Craft and Tension at Kate Hundley FW26

In 2026, what does being a successful woman look like?

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The woman clad in Kate Hundley is going places and has no time to waste. She needs functional and flattering items in her wardrobe — like a utilitarian puffer jacket to keep her warm without drowning in a sea of down and losing all her shape, and a reinterpreted T-shirt dress in a soft fabric that ties at the waist. She’s not afraid to pull out a daringly sculptural strapless leather top, but she also needs an easy column dress to feel elegant at her next gala. She oscillates between the rough pragmatic life of leadership and the soft, feminine side of her self-expression. She can build an armor of tough leather in motor-jackets and gladiator-reminiscent skirts, while preserving a feminine side of ruffles, bows, and softer textures. But who is this mythical creature strutting from conference calls to galas in the year 2026? 

Hundley is one of the newer voices in New York fashion, launching her ready-to-wear womenswear line with a Resort 2024 collection. Fall Winter 2026 shows a designer playing with materials she’s both deeply familiar with and seeking to reimagine. A motor-jacket has a work-wear-inspired lace-up detail on the sides and is cut in a reversed V at the hem. A suede knee-length skirt with a chain detail that references the lace-up features on the motor-jacket creates a surprisingly feminine effect. And the sculptural leather top is a result of the designer letting her own creations surprise her in the transition from sketch to sewing machine. The original version wrapped around the shoulder, but as the construction came together, Hundley let the piece speak to her. Craftsmanship and creativity are undeniable skills of this collection.

However, when I try to picture the woman this collection was made for, she feels elusive, beyond my mind’s eye reach. There’s a version of a woman in leadership — stuck in the girlboss, you-can-have-it-all-if-you-work-hard-enough, Lean In era that doesn’t quite resonate with the reality women around me face today. This dissonance is not only about spending capacity or income realities: it’s about how we’re spending our time. 

This is not to say that I can’t picture a woman in Kate Hundley, because I can. She just looks a little different: maybe she has a big social media following and has a hand in launching those geometric-style bags as the next it-accessory that will set waves of envy in motion. Perhaps she’s an artist, gaining recognition and success, who needs a cool, experimental, and at the same time professional outfit to wear to a big gallery opening. Maybe she is an up-and-coming actress, looking for the perfect dress to wear to an award show after-party.

This Kate Hundley ready-to-wear Fall-Winter collection has a lot to say about modern femininity, but is perhaps boxing itself off in a vision of a woman who holds the title of CEO in a world where creativity is looking less and less corporate. 🌀

You can view the whole collection here.

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Laura Rocha-Rueda is a Colombian fashion and fiction writer based in Brooklyn who holds a Creative Writing MFA from The New School. She is your local Swiftie and will gladly chat about anything glittery and soft, and about why dismissing pop culture as frivolous is misguided and sad.