Resort 2024 marks Kate Hundley’s first yr back since putting her namesake line on hold in the course of the coronavirus pandemic, so the Recent York designer decided the timing was right to tackle one other first: making her runway debut at Brooklyn’s Wythe hotel.

On Wednesday evening, her collection, titled “Witches and Goddesses,” paid homage to female surrealists and their interest in magic and the occult. “There are such a lot of incredible female artists within the movement, but you actually don’t ever hear about them,” Hundley said backstage. “They aren’t really recognized for who they were as individuals.”

Hundley looked to the Italian painter Leonor Fini specifically, describing her as “the Helena-Bohnam Carter of the ’30s.” Fini loved to drape herself in caftans, so she showed one in black and one other in lavender, which was worn over red cigarette pants. Fini was also the mind behind Elsa Schiaparelli’s “Shocking” perfume bottle shaped like a Stockman dummy, which was mirrored through woolen floor-length coats with exaggerated boning. 

Fini fancied herself an excessive amount of of an eccentric to be confined to a single art movement and Hundley took on a little bit of that freewheeling individualism with a charmeuse shirtdress worn back-to-front and a bustier top fabricated from weathered vintage belts paired with pleated trousers in chocolate brown. “I like an upcycling project,” she said. Elsewhere, there have been nylon bustle skirts and evening dresses with the identical off-kilter eyelet detailing Hundley introduced for her pre-fall collection inspired by ’80s new-wave music. The designer, whose formal training is in accessories, also expanded her bag assortment, showing off an underarm style she described as “bitchy,” with gold snakes winding across the handle.

Hundley has favored private appointments prior to now citing their intimacy, but “to create the whole picture of a brand,” she said, “you could have to do a show.”

“I’m finding the things that feel special and unique to me and I’m constructing on them,” the designer, who has seen her clothes on Sam Smith and Katie Holmes, added.

Asked whether she’s seen interest from wholesalers, Hundley said, “I don’t wish to jinx anything.”