For Spring/Summer 2026, Huishan Zhang unveiled The Standing Swans at London Fashion Week, a collection poised between stillness and transformation. Inspired by Truman Capote’s iconic “Swans” and the sculptural minimalism of Constantin Brancusi, Zhang presents a meditation on womanhood suspended in elegance, restraint, and the quiet edge of liberation.

Set against imagined grand ballrooms and mirrored salons, the collection captures women in a state of suspension—still, yet far from static. Tailored jackets emphasize purity of form, while gowns stretch like Brancusi bronzes, impossibly smooth and gravitationally still. Slits replace seams, subtle openings suggesting freedom breaking through restraint.

Fabrics reinforce this narrative of poised rebellion. Refined jacquards recall wallpapered Upper East Side apartments, sequins on sheer tulle reinterpret damask with modern lightness, and cloque textures bring couture spirit and sculptural strength. Frosted-gold tweeds, duchesse satin in unexpected tones, and delicately embroidered silks nod to both inherited glamour and the shaping power of memory.

The palette—ivory, champagne, muted gold, and ink black—plays in chiaroscuro, echoing the tension between presence and absence, elegance and release. Every silhouette embodies a woman at the edge of change, statues preparing to step down from their pedestals, ready to imagine flight.

With The Standing Swans, Huishan Zhang delivers a poetic reflection on grace, rebellion, and transformation, affirming his place as one of LFW’s most refined storytellers.