Student Designers Just Want to Have Fun at Parsons' 2026 BFA Runway Show

The fashion industry may be grappling with the onslaught of AI and commercialized sameness, but over at Parsons School of Design, the next generation of fashion designers is having fun. Set at Manhattan’s The Glasshouse on Sunday afternoon, the Parsons 2026 BFA Graduate Runway Show, entitled “Ensemble,” put forth an optimistic vision for fashion’s future defined by students’ unwavering creativity and appetite for inclusivity.

Backstage, student designers shared this positive outlook while discussing their hopes for the future of fashion: “I’d like to see more diverse bodies on the runway, especially when it comes to size inclusivity, and also just fun, fantasy, spectacle, lots of color and print and sparkle,” senior BFA student Alexander Flores told Fashionista. Senior BFA student Olivia Colley concurs: “I would love to see a lot more fun with materiality and textiles. I think that’s what we’re heading towards and I’m really excited to see how that intertwines with new silhouettes and just overall more fun.”

Backstage at the Parsons 2026 Student Runway Show. Photo: Courtesy of Parsons

Last year, all 283 graduating designers unveiled their creations on the runway, but for 2026, Parsons approached the end-of-year showcase differently. Faculty and a panel of industry professionals (including Sarah Kozlowski, Aaron Potts, Tracy Reese, Narciso Rodriguez, Peter Som and Wendy Waugh) selected the top looks from the graduating class, culminating in a total of 66 looks from 31 student designers.

“We have an amazing group of very different, unique voices this time,” Parsons BFA Fashion Director Anna Lerner-Zwick said. “It’s the top selected students of the year and everybody has strong things to say individually.”

On the runway, Parsons’ student designers explored a wide range of inspirations, including cultural homages and calls to action. Lulu Bozzino transformed actual 19th-century textile waste into a collection inspired by Spanish historical garments and bullfighting; Blue Achenbach sourced a taxidermied goose wing from a rural Ohio artisan as a focal point in a nest-inspired collection; Vy Le honored Vietnamese queer culture through bold prints and custom textiles; and Elisabed Amiredjibi turned fashion into a form of protest by addressing political instability in her home country of Georgia.

“I hope that these changemakers are really going to change what we’re seeing right now in fashion,” Lerner-Zwick said. “I always like to say fashion hasn’t really changed much since I left and I would like to see a bit more diversity across the fashion industry in terms of what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for.”

Ahead, see all the looks from Parsons’ 2026 BFA Graduate Runway Show.