On Saturday evening at One World Observatory, with the lights of New York City glittering under glass walls of the top floor, Kim Shui sent 40 looks down the runway for Spring/Summer 2026—an entire collection built around the idea of what we show the world, what we keep hidden, and the tension between the two.
"SS26 explores concealment, distortion, and the act of peeling back layers," Shui says in her show notes. When I last spoke with Shui, she told me she likes to reference her unique background—she was raised in a Chinese household in Rome, then later moved to the U.S.—when it comes to designing, viewing her creations "as a way to connect with others, to reclaim my visibility, and to be seen on my own terms." Last season, she celebrated her Easts-meets-West background with Chinese embroidery and dresses that fastened in traditional Qipao collars, juxtaposed with Western motifs like cowboy hats and bolo ties.
This season, she went a little less literal. Her starting point: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Allegory of Inclination, a 17th-century painting that was censored for centuries. The woman in the painting was originally painted in the nude, only to have artist Baldassare Franceschin paint drapery over the figure because the nudity was considered "improper"—even though that was in line with Renaissance and Baroque traditions at the time. It was only recently uncovered in its original, unfiltered form. That story hit home for Shui, with themes rich for exploration: erasure, cloaking, reclamation, power, to name a few.
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The clothes told the story in layers (quite literally): sheer panel skirts over opaque satin pants, neck-high ruffles poking through tailored jackets, and draped silks hanging off sharp shoulders. In true Kim Shui form, every look felt attention-grabbing—her celebrity fans like Kylie Jenner and Cardi B know you only wear Kim Shui when you feel like the main character—though there was a newfound softness throughout.
Kim Shui grew up in Rome, and her Spring/Summer 2026 show was a love letter to the city. You could feel her roots in the Greco-Roman silhouettes, and the color palette, which was more subdued than the bright colors Shui usually goes for—pale greens and powdery blues melted into soft yellows, into warm browns and flashes of metallic.
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Yes, there was plenty of Shui's signature lace-up corsets and birthday party-worthy mini-dresses (I say this because I wore one of her dresses on my birthday this year). But look past the snakeskin boots and thumping bass and flashing strobes, and you'll find a collection that's surprisingly soft and nuanced, full of unexpected moments, like swingy fringe dripping off black lace woven over an olive-green satin dress, or silk chiffon tops and dresses where the fabric seems to float, not drape, unfurling like soft wisps of fog.
At its heart, this collection seemed to celebrate the joy that comes when you no longer have to hide. In Gentileschi's Allegory of Inclination, the female nude is holding a compass—and just like her, the Kim Shui woman continues to chart her own path.
