Formalwear Designers Suit Up for Pre-fall 2026

At Reem Acra, the designer looked to the linear construction of men’s tuxedo shirts, which brought a “Western touch” to her Eastern flights of fancy, she said. Spread collars decorated a pair of sheaths in black and white as well as one gown embroidered with so many colored stones that it could out-bling an Indian Maharaja were it not encased in tulle, dulling their shine.  

Fresh from her trip to Qatar, where she joined Miuccia Prada as a judge of the Fashion Trust Arabia’s FTA Prize, Acra headed back in that direction for pre-fall, hopscotching along different points on the Silk Road.

The Lebanese designer, who often compares her woman to a goddess, said she envisioned her like a nomad, “traveling, kind of packing her dresses to take with her.” This season’s trousseau included two dresses in sumptuous peacock blue damask — a fabric Acra originally procured 40 years ago in Syria and had reproduced — and a stiff Mikado A-line with inverted pleats around the neck, resembling a Chinese Mandarin collar. All of these had beaded tassel belts to “create this beautiful, ceremonial sway as the woman walks,” Acra said.

Naeem Khan approached pre-fall as an exercise in salability. “Basically, we had such a successful season last season that we doubled our business and I just wanted to keep that trajectory going,” he explained over Zoom.

Private clients have been snapping up his modish trapeze coats with three-quarter-length sleeves and retailers are now catching on, too. They have cross-generational appeal, according to Khan, who’s seen daughters steal them from their mothers to wear about town over jeans. It’s a styling trick he should take note of as the black version with crystal trim in his look book read matronly paired with a matching sheath.  

Raffia gowns are another boon for the house of Khan and here he played with technique, offering them overlaid in lace, woven into metallic squiggles or with the original palm motif recreated in wine-colored velvet for a wintertime feel.

Luxe, yet lightweight, Khan was right to boast about their price tag. “All of the clothes are between $6,000 and $8,000,” he said. “We really, really hit it on the nose.”

How to turn a linen suit into a festive party look? According to Lela Rose, do as you would a tablescape and don a swath of periwinkle floral jacquard around the waist like a runner. 

The consummate hostess has a few tricks up her sleeve when it comes to elevating the everyday. This season she also turned back the clock on geriatric lace and seersucker, whipping both into chic pencil skirts worn with coordinating button-front shirts.

Surprisingly for a brand so associated with occasion dresses, sets like these have surpassed them to become Rose’s bestsellers. “I think by increasingly lending focus to separates, we’re allowing our customer to build a wardrobe that feels intentional but not rigid,” she said.

Of course, few pieces are less rigid than the LBD, practically cocktail party camouflage, and Rose offered a great version here with a dropped-waist pouf and a sheer hem. Switch up the shoes and accessories, layer on a top or jacket and one dress becomes a thousand. Meanwhile, that swath of periwinkle jacquard formed another standout dress with ruching and a romantic side bustle. Less transitional, sure, but it made more of a statement, no tricks necessary.

Pamella Roland drew inspiration this season from the “Beauty and the Beast” — not the 18th-century French fairy tale or even the ‘90s Disney classic, but more so the juxtaposition between refinement and ferocity. 

The latter was manifested in power tailoring, like a suave three-button suit in leopard print jacquard and a tiger sequin column with exaggerated shoulder pads jutting upward.

Roland said she enjoys “challenging the boundaries between tailoring and eveningwear,” and bridged the two most successfully with a plunging black and white crepe gown that had flap pocket accents at the hips and coattails down the back, mimicking a man’s tuxedo. 

Elsewhere, potential “Beauty and the Beast” Easter eggs included rose printed Mikados and a flickering Lumière-like embroidered hem. Belle’s yellow ballgown was tougher to spot. The closest to it was a tulle trumpet style with sweeping Juliet sleeves and a spray of gold sequins across the bodice. Although not an exact interpretation, it would certainly make any woman the belle of the ball.