I WAS BORN TWICE // FALL WINTER 2026
By Lee Almond
"For the boy who dreamed of becoming a ballerina..."
Until the age of fifteen, my life was stitched from stretched tulle, elastic waistbands, slicked
hair gel, and black ballet shoes – the unmistakable mark of a male dancer in the studio.
But that boy, who was never allowed to be a ballerina, remained alive within me.
I was born twice: a cycle of life in which that boy found his way into the body of the woman
I am today – a fashion designer writing her life story through fabric and thread.
The collection unfolds as a poem of survival and fulfillment: anatomical games
deconstructed and rebuilt, transparent layers over opaque ones, tulles intertwined with
coarse wools, synthetic furs meeting delicate French lace. Power against softness. Rigidity
against romance. In every seam lies the renewed choice to be myself – again and again.
The romantic and Victorian world of the Royal Ballet meets here the bare truth of life.
“As a child, I watched the film Billy Elliot every day – the story of a boy from the suburbs
who dreams of becoming a soloist at the Royal Ballet. That videotape, kept by my mother
to this day, rests beside my tiny ballet shoes – a tangible relic of a dream that became a
body, an identity, a career,” says Almond.
On the runway, black, poetic, and shadowy figures come to life – the new creatures of the
Maison Almond universe. Handcrafted in Almond’s atelier over hundreds of meticulous
hours, the collection unfolds as a couture work of precision: sculptural silhouettes
stretching proportions, near-architectural structures embracing and releasing the body, a
contemporary blur of gender, layers of transparency, and a subtle wink toward the
intimacy of the boudoir. This is a renewed interpretation of ballet, of fashion, and of the body – in all its shades and identities.
In Fall Winter 2026, Maison Almond redefines its language: Prêt-à-Couture – a bridge
between a reborn childhood dream and a fearless, feminine truth. Haute couture for the
public eye.
Now, Almond closes the circle with the boy who once dreamed of being a ballerina – on
the runway of Tel Aviv Fashion Week.