The Collina Strada spring 2026 show took place at the helipad on the southernmost end of downtown Manhattan, the East River and a singularly cloudless blue sky shining behind as the golden hour sun began setting in. The first model walked out in a voluminous empire-waist washed-out pink and green top worn with balloon denim cargo pants with an attached peplum. Keeping up her pace a few feet behind, another model appeared wearing a full black sheer bodysuit that covered her face and hands, wearing a black voluminous empire-waist top and black balloon cargo pants with an attached peplum. Then another model came out in a blueish plaid short shirt dress with a balloon hem, and there it was, a few steps behind, another model wearing a full-length black lace bodysuit underneath a black on black floral short shirt dress with a black balloon hem. As they all walked the length of the runway, and more pairs could be spotted in the distance, it became obvious. Each model walked the runway with their shadow.

“The shadows represent the policies, histories, and systems that trail behind. Invisible to some and glaringly obvious to others,” Hillary Taymour said the day before the show at her studio just at the edge of SoHo. Ever the optimist she added, “It’s about recognizing what has been in the past and how we can move forward with light.”

But savvy spectators might have noticed a pragmatic train of thought behind her concept. “It’s also—in this economic time—a way to show you the black version of the look in a way that feels Collina Strada,” said Taymour. She may have conceived of her universe as a melange of colors and prints, but the truth is her silhouettes and ideas are strong enough to stand on their own, stripped back to the purest versions of themselves.

Even without the shadow factor, the collection would’ve still been one of her best. Taymour explained she was “playing with big shapes and volume in a strange way.” She continued, “The energy was a little bit chaotic.” The result was a kind of ’80s undone opulence by way of the 2010s that felt precisely right for this moment. Even with her alleged “chaos” she designed mostly in full looks, partly anticipating the complexity of the casting—she was looking for pairs of models that were the same height and build. It’s likely another factor in why her vision felt so complete (though she did admit some things changed slightly during fittings).

Other than her experiments in volumes, Taymour’s fabric developments get better and better each season: she continued her practice of upcycling (“Not a single scrap gets wasted in this studio”), which shone on a delicate wedding dress (she referred to the black version “for the funeral”), but most impressive was a blueish long plaid coat with frayed square cut-out appliqués. The process of making it was complex: three layers of the fabric were sewn together, then the squares were cut out on the top layer, and then the jacket was cut and assembled. Up close it had the energy vibrations of a James Turrell.