The invite for Edvin Thompson’s Theophilio show was a makeshift Air Jamaica plane ticket, a reminder of the Brooklyn-based, Jamaican-born designer’s heritage and consistent inspiration. He’s embraced his roots through Rastafarian motifs and crochet knits in the past, but Thompson described spring 2022 as his most confident, unabashed celebration of Jamaica’s spirit and iconography. Several looks came in the red, green, black, and yellow stripes of the Rastafari flag, but the silhouettes were quintessentially New York: stretchy, body-skimming, and confidence-raising. One of many catsuits came in the graphic stripe, and while it looked audaciously sexy from afar, a closer look revealed the fabric had a comforting, velvety burnout texture.

Tie-dyed knit catsuits, graphic crochet slips, and curve-hugging mesh dresses struck a similar balance. Backstage after the show, when models typically race to get back in their own clothes and head for the exit, Thompson’s were hanging out and taking selfies, in no rush to strip off their looks. A decade ago, a buzzy new designer might have subjected his models to uncompromising, body-contorting gowns in the name of a vision. Thompson and his emerging designer peers care just as much, if not more, about how their clothes will make people feel.

At a preview earlier this week, a small handful of looks were available to see up close, mostly the oversized denim jackets, grommeted jeans, and Rasta-striped separates. Thompson’s publicist vaguely explained that only the ready-to-wear was included in the preview, but it was unclear where that left the rest of this collection. As it turns out, everything else in the show will be made-to-order, which makes sense for the body stockings and slinky gowns. You’d want a perfect fit in the sunset-y striped catsuit, which scooped so low in the back that it necessitated a matching logo’d thong.

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