Into the Infinite: Susan Fang's FW26 Collection Is a High-Tech Love Letter to Craft
The London-based designer blends “future craft” with family tradition for her most ambitious Shanghai showing yet.
There’s few organic experiences as dopamine-inducing as witnessing a Susan Fang collection. What you see on the surface is mountains of tulle, pastels and florals. Yet, to look closer is to encounter the mind of a designer deeply plugged into the social, technological and cultural zeitgeist of our era.
For Fall/Winter 2026, she arrived at Shanghai Fashion Week with a new collection titled “Air-Infinity,” serving as a direct follow-up to the brand’s previous “Air-Evolution” outing. This season, Fang pushed her signature ribbon-work to its logical breaking point. “We used a lot of ribbons and went super extreme,” the designer shared, noting that her mother’s lack of formal pattern-cutting led the team to construct garments entirely from strips. But don’t let the bows and frills fool you into thinking the collection is based in whimsy day dreams. Reflecting on her decision to lean into a hyper-sweet aesthetic, Fang explained, “We are worshiping capitalism too much. We’ve reached a peak of that ambition so I wanted to go sweet.” This sentiment is mirrored in the XL+ Architects-designed set… a silver mirror intended to make the audience question the current moment.
One standout piece features water-pastel gradients and lucky clover shapes that mimic butterflies. “My mom is helping me with this dress,” Fang noted. “She’s already made over 1,000 handmade resin butterflies. In total, it’s taken two weeks to make with five people working on it.” Under the runway lights, these elements are designed to resemble floating glass.
Technology remains the catalyst for Fang’s exploration of “future craft”. Following a visit to the Beijing Imperial Palace, the designer felt a call to restore lost artisanal traditions through computational design. “Part of the brand is about craft and part is technology,” she explained. “We want to make sure that even if we use technology we want it to be harmonious with nature.”
This philosophy is best seen in the footwear this season, where the brand worked with Bambu Lab to create 3D printed, “ice cream swirl” spiral flats. These TPU-printed kicks were hand-dyed to achieve precise colorways, further expanding on their “future-craft” DNA.
The brand also extended its reach through major global collaborations. A “Peach Blossom” series with Melissa features sculptural petals and gradient transparency, while an “Infinity in Bloom” collection with CASETiFY brings Fang’s “bubble” aesthetic to tech accessories. To bridge the gap between the runway and the commercial drop, Fang even created a specialized “phone case bag” specifically for the show to carry the collaborative pieces.
Between the precision of 3D-printed ridges and hand-stitched beads, Fang breathes life into the machine… proving that technology can be at once sugary and devastatingly defiant.
For more Shanghai Fashion Week coverage, check out our FW26 recap.
