Richard Quinn has achieved somewhat of a fairy tale in fashion: immense industry support, a more intimate direct-to-consumer business model, and enthusiastically dedicated clients. He’s also one of the few truly classical eveningwear designers left. Watching a Quinn runway show—like today’s spring/summer 2026 collection—can feel like a vestige of a pre-ready-to-wear era, when slow craft and ateliers were the pioneering forces in fashion.
This evening, Quinn’s performance was operatic, inspired by glamorous members of high society. Whether you’re Newland Archer and Countess Olenska stealing longing glances in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, or Bertha Russell fighting for societal dominance in The Gilded Age, you can command the full spectrum of human emotion. Quinn’s collection strives to do the same.
As the audience settled in Smith Square Hall, a concert venue in Westminster, Naomi Campbell entered wearing a svelte black dress complemented by exaggerated white off-the-shoulder cap sleeves and a floral centerpiece—the evening of art had begun. Within the collection, a wide range of silhouettes were pulled into the modern day: flapper-era caped column gowns, 1950s Grace Kelly-esque poofy tulle skirts, and a 1970s-style mermaid skirt waterfalled from beneath a fitted gold sequined bodice.
Signature shapes were also on display. One yellow dress belted with tiered bows was a sisterly recreation of its red version in the spring/summer 2025 collection—the same style that Saweetie wore in the front row. Likewise, the latter portion was wholly dedicated to Quinn’s bridal collection—a crucially successful part of any demi-couture business.
Richard Quinn spring/summer 2026.
Coco Jones and Saweetie.
Quinn might no longer be the designer of subtly fetishized collections past—although I’m sure I’m not the only one who misses the allover latex twists to a gown that could otherwise be worn by a queen. However, he’s taken the name he has made for himself and fine-tuned it into a mainstream modern romantic filled with impeccably cut tulle and formal florals—and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
Alexandra Hildreth is the Fashion News Editor at ELLE. She is fascinated by style trends, industry news, shake-ups, and The Real Housewives. Previously, she attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Following graduation, she moved back to New York City and worked as a freelance journalist and producer.
