“It was about how I can make sense of 25 years of doing something where you change it all the time.” So said Lee Mathews of her resort 2026 collection, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of her namesake label. It was indeed a lineup full of her classic silhouettes: carefree and elegant, highly feminine, architectural and romantic, but never delicate. It’s a balancing act, and Mathews pulled it off again this season. “The kind of woman that I am typically thinking about—she’s not fragile; so the clothes can be delicate and beautiful but they need the personality; the clothes are enhanced by the personality of the real person,” she explained. That came across in the track jacket and long board shorts that Mathews transformed into a gauzy blouse and maxi-skirt.
This season, Mathews collaborated with the artist Nina Walton who created hand-painted plaids and a wonderful brushstroke-splotched polka dot that appeared on a simple asymmetrical dress with a ruched neckline. “I was given one of her pieces as a birthday present—a significant birthday, okay? a milestone—and then I thought this woman does beautiful things, I’d like to get in touch,” Mathews said. “So now we are friends.”
Movement was a strong component of her offering this season, and while some of the light and airy fabrics, like the cotton used for an a-line blouse, undulated and swayed with each step, others bounced up and down. Hoop skirts are an idea that could seem costume-y in the hands of almost anyone else, but here they looked compellingly modern. Mathews collaborated with Renata Brenha on their design. “I suppose the idea is that it’s a foundation piece and it’s showing,” said Mathews. “The trial piece became its own piece, we never made another one.”
In fact, the preponderance of white and off-white pieces in the collection comes down to how much she appreciated the toiles as they were being made. “I love at the beginning of a collection when there is just a whole rail full of white things, cream things, things that are half made and you just think, wow wouldn’t it be nice to do that just one time? So we did it.”