UPDATED: 19 Breakout Trends From the Fall 2026 NYFW Shows

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UPDATED: Another New York Fashion Week has come to an end and boy did these designers turn out some beautiful clothes this season. There were so many standout collections. Tory Burch delivered a midcentury-inspired collection that felt classic and modern at the same time, brimming with clothes that are sure to look chic long after the fall 2026 season has come and gone. Khaite continued her reign as the undisputed queen of American hyper-lux cool. (Even if you could buy black crocodile pants or a coat from another designer, why would you want to? Khaite’s are peerless in both style and fit.) Sandy Liang showed one of her best collections in years, there was classic American glamour and opulence at Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, while Fforme delivered an understated, minimalist knockout.

With so many wonderful shows and the looks that stormed the runways still dancing around in our heads (and with the European shows still to come) it’s difficult to distill it all to just a few key trends. So here is our semi-unedited braindump of the standout themes, colors, embellishments, and overall vibes that flowed through New York Fashion Week and made this such a fantastic season.

1. Ribbon Dancer
Long, trailing ties and ribbon ends danced their way down the runway at Tory Burch, Carolina Herrera, and Sandy Liang. At Fforme, satin tuxedo striping looked as if it was about to break free, while a long white ribbon-like embellishment at Area was blown up to almost cartoonish proportions.

2. This Look
So many designers showed a version of this very specific look this season: a leather or suede below-the-knee pencil skirt (culottes at Staud) with a sort of blousy and or stripey sweater on top. It felt sort of mod, but cool, not costume-y. It’s the kind of look the chicest woman in your office might wear on a random Tuesday like it was nothing while everyone around her just sort of gawks and gorps at how great she looks.

3. Spotty Reception
A staple of ladylike dressing, polka dots made an appearance in some of the most sophosticated and elegant collections of the season — from Lela Rose and Altuzarra to Dephine and Ulla Johnson.

4. Wrinkle Insistent
Steamer? I don’t even know her!

5. Brooch, Please!
It’s time to take a trip to grandma’s because if there is one piece of jewelry this season raised high above all others, it’s the brooch.

6. Nightie Night
Lingerie-inspired slip dresses and separates were everywhere this season. They were cute and quirky at Anna Sui, straightforward and wearable at Cinq a Sept, Ulla Johnson, and Tanner Fletcher and daring and lace-forward at Khaite and Altuzarra.

7. Knitwit
Finally, sweaters with a little pizzazz! After countless seasons of generic knits in solid colors, it’s exciting to see these more intricate, playful, and slightly retro sweaters creeping back into the mix. While you’re at your granny’s house raiding her brooch collection (see above), you might as well take a look at her sweater collection too. She’s bound to have something along these lines and as the Fall shows prove, making them look modern and lux is really just a matter of styling.

8. Mad for (Glen) Plaid
Maybe it’s something to do with all the back-to-office mandates these days that has designers turning to this most suit-y of suiting fabrics: glen plaid. Pinstripes are making an appearance this season as well, but our money is on this understated suiting staple to keep popping up as the season develops.

9. Deep Purple
Purple may just be the color of the season. It’s been popping up everywhere this season, particularly in leather outerwear, where the particular shades of purple designers seems to be favoring sometimes skews so rich and earthy that you could be forgiven for thinking it was brown or black at first glance. And the textures! Buttery soft calfskin at Monse, high-gloss at Tory Burch, pony at Tanya Taylor, and even crocodile embossed leather at L’Agence.

10. Midas Touch
Gold on black black is a classic combo that seems to be coming back into vogue at the more ladylike New York design houses. Wes Gordon showed three different black dresses with gold lily embellishments on the Carolina Herrera runway and Markarian showed two. Lela Rose stuck to just the one iteration, but boy what an elegant iteration it was!

11. Tuxedo Coded
So many designers this season looked to tuxedos for inspiration for everything from formal wear to day wear, outerwear to tracksuits, often — as in the case of Michael Kors, Khaite, and Fforme — devoting half a dozen looks or more to the exploration of this most enduring menswear staple.

12. On the Hip
In the age of plastic surgery and extreme body modifications, these sort of sculptural hip structures could not feel more timely.

13. Dream Sequins
Sequins appear to be coming back in a big way for fall 2026, especially in dark, rich, earthy colors like forest green, chocolate brown, aubergine, and black. They are still fun and glitzy, but decidedly mature too.

14. Tap Tap Tapestry
It’s giving couch cushion. It’s giving carpetbagger. It’s giving deadstock fabric found in the attic of an old country seat. But it’s also giving young and sexy and modern thanks to clean lines, plenty of structure, and just the right amount of skin.

15. Brownout
Brown is just a color. But for evening? That’s a statement! It used to be said that “brown equals markdown” in fashion because it never sells well at retail. But is that still the case? Nope! Ralph Lauren certainly made a compelling argument for head-to-toe brown day or night and it’s hard to imagine anyone turning up their nose at Monique Lhuillier’s liquid velvet long sleeve turtleneck gown in deepest chocolate brown.

16. Teenage Dirtbag
True, Coach, R13, and Collina Strada always skew a little grunge (okay, more than a little) but this season feels particularly “cutting class to smoke a spliff in the parking lot” coded. And they weren’t the only ones.

 

The goth girls are also hanging out in this same parking lot. It’s nice that they’re friends.

17. Stems and All
These florals are about more than pretty petals. Rendered in black and white, they emphasize the beauty of the lines and silhouettes created by not just a flower’s bud, but it’s stem and leaves too. It’s more sophisticated than your usual floral print and looks particularly beautiful in 3-D.

18. Roughed Up Leather
Leather? For fall? Groundbreaking, I know, but there is something really nice about the textures and lived-in-ness of some of the leather pieces walking the runway this season. Buttery smooth leather can feel so precious. This leather feels tough, but still soft to the touch, so you don’t have to worry about breaking it in.

19. Bejeweled Outerwear
Clothing with built-in-bling can skew tacky real quick. If you’re gonna do it, you have to really go for it. Which is exactly what Cinq a Sept, Libertine, and Thom Browne did with their fabulous and densely embroidered outerwear. With coats this gorgeous, do you even need to wear anything underneath?