Like many designers, Raúl López loves to research. But by all measures, he went above and beyond in the lead-up to his spring 2026 collection for Luar, shown late Monday night high above lower Manhattan.
Backstage (after some quick hugs from Telfar Clemens, Peso Pluma, and Dennis Rodman) López told W he’s been taking anthropology classes in Dominican Republic to deepen his knowledge on the island’s colonization—and the resiliency of its people. At the same time, he’s been meditating on the ways people find joy in life, even amid difficult circumstances. That led him to explore the Dominican Carnival, a celebration that holds historical significance for D.R. It’s believed to be one of the oldest events in the Caribbean, dating back to the 1500s, brought to the island by Spanish colonizers. The spring 2026 collection, titled “Fantasía,” was López’s way of “trying to reclaim what was taken through colonization, through enslavement, through the wiping away of Indigenous people.”
López’s mood board was filled with images he’s taken during his travels through Dominican Republic over the years. “I have over 400,000 photos on my phone,” he noted. He researched the ways people incorporated their Indigenous and African identities into carnival through history, particularly with characters like the Tiznaos and the Platanuses. “I wanted to pay homage and respect what has come before me, but make it my own, modern and fresh,” the designer said.
That meant dipping into color for the first time in earnest. López stuck to primaries, each hue deliberately selected for its connection to typical carnival costumes. (He even dabbled in prints: a soft polka dot on a dress and a pair of trousers, plus an abstract brushstroke pattern in black, white, yellow, and red on shirts and pants). Then, there was the plumage—jutting out of a beaded jacket, wrapping around otherwise bare legs, circling the torso, sprouting out of the back of a capelet like wings. The latter feels like a natural evolution from fall 2025’s hero duckling: “That was like chapter one, and this was chapter two,” said López.
This season, the designer continued to evolve the signature Luar silhouette by referencing his own past garments. “I respect what I’ve done and I feel like giving my own twist to my own stuff,” he said. “Everything’s already been made, but when you give it your twist, it’s [how] you actually become an original.”
How does Lopez describe his twist? One word: “Iconic.”
