge is the use of hair extensions as fabric. Hair has been at the forefront of my mind since Doja Cat’s 2024 Coachella performance, when it became less about beauty and more about garment construction. The more I see it used in this way, the more I’m reminded that across cultures and centuries, hair has never been “just beauty.” From the Himba women of Namibia sculpting their hair with ochre and butter into architectural forms, to ceremonial regalia incorporating animal hair as markers of status and spirituality, hair has long functioned as an extension of one’s identity.
That’s why Showpony’s NYFW debut felt significant. Led by hairstylist-turned-designer Evanie Frausto alongside Christian Olar, the collection centered hair extensions as a core material. You saw it on the runway wrapped around silhouettes, extending proportions, and swallowing the body whole, turning each model into something almost… feral? What makes the collection even more compelling is that much of the hair used comes from over a decade of excess supplies sitting in Frausto’s studio. What might once have been waste became the foundation to a collection that felt raw, visceral, and impossible to ignore.
Looking ahead to spring, I see this momentum continuing. Designers are reaching beyond traditional textiles not just to be innovative, but to provoke a feeling. With the upcoming Met Gala dress code recently announced as “Fashion is Art,” I imagine stylists and designers are already searching and sourcing materials frantically that pull us away from the ordinary.
Editors’ Roundtable No. 1: What Are We Noticing in Fashion Right Now?
A biweekly dispatch from the editors of Fashion Talk
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