Mel Usine’s Fall Collection Will Make You Believe in Unicorns
February 12, 2026
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
With his sophomore collection Stephen Biga, who named his brand after a woman wronged, showed how right—and timely—is his penchant for romance.
This fledgling brand takes its name from a mythic figure, Melusine, who Biga encountered at the Met. Legend has it that this water nymph married a nobleman who was unaware of her true identity, and whom she had vow that he would never watch her bathe. When he broke his promise, she became a dragon and disappeared. Biga summoned another chimerical creature as muse when he chose the Musée de Cluny’s unicorn tapestry as his starting point for fall. In particular, he was drawn to the sixth panel, “À mon seul désir,” explaining that he was attracted by what he characterized as its theme of “self-possessed femininity; the body is present but not explained.” That didn’t stop Biga from showing see-through pieces, but overall the collection was quite covered-up. The designer also expanded on ideas he introduced last season by, for example, adding sleeves or playing with different fabric combinations.
The Lady and the Unicorn, “À mon seul désir.”
Photo: Heritage Images / Getty Images
The medievalism of the collection was present but not heavy handed. Patchworked lace was made up into a second-skin top as well as a long dress with a godet skirt. Pair the former with leggings that tie at the ankle and then balloon over the foot and you have something that feels more streamlined and citified than romantic. Elements of escapist fantasy, be that from the Middle Ages or the mid-1880s (when Wuthering Heights was published) are in the offering during this winter of our discontent.
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Mel Usine, fall 2026 ready-to-wear
Photo: Bettina Pittaluga / Courtesy of Mel Usine
Christian Lacroix is Laird Borrelli-Persson’s fashion raison d’etre; the way he combined romance and historicism set her on the path she is following today. Borrelli-Persson studied literature at Boston College, spending her junior year abroad at Oxford, where she added some art history. After graduation she moved to New York to intern ... Read More
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