On Sunday, Sandy Liang debuted her Spring/Summer 2024 collection at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Garden in New York. Last Spring, the New York-based designer gave us a collection inspired by ’90s minimalism, with mesmerizing touches of current trends and classic Sandy Liang house codes: bows, ribbons, and an overload of girliness. This season, Liang explored a different kind of girl- inspired by Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. The new Sandy girl is wild and carefree, living in a fictional world that is immersed in wonder and fantasy. Liang studied real women and their style essences, in which they each individually expressed a conjoined sense of belonging.

Mermaidcore influences played a big part in the show, with freshwater pearl accessories, glowy makeup, and sequined touches. Liang was hypnotized by the lure of the new Sandy girl opting for oceanic amenities such as the “shell phone” instead of her boring cell. Playful nature themes are scattered across the collection in the form of wet hair looks, silk and leather flowers adorned in models’ hair, ribbons and sashes of grandeur, and silver beetle jewelry inspired by museum collections of natural wonders.

What is clear is Liang’s understanding of “girl core”: bow-trimmed bags, capris, blooming embellishments, and the use of luxurious fabrics in nature-esque hues such as chartreuse satin and icy pink jacquard with cotton jersey and sporty taffeta.

Models were wearing silky ballet flats and Y2K-inspired Teva Mush Mandalyn wedges that perfectly executed Liang’s unique aesthetic. A mix of tailoring was incorporated in the form of pleated skirts and button-up jackets. Dresses that could be worn for a wedding or a messy stroll down a grassy hill were sported down the runway, as well as see-right-through-me sheer fabrics.

The final look of the show was perhaps the best, combining every aspect of Liang’s vision for the collection through a white collared mini-dress that fully embodied the ideal Sandy girl. The dress was complete with a giant silk bow, pearl buttons, ballet flats, and a dramatic veil with ribbons on the side to close out the look, and the otherworldly collection.

Sandy Liang’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection is only the start of a new era for the designer, as her popular coquette aesthetic is continually at the forefront of every girl’s Pinterest board, and shopping lists.