Fall 2026 was Chinese designer Caroline Hu’s most compelling showcase to date of her talent in fabrication and storytelling.
The designer reunited with choreographer Emma Portner for an electric group performance, showcasing dream-like fashion creations in movement and a much-needed sense of hope and joy amid an uncertain world.
Backstage, Hu said Portner based the dance on the collection’s core message: beauty born out of destruction, like a rose blooming in nuclear ruins. Some of the dresses done in her signature watercolor-effect smocking technique came with dry roses dipped in silicon underneath to preserve that fleeting sense of beauty for a more literal reinterpretation.
Then there were the cloud‑like pieces adorned with hand‑distressed cotton mesh, reminiscent of a worn-out towel she has kept since birth. She also experimented with pockets, layering one on top of the other for mesmerizing patterns, and the concept of inside-out, deconstructing a man’s jacket into a bustle dress.
Her debut collaboration with Crocs played a pivotal role in the showcase. Dancer Matt McCreary rushed to collect all the new Bae Clog style with knitted uppers and hand‑embroidered silk ribbon flowers left on the runway, before the rest of the cast expressed collective hope and resilience through modern body movement.