Grace Ling (Q4185)

Though Grace Ling is one of New York’s next up-and-coming designers (she’s a finalist for this year’s CFDA/VogueFashion Fund), she’s already a familiar face to the stars in Hollywood. At just 27, her sensual and surrealist designs are favorites among an A-list celebrity crowd including Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Anya Taylor-Joy. Ling’s Gen-Z knack for experimenting beyond traditional design by pushing boundaries with 3D printing and CGI is solidifying her as a force to be reckoned with. These days, her customer base is rapidly growing; her ready-to-wear pieces are sold at most big retailers, including Nordstrom, Net-a-Porter, and Bergdorf Goodman; and this year, Ling has even started to receive requests from couture clients for one-of-a-kind pieces.“This year, we started to do a lot of couture looks, so for those clients, I wanted to push it at today’s show,” said Ling. Her opening look, worn by Alex Consani, featured one of the brand’s signature 3D-printed aluminum breastplates, except this time broken in a Neanderthal manner, fitting for the collection also titled Neanderthal. Against the silent runway and smoke machine, as Consani walked down the runway, you could hear the subtle clacks of metal clicking against the cement floors, giving the guests a four-dimensional experience of beautiful clothes and euphonious sounds.Beyond pushing her boundaries to create couture looks, Ling experimented with new color palettes unfamiliar to her world, including blood red, leaf green, and rust brown. This season, a lapel-less blazer and pant set joined her collection, which stuck with the rose concept the designer referenced throughout. Like a drooping flower, her jackets and pants started straight and rigid like the stem, but bloomed as they reached the bottom into a blossoming bud.