For Fall/Winter 2021 Michelle Duncan, founder of womenswear brand DUNCAN, turns her eye back to New York. Unable to travel, she took her holiday in the city she has called home for the last decade, rediscovering its frenetic energy as a tourist. She looked to the parks, the museums, the architecture, and was reacquainted with the famed verve that the city has long inspired. The collection does not fall into leisure, but instead anticipates the city’s reawakening, relishing in frivolity even more than it once had before the pandemic. Silhouettes pull on the waistline, classical cuts are given boldly studded collars, and an air of femininity reimagines Savile Row-inspired pieces.

DUNCAN draws on the distinction of goth adolescence with a sophisticated edge. Conservative tailoring with embellished detail is an homage to the New Yorker: multifaceted and driven by a surplus of aspiration. The fashion house’s signature bleeding heart dress takes a sharp, emerald green, decorated delicately with white Swarovski crystals and beads.

Entitled Monolithic, the collection draws on the city’s structure—huge metallic eyelets reveal pieces of skin with gentle elegance. Italian and Japanese fabrics redefine comfort as glamour. A knee-length black dress with a sweetheart neckline promises a future with elegance. Michelle Duncan envisions September with sanguinity. New York will reawaken and so will style.