Cecilie Bahnsen Pre-Fall 2026 Collection

Bows, forever objects of affection for Cecilie Bahnsen, were a topic in the issue of A Magazine she curated last year. “I don’t know if you’d call it a romantic pause, but [for pre-fall I] was looking at some of the things that I didn’t feel like I was finished talking about when we did [the magazine],” the designer said. “The bow story was really special to me and I wanted to kind of try and create a whole collection just around the bow.” Having done that, the collection became a collaboration with Nadine Ijewere, who photographed the lookbook around a romantic narrative of sisterhood and dressing up.

Bahnsen found many, many ways to tie a bow in this offering. They were woven, embroidered in different varieties, used as closures, sized big or super small and used in multiples. Among the poufier silhouettes a simple slip dress stood out. The designer said she chose not to use boning to make the pieces easier to wear. At the same time she challenged herself technically by integrating bows into the patternmaking, so what looks like something attached to a dress is actually built into it—much like a sense of romance is baked into all Bahnsen does.