Adam Lippes Spring 2027 Ready to Wear: Luxe Prep

by · WWD
Adam Lippes Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear CollectionCourtesy of Adam Lippes

Adam Lippes once swore off presentations. Yet there he was Wednesday morning, opening his Fifth Avenue home for his first in years — an exhibition-style affair that felt less like a return to NYFW pomp than a reminder of why his clothes are best experienced at close range.

“Sometimes it just looks like sportswear. You need to touch it and feel it,” Lippes said. He’s right. Much of the desire in his clothes lives in details a runway can flatten: waterproof silk masquerading as classic shirting; featherweight silk shantung with the airiness of parachute cloth; an unlined  jacket finished with French seams; linen-silk suiting that took three seasons to perfect, and Swarovski netting on dresses that moved like liquid.

For spring, Lippes looked back decades to his first collection and the American prep he instinctively understood then. Khaki, navy and white returned alongside pinstripes, tennis shapes and boyish tailoring, but being overly nostalgic wasn’t really his point. A 1920s Newport tennis dress was reworked in shimmering netting, plaid became translucent organza and familiar shirting came in waterproof silk. Prep here is the framework for considerably more sophisticated clothes.

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There was also more air around the body. Voluminous pants gathered at the ankle, parachuting skirts and dresses billowed away from narrower shapes, while jackets came shorter and a bit closer to the torso. That interplay between lean and generous gave his polish some needed swagger.

It’s proving good business, too. Lippes said the average age of his in-store customer has fallen from 57 around the pandemic to 37 today. Wide-leg pants? Well, he initially doubted they would sell but they slipped into his retail buys last season and became a top seller. “It’s just basically pushing fashion a little more,” he explained.  “She’s not buying that fit-and-flare as much anymore as the fashion.”

Lippes isn’t chasing a runway crescendo. Instead, he’s making a persuasive case for clothes whose allure unfolds slowly: beautifully made, deceptively complex pieces that become more compelling the closer you get.