The Upper East Side has not, historically, been a key location for New York Fashion Week runway shows. But as the presentations have become more scattered across Manhattan and Brooklyn over the past decade — the post-Bryant Park tents era — that’s changed in a big way.
As an Upper East Sider, I’m not complaining. Neither is Ulla Johnson, who grew up in the neighborhood and also chose it as the location for her Spring 2026 show, which she staged on Sunday at the Cooper Hewitt on 91st and 5th Ave. “I grew up very near here and I used to come to this museum as a child a lot with my mom, as with [café] Sabarsky [at the nearby Neue Galerie at 86th and 5th] and everywhere around here,” she shared in a post-show interview. “We just opened a store on Madison two days ago – it really does feel like such a home to me.”
Her inspiration for the collection came from abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler, who was also a native New Yorker. Both creatives drew from the natural world rather than the so-called concrete jungle, despite being city-dwellers. “Nature has become something very powerful for me, as far as finding both inspiration and solace, which I think Helen did as well,” said Johnson. She incorporated Frankenthaler’s sunset hues and pastel watercolors “like chartreuse and raisin” into her designs, “picking up this narrative of the movement of the colors and the interplay between [them],” as the designer put it.
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There’s a lot going on in addition to the vibrant color palette, too: A smattering of looks incorporate hand-dyed feathers, which lend movement and volume to tops, belts, necklines, lapels, bodices and even full dresses. There are also swishy skirts, draped, tiered, ruffled and bubble-hemmed dresses (with some garments exhibiting more than one of these details). Johnson also styled models with footless lace tights, jewel-studded tulle socks, chunky (and sometimes feathery) necklaces and flowery appliqués.
Meanwhile, makeup artist Romy Soleimani (for Sisley Paris) created a beautiful “gilded eye” look, crushing up the brand’s luminescent gold eye shadow and combining it with a liquid mixing medium in order to paint it onto models’ lashes. The designer may be a New Yorker, but she’s certainly not the kind who goes for the cliché all-black ensembles for which Manhattanites are known.
As has been the case over the past several seasons, Johnson also dabbled in menswear and handbags, punctuating the collection with easily genderless designs worn by male models and variations of the label’s three handbag silhouettes.
Ahead, see every look from Ulla Johnson Spring 2026.
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
Ulla Johnson Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight
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