Spring 26 | The Process

There's a particular kind of energy that lives in an artist's studio. The unfinished canvases turned away from the room. The easels standing in waiting. The quiet sense that something is about to be revealed but isn't quite yet. It's that feeling — of process, of possibility — that has been at the heart of everything I've been thinking about for Spring 26.

The Artist's Way began, as most things do for me, with a feeling that slowly forms a plan.

For this collection, I wanted to explore the thread that connects fashion, photography and art. I'm a big believer in collaboration and I'm deeply intrigued by how an idea evolves as it passes through different creative hands. Each person we work with brings their own vision and perspective and it's really beautiful to see your work interpreted through the eyes of other artists. The instinct to let go, to invite other perspectives in has shaped every decision we made this season.

When I think about where The Artist's Way truly began, it was with a painting.

I had come across the work of Melbourne-based artist Julia Fitz some time before we started developing the campaign. Her practice explores the expressive and emotional language of the human form. Her subjects are often suspended in states of repose, caught somewhere between movement and stillness, exuding a poise that feels entirely instinctive. I was drawn to her work immediately. Inspired by fashion, she understood the colour and movement of garments. One of her paintings in particular reminded me of an image I had on my pin board of Abigail O'Neill.

I'd wanted to work with Abigail O'Neill for a long time. I think I put her on hold for three different projects before this one. There was something about Julia's painting that reminded me of her, and in that moment the whole thing clicked into place. Abigail brings a real depth and authenticity to everything she does. She has an energy and an elegance that felt exactly right for what I was trying to create. And so the collaboration with Julia, and the casting of Abigail, became completely intertwined from the very beginning.

Alina Casas came into the picture and I knew immediately she belonged here too. When I met Alina, I felt her whole body artistic. There's a creativity in the way she moves, in her whole sensibility. Together, the two of them made a combination I found incredibly exciting: two women from different generations, each interpreting the garments in their own way, each bringing a different character to the collection. It's a reminder, I think, that style has nothing to do with age and everything to do with confidence, individuality and authenticity.

I really cast them with the intention that they were true muses of the brand. Not just models, but creative participants in the story.

Georges Antoni has been my collaborator for a long time, and I knew from the beginning that he was the right person to shoot this campaign. Georges understands garments intimately. He knows how to find what's beautiful in a piece of clothing and make you feel it through a photograph. That mattered more than usual this season, because the images he created weren't the final destination. They were the starting point for something else entirely.

My dream was that Georges would shoot the campaign and then Julia would paint it.

After the shoot, I sent the imagery through to Julia and waited. I was so excited to see which ones she would choose to paint, and so genuinely curious about what would draw her to certain images over others. I didn't direct it. I just let her work and waited to see what she created. When she landed on her final three, it was a real reveal and one of the most satisfying moments of the process.

That's what I mean when I talk about collaboration. It's not about control. It's about creating the conditions for something surprising to happen and then trusting it.

The collection itself feels like a natural expression of all of this. Pastel pinks, greens and floral motifs, softer than last season, but no less considered. Feather and jewelled details that bring interest to simple silhouettes without ever overwhelming them. Occasion dressing alongside elevated everyday pieces and versatile separates that move seamlessly from day to evening. At its heart, it's an expression of modern femininity not the kind that needs to announce itself, but the kind that simply is.

The Artist's Way honours the hands that make, the artists who inspire and the women who bring every garment to life.

That feels like the truest thing I can say about this season. The campaign is a dialogue between a designer, a photographer and an artist. Each of us bringing the same collection to life through an entirely different lens. And then handing it over to the women who will wear it, and watching them make it their own.

That's the part that never gets old.

The Artist's Way, Husk Spring 26, is available now in boutiques and online at husk.com.au