Girlhood, but make it NYFW: How Sandy Liang has transformed the runway.

Bows, ballet flats, and suburban softness are suddenly high strung, high fashion.

In a fashion week that often prides itself on spectacle and razor-sharp reinvention, Sandy Liang’s Fall/Winter 2026 show oddly felt like a warm exhale in your hometown neighborhood. Cozy, nostalgic, and delightfully suburban, Liang once again proved that comfort doesn’t have to mean compromise — and that whimsy, when handled with sincerity, can be quietly radical on a New York runway.

The collection opened with her signatures: ballet flats reimagined in furry textures, bows perched unapologetically on everything from sweaters to outerwear, and coats so oversized they could double as tarps. However, her unabashed embrace of domesticity was the standout for expectations with this collection. Imagine muted pinks,  pastel cardigans layered over silky nightgown-slips, wide headbands paired with corporate-gray trousers, and quilted jackets that look straight from a childhood snow day in suburban Albany— sensible, safe, yet brow raised?

Liang has always mined memory for inspiration, pulling from school uniforms, mall culture, and Y2K teen-girl aesthetics. But in 2026, the references feel less like irony and more like reclamation, maybe even recreations of Pinterest boards with soft girl tags on them. Where some designers chase futurism, Liang leans into the familiar. In doing so, she reminds us that coziness is not the enemy of fashion’s edge — it’s the counterpoint.

Callbacks and eclectic trendspotting were woven throughout the collection, not as kitsch, but as quiet reinvention for the designer’s new season. The models, with flushed cheeks and soft hair bows, could have been walking straight out of a family photo album. Yet the tailoring — sharp blazers, pleated skirts with unexpected slits, satin dresses spliced with athletic stripes — kept it from tipping into costume. This balance between memory and modernity has become Liang’s signature, and it’s what cements her as one of NYFW’s most distinctive voices.

More importantly, Liang’s work is carving out space for sensibility in a landscape that often

demands shock. In a week where metal hardware, dystopian silhouettes, and conceptual deconstruction dominate the conversation, Sandy Liang dares to say: what about softness? What about the suburban girl in ballet flats who never felt represented in the pages of Vogue?