Retrofête, Vince, Cinq è Sept and More Contemporary Brands

Tanya Taylor thinks of her client as an artist. For resort, how she dresses in a studio and for spring, what she wears on creative retreats.

“I kept asking myself where she was going,” the designer said. “Il Pellicano has this artist retreat history to it where lots of New York artists would go and live for months.”

The vibe was “silky and slinky,” Taylor said, particularly in reference to a two-piece set. “I didn’t want it to feel too cinched, nothing is too over-styled.”

She still went more on the luxe end, albeit in subtle ways, such as swapping cotton in her hallmark printed dresses with a warped taffeta. “It has a bit more weight and integrity to it,” she said. Flower accents on necklines, eyelet trim on a dress and sets, and sequins around a minidress strap added noteworthy touches, but not with too much intensity.

That resonance, Taylor thinks, will expand along with her customer base as she prepares a store opening in Greenwich, Conn. “As we broaden where our stores are, it’s fun to think about what those customers are doing,” she said. “Versus just a New York girl.”

Cinq à Sept’s theme for spring was the glamour of the late ’50s and early ’60s; think Palm Springs and Jackie Kennedy.

“There was a sexy aspect to the way women approached fashion in those days,” said Jane Siskin, founder and chief executive officer of Cinq à Sept, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Siskin said these days her customers are “more open to fashion, color and print,” and she delivered with punchy floral prints ranging from whimsical and abstract to literal interpretations. Siskin served up looks such as an ikat boucle denim structured jacket and pants, a black jacket with chunky stone embroidery and a green paillette-encrusted skirt and flutter sleeve top.

“When everything went minimal and quiet, we’re still very loud. Our customer likes to shine,” said Siskin.

And with this collection, she will.

Ohad Seroya’s going out girl is going to the beach — specifically, in Brazil.

“I go to Brazil every year for one month, and last year, we decided to go to Carnival,” Seroya said. “It’s a mix of luxe, street, everything. Guys are wearing a thong, a girl is in jeans, it’s a mix of color, everyone’s dancing. That vibe inspired me. I wanted color, vibrancy, and mixed media.”

That’s not to say every silhouette was super skin-baring. Long, shiny gowns met sequins, two-piece sets and knit body suits, all in vibrant electric blues, sunny yellows, or iridescent lamé. There were lace panels here, sequins there, or — in the case of one dress — all over in a fanned-out pattern.

“It’s for all occasions and going out,” Seroya said. “Our girl comes to us to feel special. She’ll go on a date, she’ll go to a wedding, celebrate something happy.”

That mood is still the case for Seroya, who said the business was unencumbered by declining consumer sentiment. “Retrofête? You especially come for occasion or vacation,” he said. “She’s not coming to us for basics.”

Tara Rudes Dann knows how to design a Swiss Army knife look to go from boardroom to dinner to bed.

For spring, though, she opted to focus on after-work play. “This is her evolution into what she does in the after hours — she’s already succeeded in effortless dressing,” she said, nodding to the jeans, T-shirt, blouse and blazer, as well as a silk slipdress. “This is just taking her to that next level. She’s always ready for a party.”

Though the sets and dresses feel familiar for L’Agence, they also marked the evolution of accessories categories like shoes and belts. In July, the brand introduced hats, and is gearing up with new evening bags.

“We have her in gowns and evening,” Rudes Dann said in a gesture to a slew of sequined gowns. And though Rudes Dann said denim is the cornerstone of her business, those pieces still got an evening upgrade, such as a super sheer, floor-length lace skirt paired with a denim button-up. Lace cropped up elsewhere — trim on a slip here, a corset dress there.

Rudes Dann said the focus is on fun. “It’s a task every day to just get up and take on the day,” she said, nodding to political tensions and macroeconomic pressures, not to mention business ones. “If we can add a special element of her feeling incredible, that’s how we’re dressing her.”

Vince’s typical East Coast-meets-West, pared-back vibe is getting an infusion from a different coastline. “There’s this awesome place in the South of France [that’s used] as a holiday resort in 1958,” said designer Caroline Belhumeur of her inspiration, the seaside resort La Grande Motte. “You see Egyptian pyramids, and this curvature that goes around every part. We were inspired by that, as well as these sun-washed colors and canopies.”

To that end, the otherwise minimalist collection saw sweet, feminine touches inspired by Parisiennes in the ’60s: “A button here, a scalloped edge or a pocket to counter our more men’s-y approach,” she said.

Earlier shipments, though, saw rich browns, such as a chocolate-y shade trench, before later ones evolved into ginghams. Of course, “We still have sweaters,” she said, “and we’re finding out customers are really loving an A-line skirt. She’s always going to come to us for the cornerstone pieces like cashmeres, satins, suedes. But she’s also enjoying more of the fashion, some smaller shapes paired with bigger skirts.”

Stacey Bendet is a master at creating innovative sets for her Alice + Olivia collections, and spring ’26 was no exception. This season’s theme was “The American Woman.”

“The idea was to focus on the 250th year anniversary of America in 2026, but also the intersection of fashion, pop culture and history, and how those moments define how women dress and how we feel,” said Bendet during a preview.

As guests entered the Hall of Records, they encountered a 20-foot interpretation of the Statue of Liberty wearing a gown printed with butterflies and American roses to symbolize life. One of the sets represented American pop culture with fast food, American sports and art. It featured a printed dress encapsulating the show’s theme, referencing vintage, the American West, the flag, the American eagle and the Statue of Liberty.

The 45-look lineup capitalized on American sportswear and clothing that could easily take the woman from day through a dressy evening. There were preppy and colorful staples such as polos, collegiate knits, baggy jeans, and pleated minis and lots of great eveningwear, such as a poppy red bias-cut jersey gown that captured 1940s glamour, or pretty florals in engineered beading. Gowns featured lace, burnout chiffons and intricate jacquards layered over organza, along with embroidery, sequins and beadwork.