Isn’t it ironic that being hot requires a certain amount of indifference? It sounds counterintuitive when maintaining one’s appearance can involve a lot of effort behind the scenes, but think about the people who pull it off well. The mirror holds less power over them because they’ve already decided they look good.
Consider Day 2 of BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026 a glamorous endorsement of the idea.
RELATED: Day 1 of BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026 Is an Argument for Embracing Change
KASHIECA x Lucy Torres-Gomez
When you think about Lucy Torres-Gomez, you already have the image of a beautiful and elegant woman. There’s an appeal to her simplicity, which makes her continued collaboration with KASHIECA wonderfully intuitive.
“I just wanted the lady to feel beautiful in easy clothes—the type that you’d wear and don’t have to fidget with too much. It looks nice. Then you forget about it and just enjoy.”
—Lucy Torres-Gomez
For Holiday 2026, Torres-Gomez imagines a wardrobe with the same sense of ease. These are clothes that can take a woman from the workday into whatever she has planned for the evening without demanding much from her in between. The tailoring and color palette feel very current as well, which makes the lineup approachable across generations.
HUMAN x PROUDRACE
The creative director of PROUDRACE could not be bothered to over-explain himself.
“It’s sexy. It’s cool. It’s crazy. It’s very youth culture.”
—Rik Rasos
Wonderful. Moving on!
I LOVE U marks the fourth collaboration between HUMAN and PROUDRACE. This time, they return to the 2000s with the confidence of two brands entitled to revisit the era. HUMAN was founded in 1999, after all, so its own history runs through those years of growing up and fancying emo boys. Rasos proudly references that part of his youth in the collection, except he leaves the period’s restrictive standards around gender and bodies where they belong: in the past.
He also bottled the memory. I LOVE U introduces the first designer perfume by the two labels, with youth as the scent they want to capture. We imagine one whiff could send us straight back to the days when we amused ourselves with the bouncing DVD screensaver.
Beyond the two collaborations, the night still had plenty more to offer. Chris Nick brought his early-2000s Americana vision to BENCH and had Michelle Dee, Max Collins, and Francine Diaz join him on the runway. Originals and Active rounded out the evening with appearances from Alden Richards, Joshua Garcia, Seth Fedelin, JM Ibarra, Fyang Smith, Dustin Yu, Kai Montinola, Kyle Echarri, River Joseph, Kira Balinger, Kaila Estrada, Marina Summers, Bea Millan-Windorski, and Ina Raymundo.
For all the spectacle that comes with a night like this, though, Day 2 left us thinking about how nice it is when nobody seems too preoccupied with impressing anyone. Looking good is already fun, and so is knowing what you like. Wearing it without requiring a second opinion sounds even better.
It’s a fitting place for BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026 to leave us after its first day encouraged us to welcome change. We’re going to change regardless, so we might as well enjoy every version of ourselves that gets a turn along the way. That includes the embarrassing ones, by the way. They’ll make excellent material once enough years have passed.
And with that, BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026 has officially come to a close. We’ll see what version of everyone walks through those doors next year.
Photographed by ZOE TAPALGO of KLIQ, INC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lucy Torres-Gomez designed easy, low-maintenance clothes meant to take a woman from work into the evening, with tailoring and a color palette she describes as approachable across generations.
I LOVE U is the fourth collaboration between HUMAN and PROUDRACE, revisiting 2000s style, per creative director Rik Rasos. It also introduces the two labels’ first designer perfume, built around a scent meant to evoke youth.
HUMAN was founded in 1999, which the brand references through its 2000s-inspired I LOVE U collection with PROUDRACE for BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026.
Chris Nick’s early-2000s Americana segment featured Michelle Dee, Max Collins, and Francine Diaz. Originals and Active featured Alden Richards, Joshua Garcia, Seth Fedelin, JM Ibarra, Fyang Smith, Dustin Yu, Kai Montinola, Kyle Echarri, River Joseph, Kira Balinger, Kaila Estrada, Marina Summers, Bea Millan-Windorski, and Ina Raymundo.
Yes. Day 2 closed out BENCH Fashion Week Holiday 2026, following Day 1, which centered on the theme of embracing change.
