TORY BURCH TURNED A ZEN GARDEN INTO A CELEBRATION OF CLUTTER

For the third season running, Tory Burch built her show around one of New York's midcentury-modern landmarks this time Isamu Noguchi's Sunken Garden, tucked beneath 28 Liberty in Lower Manhattan and designed to evoke Kyoto's Ryoan-ji Temple rock garden. "It's hard to find a garden like this in the middle of New York City," Burch said. "It's this little piece of tranquility in what feels like a tumultuous world at the moment."

The collection's own show notes framed the idea precisely: "Opulent femininity meets American pragmatism, seen through the collector's eye. Spring/Summer 2027 explores the psychology of how women pull things together. They want beauty, utility, and humour - the joy of getting dressed." On the runway, that translated into deliberate, almost theatrical excess: models doubling and tripling up on mismatched necklaces, fastening skinny scarves with brooches, carrying two clashing handbags at once, some walking barefoot entirely. A bright violet, floral-embroidered dress opened the show trimmed with a petal-covered scarf reminiscent of a Hawaiian lei; butter-yellow and deep eggplant brocade car coats followed, and silver and gold anklets featuring the brand's Double-T emblem drew audible reactions from the crowd with every step.

Burch described the tactile ambition behind the collection backstage: "We talked about textures. It felt so decadent - I think about how clothing can really enhance a mood through color and texture." Sportswear fundamentals - sharp suiting, tailored trousers - stayed present throughout, proof that the brand's grounding in easy separates hasn't been abandoned even as the styling gets louder.

The front row matched the collection's maximalist spirit: tennis star Alex Eala sat alongside Lauryn Hill, Olivia Jade, Amanda Seyfried, Emily Ratajkowski, Alexa Chung and Anna Wintour - a genuinely eclectic mix that has become one of the season's most reliable draws.

Whoever coined 'more is more' clearly hadn't seen a Tory Burch front row lately - but this season made the strongest case yet that the philosophy, done with this much intention, reads as considered rather than chaotic.