It was two days before Romeo Hunte’s spring 2026 runway show, and the designer was walking through the collection in a midtown Manhattan hotel. The racks of jeans, varsity jackets, and trench coats offered a glimpse at what was to come, but Hunte himself was the strongest embodiment of the season’s range and attitude. “These are our Rocky shorts,” he said, pulling the same pair of oversized sweat shorts off the rack that he had on. “I love them and I wear them all the time.” He’d paired them with a pinstripe button-down bedecked with metal V-shaped collar tips, which was layered over a Romeo Hunte graphic tee. “This collection is going to be styled very punk, but still very preppy and tailored,” he said, citing the era when Blink-182 dominated the airways as inspiration. “The music was dope, but I was thinking about who in those times was very distinctive for their looks and attitude and impact.”
This season Hunte most prominently infused that cool factor into denim, using various washing, draping, and laser-cutting techniques. On the runway at The Copacabana nightclub, he presented skinny jeans, denim hot pants, and a curve-hugging denim pencil skirt, all adorned with denim garters and bows. A jean jacket morphed into a full trench coat, the waist featuring oversized gathered seams.
“Mixed media is not always about fabric with me,” Hunte said. “Sometimes it’s just mixing two classic silhouettes and making it one.” Whereas the denim jacket was reimagined into a trench, a pinstripe double-breasted blazer in leather came pre-layered over a matching attached sleeve.
Though Hunte said “this collection is much more feminine” —noting the inclusion of a bra top, miniskirt, and pair of flapper fringe pants—his signature androgyny was a highlight. There were lightweight kilts with cargo pockets and midiskirts fashioned from deconstructed trousers.
A croc-effect leather jacket in Big Bird yellow is the type of high-wattage piece that has made Beyoncé, Colman Domingo, and Xin Liu fans of the brand, but in recent seasons the designer has seen success with standard sweater-vests, cardigans, and varsity jackets; all were in the spring 2026 range. “That’s something I really want to keep consistent,” Hunte said of revisiting those pieces. “Taking what worked and what was impactful for everyone, and then asking, How do I push that forward? How do I evolve that? Without going too far.”
