ALICE + OLIVIA Fall Winter 2026 steps into the Gilded Age and pulls it forward with theatrical precision. Stacey Bendet transforms New York’s Surrogate’s Court, once known as the Hall of Records, into a cinematic meditation on grandeur, ambition, and ornament. She frames the era’s romance and industrial force through a modern lens, presenting femininity as a calculated display of strength. The setting amplifies the collection’s thesis: excess and invention operate as parallel forces.
FALL WINTER 2026 WOMENSWEAR
Bendet draws on Victorian codes, lace, silk slips, sweeping skirts, and intricate gold and pearl embroideries, and sets them against the language of contemporary dressing. Corsetry anchors the lineup with conviction. Ball skirts sweep the floor, while Victorian jackets stretch into lean, elongated lines trimmed with ivory lace. Gowns arrive with detachable bustles, sculptural capes, and dramatic trains, asserting presence through scale and construction. Paillette-embroidered skirts catch light like candle flames. Velvet, lamé, and crystal heat-set denim amplify texture with deliberate intensity.
This historic vocabulary meets denim, tailored trousers, puffer jackets, and faux fur robe coats. Bendet constructs the collection as a negotiation between old-world craft and the modern woman’s wardrobe. A black corset with gold baroque embroidery pairs with black trousers threaded with gold chain link belts. An off-the-shoulder organza top meets flared jeans embroidered in gold. A Victorian jacket falls over a blouse and silk mini skirt, tightening the dialogue between refinement and defiance. Each look asserts control. Nothing fades into neutrality.
A glam-rock undercurrent runs through the palette of black, ivory, silver, gold, and burgundy. Shine and structure work in tandem. Crystal corsets, velvet bustiers, and a chain-mail beaded camisole revive the ritual of the going-out top. Bendet revisits that early-2000s instinct: find the statement piece, pair it with jeans, and claim the night. She renders each top as an object of desire, engineered to deliver impact with ease.
Fabrication becomes spectacle. Gowns carry elaborate flora and fauna scenes realized in three-dimensional embroidery, birds, flowers, and references to the gears of the Industrial Revolution rise from the surface. The process evolves this season through proprietary AI technology, which ALICE + OLIVIA uses to create photoreal renderings of original embroideries and embellishments. The technology enhances precision and communication with artisans while preserving full creative authorship. Craft and innovation operate side by side.
Beauty reinforces the romantic charge. Pearl-accented braids weave through hair with threads of gold and crystal. Skin appears clean and luminous, punctuated by a deep red lip. Pearls sit on pink nails, a nod to the Valentine’s Day timing of the presentation. Every detail aligns with the collection’s devotion to ornament and control.
Inside the Beaux-Arts architecture of Surrogate’s Court, immersive vignettes extend the narrative. A grand staircase carries a monumental pearl necklace. An oversized turn-of-the-century camera overlooks a gilded bedroom. A 20-foot gown doubles as a theater curtain. Eight-foot crystal-encrusted books, including Mark Twain’s The Gilded Age, set a literary tone. An antique automobile, clock, and luggage reference exploration and industrial ambition. The space becomes a living tableau of progress and excess.
