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At golden hour on the first day of New York Fashion Week, Collina Strada debuted its spring\/summer 2026 collection, called \u201cShade,\u201d on a Brooklyn Bridge pier overlooking the water. In the days leading up to the show, the brand\u2019s Instagram hinted at the collection\u2019s theme by teasing videos<\/a> of animal-like silhouettes and their shadows. The sustainable fashion brand helmed by designer Hillary Taymour is known for blending the natural world and fashion, in as many iterations as one can sum up. This time, the animalistic elements were explored through the unruly, concealed parts within human nature. With 23 pastel-colored looks all accompanied by black renditions<\/a> (46 looks total), Collina Strada\u2019s SS26 collection referenced Jungian psychology, diving beneath the surface<\/a> to reflect the shadow self that lives within each of us.<\/p>\n Backstage, Collina Strada\u2019s glam teams, led by key hairstylist Mustafa Yanaz<\/a> and key makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench<\/a>, brought this vision together by centering contrasts in hair and makeup. There on Pier 6, underneath bright white canopies, the two beauty artists known for their avant-garde creations guided teams who tufted hair and applied lashes calmly and diligently under the late summer heat. Yanaz describes the hair as \u201cstructure meets spontaneity,\u201d while Ffrench crafted six distinct characters that either complemented or contrasted the clothing. The collection consisted of cascading dresses made of airy, gathered material flowing into delicate trains; waistlines adorned with jewels<\/a> and ruched layered fabric; sweeping button-ups and trench coats; exaggerated cargos and a healthy dose of lace. <\/p>\n Yanaz is no stranger to a Collina Strada runway show. Returning from the fall\/winter 2025 season, he saw an opportunity to channel the unexpected in playful ways \u2014 which ended up being one of the more notable details of the runway looks, effectively reinventing the meaning of \u201chat hair.\u201d Hirsute beanies constructed of crocheted Kanekalon hair on net structures offered an edgy finish, while baseball caps completely covered in hair with sweeping extensions were molded and frozen in place. Except for a hot pink outlier, Yanaz intentionally colored the hair-engulfed caps and beanies in natural colors or soft pastels.<\/p>\n He sums up the hair looks with three descriptors: \u201cNew York. \u201890s fashion. Risky.\u201d Incorporating the hair-hats into the show felt intuitive for Yanaz, as he sees baseball caps as a staple in New York fashion and Collina Strada as a staple New York-based brand, despite Taymour growing up in Palos Verdes. (He used Bumble and bumble\u2019s Bb.Spray de Mode Flexible Hold Hairspray to secure the caps, sprayed Bb.Thickening Dryspun Texture Spray to the Kanekalon hair before weaving into the beanies and added Bb.Styling Oil for the hair left exposed from the hats to give a \u201clived-in\u201d effect.)<\/p>\n Yanaz\u2019s working relationship with Taymour is rooted in the ability to create uninhibitedly. The concept for the hair, for example, is something that she and Yanaz had been working on since July. What began as a joke to construct hats out of hair developed into a prototype, which evolved into the headpieces seen down the runway. \u201cShe\u2019s not scared to try things,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople can like it or not like it, but if it\u2019s \u2018just OK,\u2019 we didn\u2019t risk it. And is that what we want?\u201d<\/p>\n Ffrench, also having worked with Taymour in the past to conceive surrealist beauty looks, was laser-focused on her models\u2019 makeup. She alternated between the six archetypal looks, with some models wearing eye shadow hues that aligned with their wardrobe pieces, while others completely contrasted it or wore none at all. Taking cues from Taymour\u2019s affinity for animal motifs, Ffrench sought to incorporate feline-like elements into the makeup.<\/p>\n Diverging from some of her more complex looks, this approach highlighted the natural bone structure of the face, making it \u201canimal-like without becoming costumey,\u201d Ffrench says. \u201cThe feline inspiration is always on my mood board. Here, it means pulling up the eye, creating a wider nose bridge and extending the color down toward the midline of the bridge,\u201d she explains. With her leaning into feline facial structures, one can see the connections between the glamorous surface and the more animalistic shadow self Taymour presented with the overall collection.<\/p>\n Ffrench zeroed in on the collection\u2019s color profile: utilizing soft pastel colors from her newest eyeshadow palettes<\/a>, adding a \u201cwash of shimmer,\u201d as she describes, and finishing with a color-coordinated winged lash from her Lashify collection<\/a>. For the complexion, she opted for a lightweight foundation to create a natural look that accentuated the color-scheme. The results were striking, with blue, pink and gold-toned finishes that pulled you directly into the eyes.<\/p>\n When I ask Taymour how a vision like this, from clothing to hair and makeup, comes to life, she emphasizes what it takes: \u201cLots and lots of talking. Communication.\u201d All components exist in one concurrent conversation in service of a bigger picture. \u201cYou have to have a vision,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of people think this comes second, but it doesn\u2019t.\u201d The presentation evoked a myriad of emotions from onlookers \u2014 some were uneasy about what the messaging behind models dressed head to toe in black sheer fabric could be. Each \u201cshadow\u201d shared similar physicalities with its \u201clight\u201d counterpart in both body stature and skin tone, an intentional aesthetic choice meant to signal that they are one and the same, representing different sides of the self. The prickly headwear and broad-stroked eye shadow enhanced the grittiness of the collection, which urges audiences to reckon with the light and darkness within ourselves and others in order to press forward. As the show notes expounded: \u201cTo inhibit the light, we must know the shape of the shadow it casts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShade\u201d can materialize in many forms. Much like beauty, it can be used to either conceal or embrace variety. By fashioning abstract hairstyles and highly-blended facial pigments, the beauty team\u2019s interpretations of shade and our relationship to it amplified Collina Strada\u2019s spring\/summer 2026 meditations on the complexity of self.<\/p>\n Cierra Black is an Inland Empire-raised, L.A.-based writer. She graduated from UCLA where she studied political science and African American studies, serving as a staff writer for Nommo news magazine. She was the inaugural Style Writing Fellow for Highsnobiety in 2022, and has since gone on to write for publications such as Essence, Dazed, Refinery29, Complex and Teen Vogue. Cierra\u2019s writing focuses on the interplay between art, style, beauty and social issues and behaviors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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