Before NYFW SS26, let’s look at the weird space the fashion industry is in right now. Prominent fashion brands have been playing hot potato with designers, and it’s becoming evermore exhausting. Alessandro Michele left Gucci for Valentino. Pierpaolo Piccioli left Valentino for Balenciaga. Matthieu Blazy left Bottega Veneta for Chanel. Jonathan Anderson left Loewe for Christian Dior. Maria Grazia Chiuri left Christian Dior for Fendi. Grace Wales Bonner replaced Hermès’ Véronique Nichanian. Dario Vitale replaced Donatella Versace as Versace’s CEO. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez left Proenza Schouler for Loewe. Rachel Scott will now be designing for Proenza Schouler. Olivier Rousteing left Balmain. And last but (maybe) not least, Kim Jones departed Fendi.

It makes sense that the fashion industry is stagnant at the moment. Most fashion ateliers are swapping designers, curtailing the development of new talent. New talent often brings fresh ideas and a delusional level of optimism into the business. Without them, we have maisons that began with unique visionaries churning out underwhelming perversions of each other’s former collections.

And so, looking back at NYFW from November, here’s how those collections fit into the global narrative for 2025.

Here are the fashion shows from NYFW SS26, available to view retrospectively. To see the presentations, click here.

A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during NYFW SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.

NYFW SS26 BEGINSBEGINS

11 September

  1. 16:00 BST Michael Kors
  2. 19:00 BST Kate Barton
  3. 21:00 BST L’Enchanteur
  4. 22:00 BST Simkhai
  5. 23:00 BST Collina Strada
  6. 01:00 +1 BST Grace Ling

NYFW SS26

12 September

  1. 14:00 BST Maria McManus
  2. 15:00 BST Area
  3. 16:00 BST Private Policy
  4. 17:00 BST Calvin Klein
  5. 18:00 BST Advisry
  6. 19:00 BST Fforme
  7. 21:00 BST Off-White
  8. 22:00 BST Christian Siriano
  9. 23:00 BST Campillo
  10. 00:00 +1 BST Sergio Hudson
  11. 01:00 +1 BST Wiederhoeft
  12. 02:00 +1 BST SC103
  13. 02:30 +1 BST Alexander Wang
A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during NYFW SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.
A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during NYFW SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.

NYFW SS26

13 September

  1. 15:00 BST Tibi
  2. 16:00 BST Altuzarra
  3. 18:00 BST Lapointe
  4. 19:00 BST Anna Sui
  5. 21:00 BST Eckhaus Latta
  6. 22:00 BST Prabal Gurung
  7. 23:00 BST Todd Snyder
  8. 00:00 +1 BST Khaite
  9. 01:00 +1 BST Kim Shui
  10. 02:00 +1 BST Who Decides War

NYFW SS26

14 September

  1. 15:00 BST Ulla Johnson
  2. 16:00 BST Vettese
  3. 17:00 BST Aknvas
  4. 18:00 BST COS
  5. 19:00 BST Sandy Liang
  6. 21:00 BST Gabe Gordon
  7. 22:00 BST Jason Wu
  8. 23:00 BST Monse
  9. 00:00 +1 BST Bach Mai
  10. 01:00 +1 BST KidSuper x Brooklyn Borough Hall
  11. 02:00 BST Jane Wade
A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during New York Fashion Week SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.
A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during New York Fashion Week SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.

NYFW SS26

15 September

  1. 15:00 BST Toteme
  2. 16:00 BST TWP
  3. 17:00 BST Zankov
  4. 19:00 BST Coach
  5. 20:00 BST Tanner Fletcher
  6. 21:00 BST Diotima
  7. 22:00 BST Bibhu Mohapatra
  8. 23:00 BST Tory Burch
  9. 00:00 +1 BST Cucculelli Shaheen
  10. 01:00 +1 BST Luar

NYFW SS26 ENDSENDS

16 September

  1. 14:00 BST Nardos
  2. 15:00 BST Amir Taghi
  3. 17:00 BST Kallmeyer
  4. 18:00 BST Andrew Kwon
  5. 19:00 BST PatBo
  6. 20:00 BST Lii
  7. 21:00 BST Frederick Anderson
  8. 22:00 BST Pamella Roland
  9. 23:00 BST Elena Velez
  10. 00:00 +1 BST Agbobly
  11. 01:00 +1 BST LaQuan Smith
A streetstyle image. Street style is very popular during New York Fashion Week SS26, with fans showcasing their sense of style.

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Image photo credits: Christabelle Beaudry.

I published a poll that asked 43 adults about their attitudes towards Gucci. 

  • 95.3% of people said the brand is overrated now, arguing that the logo carries more weight than the designs

Only 4.6% of people came to Gucci’s defence, divided between insisting it’s still bona fide luxury and saying it’s simply been a hit-or-miss lately.

The poll shows that my audience thinks Gucci is going through a challenging period, that is struggling to connect to consumers. However, when I polled my Instagram audience, 80% said Gucci’s relevance is tied to its collections. It has been a hit-or-miss lately. 20% agreed that the hype is gone, and Gucci is overrated.

Sama is the Editor in chief of SSEDITORIAL.