Alice + Olivia Spring Summer 2026 “American Beauty – A Colorful Ode to Lady Liberty”. Story by RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Alice + Olivia / Amanda Pratt.
For Spring Summer 2026, Stacey Bendet traded the cool gloss of the Meatpacking District for the neoclassical gravitas of the Surrogate’s Court in downtown Manhattan—once a mansion, now a courthouse, and, for one afternoon, a theater for America’s blossoming femininity.
The occasion? A jubilant prelude to America’s 250th birthday, set for July 4, 2026. The collection’s title, “American Beauty,” is more than a poetic flourish—it is a heartfelt love letter to the spirited, creative, and unapologetically colorful women who shaped a nation.
Liberty, Embellished
Guests entered beneath a living vision of Lady Liberty: a model towering on the balcony, diadem sparkling with rhinestones, her voluminous white dress overflowing with delicate fabric florals. “Like America’s garden,” Bendet called it—a fitting metaphor for a collection rooted in growth, hope, and historical tribute.
This season, liberty was not just symbolic—it was embroidered, appliquéd, and draped in every stitch. The collection bloomed with delicate handcrafted flowers, stitched across gowns, tea-length skirts, and ribboned corsets with the precision of couture artisanship. The savoir-faire was unmistakable. This wasn’t just pretty—it was technically astounding.
A Century Reimagined
Bendet’s references stretched far beyond fashion’s usual confines. This was a century-long conversation, from the early 1900s—when women first began to claim space in art studios, sports arenas, and public life—to the rebellious romance of the 1950s, all filtered through a lens of contemporary optimism.
One standout moment: a sleeveless V-neck dress bearing a bejeweled American eagle in mid-flight across the bust, the skirt collaged with photo transfers of the Statue of Liberty, equestrians in jodhpurs, and a flag with just 48 stars—a nod to an era before statehood was complete, and perhaps, a subtle hint at the incomplete nature of the American dream.
Elsewhere, a denim section—playful, exuberant, and embellished within an inch of its seams—paid tribute to the Industrial Revolution, reimagined through pearl-lined jeans and cropped jackets.
Americana in All Its Forms
From fast food to freedom, from sportswear to symbolism, Bendet let her imagination—and her new tools—run wild. With the help of AI-generated prints, this collection became an “inspiration revolution,” as Bendet phrased it. She rendered ideas on demand, letting her creativity dictate directly to machines, skipping hours of traditional design iterations.
Yet despite the modern process, the result was deeply tactile. Embroidery replaced abstraction. Pearls stood in for pixels. Even the collection’s digital foundations couldn’t override the romantic reality of hand-sewn beauty.
Joy as Protest
In an age of division and distraction, Bendet offered not a solution, but a celebration: a vision of American femininity that is bold, beautiful, and joyously unified. While the motifs may not appeal to every partisan persuasion, they are unapologetically clear in their message—this is a country worth honoring, and the women who define it are worth dressing with reverence.
This wasn’t nostalgia. It was a clin d’œil to history—cheeky, celebratory, and perfectly styled. In Alice + Olivia’s Spring Summer 2026, Lady Liberty smiles, her skirt swaying in a garden breeze, rhinestones catching the sunlight.
The revolution, it seems, is embroidered.
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