The city is already moving. The campaign’s only question is whether you are
There is a particular kind of New York moment that Saks Fifth Avenue has spent a century trying to bottle: the exact second the weather turns, the light sharpens over Midtown, and a stranger in an impossible coat makes you reconsider everything you planned to wear. That moment has a name this season, and it arrives like a summons. Let’s Go! – Saks Fifth Avenue’s Fall 2026 campaign, launched September 3rd, is less an invitation than a dare, a bracing celebration of modern glamour, self-expression, and the specific thrill of dressing for the season ahead.
Photographed by Nadine Ijewere, whose lens has become synonymous with warmth, texture, and an unfussy reverence for real people, the campaign stars Scarlett White, Felice Noordhoff, Divine Mugisha, Sanique, and Jae Lee – an international cast that moves with the loose, purposeful confidence of a stylish pack navigating the city with intent. Ijewere, known for portraits that feel alive rather than arranged, brings immediacy to a luxury environment that can otherwise risk feeling overly polished; the result is imagery built on movement and discovery rather than the static perfection department-store advertising once traded in.
Fashion as destination and departure point
The campaign’s visual thesis is elegantly simple: fashion is both a destination and a departure point. Ijewere’s frames shuttle between the retailer’s legendary New York flagship – its glowing marquee and signature script a landmark of American retail since 1924 – and the city beyond, where iconic parks and sun-drenched sidewalks offer a counterpoint to the store’s polished interiors. One image captures the mood with cinematic precision: a model mid-stride outside the flagship, black leather trench catching the golden-hour light, Saks shopping bags in hand, a yellow taxi idling at the curb. Behind her, the store glows like a promise. She looks back at the camera as if to say: you could be here.
The clothes match the city’s energy. Fall collections that embrace glamour with conviction – defined by long, lean silhouettes and deep, saturated shades – appear across a designer roster that reads like the season’s most-wanted list: Khaite, Tom Ford, Prada, Jil Sander, Loewe, Altuzarra, Ulla Johnson, Balmain, Valentino Garavani, Balenciaga, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ferragamo, and Proenza Schouler, among others. In Ijewere’s hands, the styling revels in tactile contrast: acid-yellow knits against camel suede, hot pink satin brushed with a striped scarf, black leather polished to a high shine. It is fall dressing with conviction – clothes that ask to be seen, on people who look ready to be.
The energy of New York, exported
This unmistakable cool ripples far beyond Fifth Avenue. The campaign draws on an energy rooted in Manhattan – where, as the retailer puts it, style is whatever you want it to be – and lets it travel, from the heat of Miami to the sun-washed light of Los Angeles. That national sweep is deliberate. “Let’s Go! celebrates the unique role Saks Fifth Avenue plays in connecting our customers to the energy, creativity, and discovery that makes luxury fashion so compelling,” says Cheryl Han, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer of Exemplar Luxury Group. “Our New York City flagship has long been a destination where culture and commerce come together, and this campaign extends that influence across our stores and digital channels nationwide.”
The ambition carries strategic weight. Under Exemplar Luxury Group – the collective also home to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman – Saks has streamlined to 15 stores, making its legendary Manhattan flagship, a 647,000-square-foot monument that underwent a multiyear renovation culminating in 2019, an even greater share of the business. The campaign shines a bright light on that flagship, positioning it not as a store but as a gathering place where fashion devotees arrive and leave “fully charged with creative ideas.”
Elle Strauss, SVP, Creative at Exemplar Luxury Group, frames the feeling precisely: “‘Let’s Go!’ captures the unmistakable rush of energy that comes with a new season and the endless possibilities of getting dressed. The campaign feels spontaneous, confident, and distinctly New York. Through Nadine’s vibrant perspective, we created a visual world that celebrates the season’s striking fashion and freedom to make it your own.”
A creative clubhouse, not just a campaign
For the first time, Saks is bringing the campaign to life beyond the image. A new curated concept shop on the first floor of the flagship extends the Let’s Go! message into physical space, designed as a “creative clubhouse” where fashion insiders can gather for art, vintage magazines, cultural events, and unexpected finds. The shop’s offerings are co-curated by Saks’ Fashion Directors – Chloe King for women’s, Bruce Pask for men’s – and feature a shoppable assortment of chic giftables, soft accessories, homeware, handbags, and shoes.
But the space does more than merchandising. It houses “Beautiful People,” a gallery exhibition of Ijewere’s original photography, alongside a newsstand by Library180, the nonprofit image reference library, featuring a curated selection of rare and collectible magazines from the 1990s. The effect is to frame the flagship as a place where visual culture, fashion history, and retail intersect – a canny acknowledgment that in an era when products alone are rarely enough to pull customers through the door, a store must offer a reason to arrive before it can ask what you’d like to buy.
The momentum continues through October 6 with “Let’s Friday at Saks,” a weekly weekend series bringing DJ sets, a custom sketch-artist activation, and a pop-up cart serving L’Avenue at Saks coffee alongside cookies from The Rounds and Casa Bosques chocolates – complemented, naturally, by custom Saks coffee tumblers and campaign-themed stickers. Together with the concept shop and the imagery, it suggests Saks is looking past the traditional seasonal campaign as a communications vehicle and toward something more continuous: a retail experience designed for lingering as much as shopping.
What makes Let’s Go! persuasive is its understanding that contemporary luxury retail must give customers a reason to arrive before asking them what they would like to buy. By pairing seasonal fashion with culture, community, and the restless energy of New York, Saks gives its fall campaign a clear sense of purpose. The clothes are waiting. The city is already in motion. The store – now a century old and freshly transformed – has become the place where those two currents meet.
After all, when the city is moving, it seems only appropriate that the clothes should keep up. And if the invitation is anything like the photographs – spontaneous, confident, and distinctly New York – the only correct answer is the one the campaign has been waiting for all along.
Let’s go.
The Fall 2026 “Let’s Go!” campaign is now live across Saks Fifth Avenue’s digital channels and in stores nationwide, with windows showcasing highlighted seasonal looks and the season shoppable through women’s and men’s Curated Edits.
Images Courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue
In other brand campaign news, Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2026 Campaign Photographed By Steven Meisel
