Coach’s Tessa Faye O’Connell wears the summer trends she loves
Tessa Faye O'Connell’s summer edit turns four runway trends into real-life dresses: drop waists, boho embroidery, printed silk, and gingham.
Coach's Spring 2026 runway at New York Fashion Week on September 15, 2025, leaned into airy fabrics, soft colors and playful shapes. Tessa Faye O'Connell is dressing for a summer that wants polish without stiffness. The Coach global PR director, a fashion-house veteran and mother of two, is leaning into four dress details that have moved from runway conversation into everyday wardrobes: drop waists, embroidered boho prints, printed silk, and gingham. The mood matches the season’s “real-life dressing with a flourish,” and it fits the airy, soft, playful energy Coach pushed on its Spring 2026 runway at New York Fashion Week on September 15, 2025.
Drop waists are back, and they feel less precious than before
Drop-waist dresses and skirts were one of the clearest Spring/Summer 2026 silhouettes to surface across the season. What makes the shape work now is that it loosens the body without losing structure: the waist sits lower, the line feels longer, and the dress suddenly reads modern instead of prim. That same ease showed up through airy fabrics, soft colors, and playful shapes.
O'Connell’s draw to the look makes sense because it bridges the gap between fashion-office taste and actual wearability. A drop waist can look deliberate with flat sandals in the day and sharper with a little heel at night.
Boho embroidery is returning with a grown-up temper
The boho revival of 2026 is not the free-spirited, overdone version that dominated festival dressing years ago. The new boho leans softer, more refined, and more polished, with embroidery, relaxed silhouettes, and lightweight, vacation-ready fabrics doing the heavy lifting. O'Connell’s summer picks are about ease first and nostalgia second.
On Coach’s runway, that refinement is easy to imagine in dresses that use embroidery as texture rather than decoration overload. A little threadwork across a floaty bodice or hem gives the dress depth without making it fussy.
Printed silk is the season’s quickest way to look dressed
Printed silk dresses answer the current appetite for clothes that feel intentional the moment they go on. The fabric brings movement and sheen, while the print does the styling work, so the result is a dress that can handle brunch, work, or dinner without needing much else. Coach’s Spring 2026 collection leaned into that kind of wearable polish.
Printed silk sits right in the middle of that idea: it is elevated, but not rigid, and it works especially well when paired with the brand’s New York practicality. A dress like that can be styled with a simple flat, a slim belt, or a compact shoulder bag and still feel finished.
Gingham is no longer a novelty, it is a summer staple
Gingham has fully crossed into mainstream momentum. It has been everywhere in 2026 and remains strong for spring and summer, and that tracks with how the check has evolved from picnic shorthand into something cleaner and more versatile. In the right cut, gingham feels crisp rather than twee, especially when it is paired with softer, more city-friendly silhouettes.
Coach’s Brooklyn shoulder bag, which the brand describes as a small-sized hobo with a distinctly New York attitude, captures the same balance of ease and polish that makes gingham feel current again. A straight midi, a floaty sundress or a sleeveless column can turn the check into something that feels like part of an urban wardrobe.
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