“I think it’s no surprise everyone’s in a nostalgic phase,” Amy Smilovic said at Tibi’s fall 2026 presentation in the Financial District, just a stone’s throw from the New York Stock Exchange. Smilovic reached back into her own past for fall 2026, citing her time on Wall Street and her late ’90s Carolyn Bessette Kennedy-inspired style as jumping-off points.
But you can never really go home again. “Even when you go back, the physicality of the place might not have changed: your clothes might not have changed, but you’ve changed,” Smilovic said. “Time moves on.” A set of questions guided the design process. “What do we love? What do we want to carry forward with us? How do we want to manipulate it into something new?” Some of her answers included pull-on stirrup pants with a drop crotch fashioned in an athletic knit; long, streamlined coats; and a sheer plaid capelet that created the illusion of a ruffled blouse.
Modularity and versatility were also central to Smilovic’s thesis. A soft, streamlined blazer could be worn as either a jacket or a blouse, while flannel balloon trousers with a tapered ankle could be buttoned back for a less extreme silhouette, and a two-piece apron skirt could be worn together or apart, over a pair of pants. Even the shoes were well considered. Take the sleek, slingback heels that were finished with adjustable, bra-strap-esque straps that will save the wearer a trip to the cobbler.
While Smilovic is a pragmatic designer, Tibi is not a bland, capsule wardrobe factory. Not one to shy away from statement-making colors and design, she closed out the collection with a slim-fitting olive-green skirt, finished with a dramatic, horsehair-filled ruffle. “There are a million things I know I’ll wear it with,” she said.
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