Thom Browne Spring 2027: A Bug’s Life

by · WWD
Thom Browne Spring 2027 ready-to-wear collection at New York Fashion Week.Giovanni Giannoni/WWD

A bug’s life, Thom’s version.

Once again closing out New York Fashion Week, Thom Browne took over The Shed at Hudson Yards with a fabulous runway show inspired by the classic Disney film, “A Bug’s Life.” The inspiration was a continuation from his men’s spring collection, presented in Milan in June.

“It was a charming kind of nonsensical story that was fun to play with,” he previously told WWD. Backstage, Browne said the collections started at the same time, but here, he pushed the concept even further.

Surrounded by giant branches, leaves and a singular daisy growing out of his all-encompassing astroturf and dirt-covered runway, the show started with models dressed as caterpillars in soft sheer dance skirts and greytone anatomical bodysuits. One entered a chrysalis in the center of the runway, kicking off the beauty of metamorphosis, the renewal of life, that Browne instilled both conceptually and tangibly throughout the show.

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His signature proportion play tailoring was decorated with dragonflies, ants, caterpillars, moths, flies, beetles — really every major bug under the sun — with flowers and their habitats in tow. They included a long-stemmed sunflower and bee embroidered onto a plaid short-sleeve tailored jacket atop sunshine yellow tweed skirt suit, while another was topped with reimagined moss fringed embroideries dripping off its bodice. But there were also little tailored dresses with vest fronts and low-dipped, swimsuit strapped, airy pleated skirts.

“This story lended itself to so many insects, it created so many different ideas in regards to the conceptual shapes of the shells of beetles and ladybugs, and also to the butterflies. It was a treasure trove of things that I could do,” Browne said of his giant bulbous couture constructions covered in delightful ladybug and moth motifs. “I have to say the ladybug was my favorite piece,” he said, while smaller, candy-like colorful caterpillar-shaped handbags and patent and pebble grain leather, pony, suede and crystallized shoes were uplifted with three-dimensional playful leather butterfly wings and bug mandible accents.

Sequined fly, dragonfly and moth appliqués fluttered across pleated skirts and overcoats while gold bullion thread and red and black intarsiaed ants came marching one by one around the silhouettes. And giant butterflies had a mosaic effect through embroideries before Browne sent out fitted corsets and narrow skirts that embodied the protective shells and abdomens of bugs through intricate manipulated, interlocked fabric panels.

His vibrant colors made way to a smaller section of all-black patchworked looks as Metallica’s “Moth Into Flame” blasted overhead, before his metamorphosis came to a head as his caterpillars reemerged as butterflies, in low-slung, vibrant pleated handkerchief hemmed skirts and high-neck maillots. They welcomed Browne’s queen, a captivating beauty in intarsia wing panels that framed the face top her cropped double-face silk duchess satin jacket, padded silk velvet corset and long, off-white floating yarn jacquard and silk mogador asymmetrically pleated skirt.

For more than 25 years, Browne’s classic tailoring has continued its own metamorphosis through the American designer’s eye for detail; knack for the fantastical, and commitment to showmanship through his uniform look spanning both the everyday and the couture. With spring, he brought new life into the cycle.

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