Lii Spring 2026 Ready-to-Wear

Zane Li, who started his namesake label Lii fresh out of FIT, is one of those rare designers who appear on the scene fully-formed. In a little over two years he has established a clear visual vocabulary—sport fabrics, sleek lines, saturated color—and an intent with his work: what happens if I take this shape and skew it slightly? His clothes are simple yet not; you can just pull them over your head and go. (See a shift dress with slits at the princess seams for the arms.) The result is something deconstructed and maybe even playfully cerebral. After decamping to Paris for two seasons to show his collection by appointment; he returned to New York to stage his first-ever runway show in a small gallery in Tribeca with a Pepto-pink rug. Because Li’s is a kind of minimalism that isn’t flat, the runway is a good setting to surprise and delight. A model walks towards you wearing a navy blue pencil skirt, and as she walks away an emerald green square interrupts the rectangular shape of the skirt; her thighs are now exposed, and she’s wearing a mini skirt in back. Another skirt folds over into itself from the hem up, to create a kind of “cowl,” the dimensionality of the piece heightened by the simple heavy cotton t-shirt with a panty-line hem (imagine a bodysuit where the crotch doesn’t connect) it’s paired with.