Sandy Liang has never needed to look particularly far for material. Her world — memories, obsessions and whatever happens to be occupying her mind at the moment — has proved remarkably fertile and, more importantly, resonant with the women who want to inhabit it.
For spring, that meant sports. Well…sort of.
“It’s sporty, but through the lens of me, who hasn’t actually played real sports my entire life,” Liang said at a preview, explaining that the idea emerged partly from her young son’s obsession with sports toys. “I’ve always leaned into this princess mentality, because that’s my dream version of me. But this is kind of like if that girl became interested in sports — just the idea of it, not actually playing it.”
On the runway, a pastel castle made the premise literal, but Liang’s clothes were more nuanced. Ripstop and performance fabrics mingled with tulle, lace, satin and jersey; a ruffle perched cheekily over track pants, while technical cording snaked across party-pretty dresses. A satin bra topped capacious khaki shorts, and a cropped trench grounded a floating lace skirt. One particularly good black technical jacket came with a tulle skirt trailing long, pointed ribbons, letting function and fantasy bleed into each other.
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The playfulness extended to bunny shoes, bows and a bum bag festooned with tiny compartments. “It’s utility for utility’s sake, but also just for the look of it,” Liang said with a smile. “What are you stuffing in these tiny pockets?”
Beneath the jokes was increasingly assured wardrobe building. Outerwear, one of Liang’s original strengths, has been picking up at retail, she said, prompting a return to her roots. Technical fabrics offered genuine performance, while strong knits and crisply constructed pieces gave all that fantasy something quotidian to push against.
The remarkable thing was how youthful it all felt without becoming childlike. Liang can indulge bows, bunnies, princesses and a literal castle without infantilizing the woman wearing them, in part because there is real conviction in the clothes themselves. Her world may be built from fantasy, but the wardrobe is very real.
