Fforme Fall 2026 Ready-to-Wear Collection
Fforme’s Frances Howie is one of the many people who first fell in love with New York through the movies. The designer was living in New Zealand when she first watched Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan, which was released in 1990 and heralded as a comedy of manners. Set in the ’80s, it follows a group of gilded Manhattan youth who feel the world they were born into slipping away. The action takes place at debutante balls, in an Upper East Side decked out in Mario Buatta chintz and out on the Hamptons. This film became the starting point for a fall collection that was built around the idea of dressing up.
The show opened with a debutante in a turtlenecked sleeveless bell-skirted gown with molded drapery, accessorized with a shearling stole and flat sock shoes. As Baz Luhrmann did with his Juliet, Howie filtered the past through a minimalist lens that read as very ’90s. The designer’s deconstructions of the smoking were among the strongest looks in the show. The traditional satin side stripe was replaced by a pendant streamer that was tacked at points along the leg. (Given that Howie is a Central Saint Martins grad, one wondered if those flapping ribbons winked at Westwood’s infamous strapped bondage pants.) Cleverly, a tuxedo jacket was paired with a lapel-less coat, giving the illusion that the satin lapels belonged to the topper.
Despite the preponderance of dresses, one in a crushed ochre yellow, and others that used jewelry as straps, the more masculine looks stood out. There were many minimal options for day, some of which were easy to imagine on ’90s-era Gwyneth Paltrow. These included winter white pants, cosy sweaters with artfully frayed edges, a pony hair coat (seen at many collections this season), and a cocooning smoke collared top coat.
Much thought and care had been put into the fabric. The clothes were beautifully made and projected a sense of luxe and taste, but somehow lacked emotion. The heaviness, as it was in Metropolitan, was philosophical; quite surprisingly the models’ confident but heavy strides made the concrete floor vibrate.
Fforme is a New York-centric brand that emphasizes artisanal craftsmanship. Howie extended her theme of “endangered beauty” to include Seventh Avenue, saying, “the entire culture around dressing people, handmade clothing. made-to-measure original design, was really the foundation of New York as an industry.” Fforme is carrying that tradition on by producing some garments locally. This is a very forward looking way of giving back. “I was trying to preserve something in amber,” Whitman has said of Metropolitan. Going back is something fashion is ill-equipped to do. It was when Howie put nostalgia aside that her designs were able to sync with the pulsing rhythm of the city we love.
