The Grace Chen label presented Abstract Glamour, the opening chapter of the trilogy of He Jie (Reconciliation) and the house's Pre-Fall 2026 Couture Collection on July 24 at a private estate in Sag Harbor, New York.
Forty couture looks were shown to an audience of editors, stylists, collectors, and clients, followed by a garden cocktail reception. It was the first couture presentation the house has staged in the Hamptons.
The evening also marked the introduction of Style Lab, a new practice from the house devoted to the study of proportion and personal style — the first extension of the fashion label beyond the atelier in 17 years.
The collection was presented in tribute to Rachel Crespin, the United States fashion editor and consultant who died in April 2026 at the age of 100, with pieces from her jewelry legacy worn alongside the couture.
Founded in Shanghai in 2009 and now working between Shanghai and New York, the Grace Chen label opens with this collection a three-chapter enquiry by founder and creative director Grace Chen into what it means to find harmony in a complex world.
Drawing on ancient Taoist wisdom
Chen said that she designed the new trilogy as a direct response to the mental anxiety and identity crises caused by the fast-evolving artificial intelligence technology, making many feel trapped between two extremes: "grinding it out" or "giving up".
She proposes "reconciliation" as a vital third alternative.
"Giving up means leaving entirely; reconciliation means opening a tightly clenched fist," Chen said.
"Once your palm is open, you might catch so much more."
Far from a passive retreat, reconciliation is an active strategy of seeking self-reconstruction and flexible equilibrium amidst perpetual change, the designer argued.
The opening chapter, Abstract Glamour — known as He Guang Tong Chen in Chinese — draws its philosophical foundation from a renowned passage in the Tao Te Ching: "Softening its light, unifying with its dust."
While traditionally interpreted as softening one's edges or blending into the background, Chen reinterprets this concept for the modern era. To her, "softening the light" does not mean forfeiting individual identity or sacrificing distinctiveness; rather, it represents transforming raw sharpness into a gentler, more inclusive presence that coexists harmoniously with the world.
According to Chen, He Guang Tong Chen is the highest expression of Eastern elegance: to be fully oneself, and fully at peace with the world.
