Yamil Arbaje and Angelo Beato titled their Spring/Summer 2026 presentation “Museum of Common Oddities” at The Bench Community Center in Chinatown, New York.

In a moment when global crises can make fashion feel secondary, Arbaje and Beato reminded us why the medium matters: it is both a vessel for storytelling and a site of refuge, an escape from the troubles the world insists we face. The duo approached their collection as if writing a film or novel, processing uncertain political landscapes and inherited social burdens through clothes.

Casting became an act of empathy, reflecting a multiplicity of staples, stories, and oddities spanning from the Dominican Republic to New York City. Standout pieces included a brown wool blazer with white lapels, wool boxers with leather collars, a brown wool jacket accented with yellow stripes, pleated raw denim with an invisible waistband, and the reinterpreted Dominican chacabana through las alforzas in three iterations: an aviator jacket in nylon wool with padded sleeves and collar, a military-print skirt, and a color-blocked silk shirt.

Neutral and warm tones, greens, greys, browns, and touches of red, set the mood. Models embodied their looks with a quiet intimacy, as if dressing from the inside out, reflecting how garments can mirror emotion.

The collection lingered in dreams, memories, and imagination, posing questions: What is a garment to an immigrant? What is a suit to someone exiled? Can cloth itself become home? Is it time to blend in, or to stand apart?

Through these questions, Arbaje and Beato created a space that was tranquil yet charged with warmth, support, and fellowship. If one lesson prestigious houses might learn from Leblanc Studios, it is their sincerity, the ability to build true community for outsiders, just as they envisioned a space for exiled thinkers, forgotten voices, tycoons, and Caribbean and Latin American militants to merge and reflect on tension.

The presentation unfolded as a celebration of calm and curiosity, resistance and joy, showing what fashion can look like when tranquility meets design.

Photographed by: Krischan Singh

Styling: Milton Dixon III

Style Assistant: Ola Olamide

Production and Art Direction: Ojeras and Leon Hernández

Set Design: Katie Bloom

Casting Assistant: Nigel Truesdale

PR: And Such NYC

Footwear: Merrell

Catch the Heat is The GANZY’s New York Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026 editorial series. Covering the runway and presentations across the city, it explores what’s hot in fashion — the strengths brands lean into, the cultural stories they tell, and how these translate into experience and escapism. This season highlights collections from Leblanc Studios, Private Policy, Advisry, Who Decides War, Parsons MFA Graduate Designers, Jane Wade, and Pipenco — a dynamic mix of emerging designers and established voices shaping the future of style.