Sandra Sándor had a frenetic spring season, marking her Nanushka brand’s second decade in business by rolling its New York Fashion Week runway debut and Mercer Street store opening into one celebratory week. Pre-fall provided her a moment to stop and smell the roses.
The designer, whose work is often a reflection of her upbringing in Budapest, drew from memories of nature hikes with her father. “He has this tradition that anywhere he is, if he sees a flower, he always takes the time to smell it,” she explained over Zoom.
On holiday in Ibiza recently, Sándor — and her son — kept the tradition alive. “He sees me do it and he does the same,” she said. According to her, it’s the best way to find “stillness amid chaos, so I was thinking about how to take that back to urban life.”
Her answer straddled town and country, mixing sculptural tailoring and Nanushka’s slick regenerated leather with enveloping knits, utility accents and subtle romantic flourishes.
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Roses aren’t very on-brand for Nanushka, the designer confessed, so she sought less generic ways to weave them through. Cotton shirting was laser cut, allowing fabric to peel away like wilted petals, while balloon-sleeve blazers and full, fluted skirts resembled bulbs in bloom.
Taking the flower more literally, a vintage Hungarian postage stamp featuring one in pink inspired a print, which decorated silken tops and board shorts. The latter looked especially cool for men worn with a drooping green cardigan, as did a black turtleneck with rose intarsia placements subbing in for elbow patches.
Other standouts included a denim pinafore worn over jeans for women as well as cropped barn jackets and sporty-looking second-skin Henleys for all. “I really wanted to mix in these minimal pieces that represent just being comfortable in your skin,” Sándor said.
Expanding on that idea, she grounded the collection in fleshy browns and beiges not too distant from the 2025 Pantone color of the year, Mocha Mousse. Sándor swore it wasn’t intentional, but seemed delighted to be in-step with what is sure to be a major trend when these clothes hit stores.
