According to the calendar, summer ends September 22, but for most New Yorkers, especially those who work in fashion, it ended two weeks ago when Labor Day marked a return to the office for many. Yet as the sun set over the Wavertree ship on the East River amid an unseasonably warm September evening, the spirit of summer was alive and well at Tyler McGillivary’s second-ever runway show, titled “Mermaiden.”
With an it-girl-studded audience on board, including Ella Emhoff, Veronika Slowikowska, Jo Rosenthal and more, the up-and-coming designer’s Spring 2026 collection lured crowds under its siren spell.
In McGillivary’s playful way, the showcase boasted a range of nautical touches — purses adorned with iridescent shells that gave a satisfying “clank” as they moved, recycled abalone-colored textiles, fishnets, trailing ruffles, mesh graphics depicting aquatic symbols and clamshell bras. An ode to the nostalgic 2006 film, Aquamarine, the show closed with none other than Sara Paxton herself. The collection held a lightness that was both literal and felt — a breath of fresh air from the often exhaustingly heavy seriousness of New York Fashion Week.
Yet the looks still contained some of what are shaping up to be common themes across the Spring 2026 runways. There was a clear emphasis on texture and movement, something Area strove for and missed the mark on this season (but Fforme nailed), as well as an abundance of sheer textiles and earth tones.
McGillivary’s show is not the first to have dipped into the aquatic realm recently. Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s Spring 2025 couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier saw models corseted into slick, serpentine silhouettes, and Rick Owens’ Spring 2026 menswear show literally waded through the fountains of the Palais de Tokyo.
The phrase "mermaidcore" has even emerged across social media over the past couple of years as a buzzword to describe the siren-inspired trend.
This past February, McGillivary made her runway debut with a timely Valentine's Day-themed collection titled “Date Night.” Covered in lipstick kisses, the Fall 2025 collection held a similar air of fun, but this time around, she traded city girl kitschy-chic for a quieter coastal ethereality.
Perhaps “Mermaiden” is pointing in a new direction for McGillivary, one that’s slightly elevated and more refined, as she carves a space for herself as a runway name. However, it’s clear that her imagination remains the driving force behind the eponymous label. May she never lose that childlike wonder.
Photography: Matt Weinberger
