When Street photographer Chenyao Liu and I first walk into the ballroom of the Ritz–Carlton Hotel, NoMad, one thing becomes clear: We are underdressed. Audience members fill the space in evening gowns and designer jackets, posing with models and fitting right in. At first, it’s almost difficult to tell who the models were. But a Floresca piece has a certain magnetism to it, and once we figure it out, it becomes impossible to ignore.
After a moment of adjustment to the immense crowd that formed for designer Veejay Floresca’s New York Fashion Week debut, we quickly fell into a natural rhythm. An open–air presentation rather than a heavily structured runway show, there isn’t much to do but wander around and look, and Floresca’s designs give you a lot to look at. On display is her Fall/Winter 2026 collection, a bridal and eveningwear lookbook whose eclectic textures, bold colors, and muted elegance celebrate creativity and wearability alike. Eye–catching sequined ballgowns are right at home next to sleek trench coats and suits. There’s a refreshing diversity—not just of pieces, but of models as well.
As a Filipina immigrant and the first trans winner of Project Runway, Floresca has always been vocal about her commitment to diversity. Her slow fashion, made–to–order brand emphasizes highlighting each client’s individual beauty. But it’s one thing to preach and another to practice; Floresca does both. Her debut features models of every race, body type, age, and gender presentation, each wearing a design that flatters them in a different way. One particular standout is a black dress that’s both a suit jacket and a shimmery ball gown, seamlessly blended. It’s eye–catching, but not a spectacle—these things have always been depicted together, but Floresca takes it a step further by asking why one person can’t wear both.
Her brand lives in this niche: innovative, ambiguous, daring. Known for her win in the unconventional materials challenge on Project Runway, in which she crafted a dress out of scavenged shuttlecocks from a school gym, Floresca has capitalized on her eye for beauty in the absurd. She takes materials other designers would overlook and turns them into high couture.
“I’m not a very conceptual designer,” Floresca tells me in an interview I had to fight off several other college journalists and adoring fans to score. “I design for real people.” Her F/W ’26 collection embodies this pillar: One dress is made up of netting, knots, and tassels, yet offers coverage and structure. Another is constructed from what appears to be pieces of scrap metal, yet it drapes beautifully and moves freely.
Her designs never sacrifice functionality—or balance, for that matter. Chrome shoes complement bright colors. Neutrals are stamped with bold patterns that never make the designs look too busy. Clean silhouettes are paired with bold statement jewelry that isn’t afraid to draw the eye and gently guide it to the subtler features of the garment.
It follows that a designer who doesn’t hold herself to arbitrary rules about materials wouldn’t limit herself based on gender, either. One suit stands out with a soft, crushed red velvet floral motif and still reads as masculine.
Another look is sort of a dress, sort of an oversized suit jacket—almost as if it doesn’t want you to know quite what it is, and that’s the point. Does it matter, as long as you like it? Do you need to explain it, as long as it’s what you feel good in?
I ask Floresca what she wants people to feel when they wear her clothes. “Beautiful and confident,” she replies immediately. “I hope that my models feel that.” If the way they carry themselves was any indication, they certainly do. The more unstructured nature of the show means that some models have friends in the crowd who come up to them for conversations or photos together. When this happens, the model breaks character for a moment—just long enough to laugh, talk, or share a genuine smile with their companion before clocking a camera and locking back in. The result is a mixture of confidence and real, human joy—something further augmented by the glow afforded by Floresca’s designs.
It’s this human joy and connection that inspire Floresca’s work. More important than anything else, she feels, is her responsibility to represent and uplift her trans and immigrant communities, “not just through words but through actions.” With all eyes on New York Fashion Week every year, designers have a unique opportunity to speak up—which many of them don’t take. In a season described as “largely apolitical,” Floresca seizes this opportunity and runs with it. Her collection features a particularly interesting accessory: “ICE OUT” pins adorn the lapels of nearly every suit jacket in the room.
She sports one on her own blouse as well, joining other designers like Patricio Campillo, Maria McManus, and Henry Zankov in proudly including the anti–United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement messaging in her show. “I support my fellow immigrants,” she tells Washington Square News. “I believe America is a community for everybody.”
But not all designers in this year’s lineup felt the same. Elena Velez chose 20–year–old Clavicular—an internet streamer whose platform is built on “looksmaxxing” and pushing dangerous lifestyle choices in the pursuit of a very specific set of beauty standards—to walk in her show. Floresca’s star model? Tracey Norman, the first Black trans model to rise to fame in the fashion industry. She closes the runway portion of the show out in a gorgeous purple gown with a drop shoulder and an open back designed specifically for her. “I wanted it to feel clean and minimalist—so that people see her, not the dress. It’s my tribute to Tracey, who has inspired me deeply as a trans woman,” Floresca wrote on an Instagram story post. The final look is as much a celebration of trans beauty as it is a statement of belonging.
It can be tempting to brush off the fashion industry as removed from the rest of the world entirely, to ignore the power of a world–famous event like NYFW to reflect and influence. But is there anything more present in our lives than what we wear? In a time of such political strife, Floresca’s debut show proves that joy and resistance aren’t antithetical: In fact, in fashion, they go hand in hand.
