At The Shed at Hudson Yards, the designer carried a concept he began in Milan all the way to metamorphosis: caterpillars, a chrysalis built at the center of the runway, sequined moths and a queen, staged on dirt under a single daisy
NEW YORK — Thom Browne closed out New York Fashion Week once again, and this time he did it as an insect.
The designer took over The Shed at Hudson Yards with a spring 2027 ready-to-wear runway show inspired by the classic Disney film “A Bug’s Life.” The inspiration continued his men’s spring collection, presented in Milan in June.
“It was a charming kind of nonsensical story that was fun to play with,” Browne previously told WWD. Backstage, he said the collections started at the same time. In New York, he pushed the concept even further.
Thom Browne‘s Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear show closed New York Fashion Week at The Shed at Hudson Yards, built on the classic Disney film “A Bug’s Life.” The concept continued his men’s spring collection, shown in Milan in June. The runway opened with models as caterpillars, one of whom entered a chrysalis at the center of the runway, and closed with the caterpillars reemerging as butterflies before a queen look in intarsia wing panels. Browne called the ladybug his favorite piece.
The Set Was the Argument
Giant branches and leaves surrounded the runway, with a singular daisy growing out of his all-encompassing astroturf and dirt-covered surface. The show started with models dressed as caterpillars in soft sheer dance skirts and grey-toned anatomical bodysuits. One entered a chrysalis in the center of the runway, kicking off the beauty of metamorphosis and the renewal of life that Browne instilled both conceptually and tangibly throughout the show.
The insects were not a print. They were the collection’s architecture.
Every Major Bug Under the Sun
His signature proportion play tailoring was decorated with dragonflies, ants, caterpillars, moths, flies, and beetles- really every major bug under the sun- with flowers and their habitats in tow. Those included a long-stemmed sunflower and a bee embroidered onto a plaid short-sleeve tailored jacket worn atop a sunshine yellow tweed skirt suit, while another look was topped with reimagined moss-fringed embroideries dripping off its bodice. There were also little tailored dresses with vest fronts and low-dipped, swimsuit-strapped, airy pleated skirts.
“This story lent itself to so many insects; it created so many different ideas regarding the conceptual shapes of the shells of beetles and ladybugs, and also to the butterflies,” Browne said of his giant, bulbous couture constructions covered in delightful ladybug and moth motifs. “It was a treasure trove of things that I could do.”
He named one outright. “I have to say the ladybug was my favorite piece.”
Smaller work carried the same brief. Candy-like, colorful caterpillar-shaped handbags, plus patent and pebble grain leather, pony, suede and crystallized shoes, uplifted with three-dimensional playful leather butterfly wings and bug mandible accents.
Ants, Sequins and Mosaic Wings
Sequined fly, dragonfly, and moth appliqués fluttered across pleated skirts and overcoats, while gold bullion thread and red-and-black intarsiaed ants marched one by one around the silhouettes. Giant butterflies had a mosaic effect through embroideries. Then Browne sent out fitted corsets and narrow skirts that embodied the protective shells and abdomens of bugs through intricate, manipulated, interlocked fabric panels.
The Black Section, and the Queen
His vibrant colors gave way to a smaller section of all-black, patchworked looks, with Metallica’s “Moth Into Flame” blasting overhead. Then his metamorphosis came to a head. The caterpillars reemerged as butterflies, in low-slung, vibrant pleated handkerchief-hemmed skirts and high-neck maillots.
They welcomed Browne’s queen, a captivating beauty in intarsia wing panels that framed the face, worn with her cropped double-face silk duchess satin jacket, padded silk velvet corset and long, off-white floating yarn jacquard and silk mogador asymmetrically pleated skirt.
Twenty-Five Years, One Cycle
For more than 25 years, Browne’s classic tailoring has continued its metamorphosis through the American designer’s eye for detail, his knack for the fantastical, and his commitment to showmanship, expressed in a uniform look that spans both the everyday and the couture. With spring, he brought new life into the cycle.
About Thom Browne
Thom Browne is an American designer whose tailoring has undergone continuous self-revision for more than 25 years, moving between the everyday uniform and couture construction. He presented his spring 2027 men’s collection in Milan in June; the women’s spring 2027 ready-to-wear show closed New York Fashion Week at The Shed at Hudson Yards.
See the complete collection below:
Images courtesy of Thom Browne
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