A short stack of packets sat on each seat at the Global Fashion Collective’s opening show for New York Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2026 season — each containing the names of five collections from around the world, from Japan to Argentina. The Thursday afternoon show was the only of the GFC’s five this NYFW season to feature educational institutions — students from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico and the Rasara Fashion Design Academy in South Korea were among the show’s designers, presenting everything from basket-woven dresses to elevated streetwear.
Universidad Iberoamericana
The show opened with nine student designers from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico — which offers an undergraduate degree in fashion design and sustainable textiles — who presented pieces made of untraditional materials, such as felt, woven reeds and reused cloth.
Each designer expressed their styles through a unique combination of fabrics. Andrea Cesar, the last student to showcase her design, was inspired by artisanal artists in Mexico. Cesar told WSN that she used a weaving process to create a dress that “feels like a basket” and emulates a traditional wooden color. Cesar incorporated basket weaving into the fantastical gown design, which included two horns around the bust and an entire skirt made of similar smaller horns.
EMIJINGU
The use of unconventional materials didn’t stop with The Ibero. Emi Jingu, a solo designer from Japan, used balloons to craft intricate dresses. Jingu’s eponymous brand, founded in 2017, focuses on creating temporary garments.
Jingu’s collection was born out of her recent encounter with illness. In 2020, the designer was diagnosed with an ischemic stroke and Moyamoya disease, for which she underwent two surgeries. The experience gave birth to her latest runway theme: confronting the meaning of self and life in the face of illness.
“Balloons are not a material that lasts forever,” read a message from Jingu on the show’s pamphlet. “This collection is an attempt to visualize the ‘sparkle of life’ through … models who, while living with disability or illness, move through life with suppleness and strength.”
Jingu’s models wore designs with tightly sewn DNA-shaped balloons wrapped around prosthetic limbs, black wheelchairs and diabetes monitors. Featuring unique colors for each design, Jingu used balloons to highlight each woman’s body and reflect “the heartbeat of life.”
Martin Dalla Lasta
Argentine fashion designer Martin Dalla Lasta introduced his newest collection titled “Loner Boy,” which explores the struggles of innocence.
“It is not a naïve innocence, but a raw, unguarded essence that once shaped our perception of the world,” Lasta said in his concept statement.
Lasta was the only designer to utilize all male models in his walk, juxtaposing conventionally feminine pieces like maxi dresses and skirts. The oversized, slightly sheer designs featured primarily white and black and shone with sparkles. The translucent colors marked a clear motif of innocence and with the addition of harsh silver chains against each piece, a greater theme of resistance pulled through.
Ashlyn So
The youngest designer of the show, 17-year-old high school senior Ashlyn So flew from San Francisco to New York City to debut her newest line of coral-inspired dresses called “Recolored: Restoring the Colors of Life.”
“This collection was inspired by the bleaching of coral reefs and them losing their color,” So said in an interview with WSN. “The whole piece was a metaphor about the colors of life and re-vibrating yourself.”
So broke her collection up into 12 dresses, including “Sun Anemone” and “Crimson Surge,” each signifying a different moment in the destruction of coral reefs. With flowing, petal-like silhouettes accompanied by beach sounds, the garments glided seamlessly around the models like a coral reef moving on the runway. So also introduced ragged dresses of faded whites curling in contrasting directions. These pieces were a stark contrast to the softer dresses at the beginning of her collection, displaying the expansive range of her designs.
All of So’s models donned gold “omni-jewelry” handmade by So. Until the end of September, every piece of jewelry bought will be donated to Coral Gardeners, a nonprofit dedicated to regrowing corals.
Rasara Occupational Training Fashion College
Seven student designers from the Rasara Occupational Training Fashion College in South Korea were the last to present their collection, establishing their individualism through different styles and textures.
Unlike the other designers in the show, who often presented dresses, Rasara students showcased a mix of elevated streetwear outfits. They added everyday items like headphones and baseball caps to further embolden futuristic pieces. Several designs featured cropped long-sleeved tops and oversized bottoms, reminiscent of the popular Y2K style. The use of hoods and jeans created a look that, on its own, could be considered casual wear, but was elevated with pearly jewelry and the combination of sheer and leather textures.
The second half of the Rasara collection depicted the exact opposite of the first, featuring neo-Victorian elegance that heavily relied on broad shoulder pads and high ruffled neck lines. The design was clearly inspired by masculine clothing, but designers added a unique twist with cropped suit jackets and trousers that aligned with an asymmetrical skirt.
Contact Natalie Deoragh at [email protected].