Observations from J. PRESS SS26
'TAKE IVY' ... Retaken
I’m freshly back from NYC (and a quick stop through Austin) after the J. PRESS SS26 show.
The J. PRESS show last week was directly inspired by the 1965 Japanese book TAKE IVY…which is the original source material, codifier, and amplifier of what ‘ivy style’ truly is. J. PRESS generally is what happens when a brand actually is Ivy, instead of slapping a crest on a blazer and calling it “heritage” or “preppy” - there is a difference. This is where the brand separates itself from a long list of others who look the part (but lack the credentials)…including brands we all love; Ralph Lauren included. J. PRESS indeed was founded in New Haven, CT quite literally on the Yale campus.
Ivy isn’t a costume. It’s a language. Quiet signals, familiar proportions, the kind of restraint that requires confidence. If you want to understand what modern Ivy style actually is, you could do a lot worse than starting with J. PRESS…and their SS26 show at the New-York Historical Society.
The collection was great…but most of all it was infinitely wearable. There were items you could consider more ‘dressy’ especially by the low standards of modern day. But there were items you would wear to the beach, the bar, or just around town. The show made them all feel desirable and special…but not formal or stuffy. Which is why this collection felt so refreshing compared to some other modern menswear tailoring.
Modern custom tailoring is often obsessed with overdoing it: pick your lapel width, your button stance, your monogram, your “statement lining,” your exaggerated everything.
Ivy ‘tailoring’ is the opposite. It’s not about showing the viewer what you chose. It’s not about broadcasting taste. It’s about having it.
And I say this as someone who was at their fall show at The Explorers Club…which was genuinely fun and inspiring in that old-New-York way: a room full of character, a sense of history in the walls, and clothes that felt like they belonged in that setting rather than battling it for attention. SS26 felt like a very strong follow-up; certainly not a repeat, not a victory lap, but another step forward with the same confidence.
Let’s begin with a very important detail…the OCBD collar roll. Especially when it is styled with other items.
Not the pressed-flat or spread “collar suggestion” you see on many runways. Many of the J. PRESS looks had the proper, confident, almost exaggerated curve…the kind that says, “Yes, I’ve been worn. Yes, I’ve been washed.” People who know ‘Ivy’ are obsessive about their collar rolls.
Then there was the venue: The New-York Historical. No trick lighting, no forced drama. Just a room that already knows something about history. And the props weren’t random; they were the TAKE IVY source code made physical.
The models looked like they stepped right out of the book…carrying stacks of books, tall rowing oars, colorful duffel and tote bags, pushing a bike (on their way to class?)…and, gloriously, a trumpet. That trumpet was like a nod to those who know, because it quietly dragged the whole thing out of safe “east coast campus” territory and connected it to Black Ivy. Into the cooler and sharper side of the same universe. It whispered: this is a real culture with real references.
Shoes and watches were doing the same job: anchoring everything back to reality. Because J. PRESS’s original version of ‘Ivy’ only works if it looks like a person got dressed and left the house…rather than being laminated onto a model for a photo. There were also a few looks that included no footwear at all…barefoot models who looked as if they were working around the boathouse.
And the tailoring itself…this is where the comparison to modern “custom” gets really stark. Ivy proportions don’t scream. They settle. Natural shoulders, a bit of drape, room to move, the sense the garment wasn’t designed for the mirror. It’s clothes that assume you’ll actually be living in them, not posing in them. Custom tailoring today often has you asking “Can that guy even button that coat?” Ivy tailoring is simply well-designed…comfortable, balanced, and lived-in.
Now. The ties. I’ve been a ‘tie guy’ for several years now. I just love the almost subversive act of wearing a tie in 2026.
This is where the show got properly entertaining, because J. PRESS basically spent a portion of SS26 saying: we know the rules, and we’re going to break them. And we’ll have you breaking them too soon enough.
Backward ties (yes!) with the wonderful J. PRESS label facing out.
It’s not “messy.” It’s confident. It’s also funny in exactly the right way. Like an inside joke told by someone who knows their audience (“...and she stepped on the ball”).
And the “Take Ivy” references? Not vague. This was lifted straight off the page: the particular drape of the tailoring, the casual-but-deliberate layering, the sense that the clothes weren’t styled (of course they were) they were worn. That’s the magic of Take Ivy: it’s not about outfits, it’s about people. J. PRESS SS26 understood that.
The color palettes felt spot on…classic, yes, but with enough punch to feel like spring and not a museum exhibit. This wasn’t loud or trendy. It was the far more difficult thing: harmonious. Like an old sports car parked outside a cafe: quietly perfect, therefore impossible to ignore.
Then, just when you think they’ll keep it all respectable, they start dropping in little fun items: “see/hear/speak no evil monkeys” and “gin-and-tonic” sweaters … could be dangerous territory (especially as it relates to people who consider themselves ‘purists’) because novelty can be where taste goes to die. But it all worked. It felt like J. PRESS saying: “we can be serious and still have a drink.” And, those purists? They can drink somewhere else wearing something from Brooks Brothers.
One of my favorite looks…a stencil sweatshirt worn with a black tie.
That’s the SS26 show served in one shot: casual, but not informal. Relaxed, but never sloppy. It’s the style equivalent of showing up to dinner slightly underdressed; then being the best dressed person in the room anyway.
Which brings me to the real win: the collection is wearable. Genuinely. You could buy this, pack it, live in it, maybe spill a drink on it, and it would still look great the next day. Accurate props, perfect casting, storied location. The theatre helped. But it wasn’t doing the work. The clothes were.
J. PRESS SS26 wasn’t a fashion show trying to convince you it had a point. It had the point. And it delivered it with collar roll, drape, confidence; and just enough mischief to remind you that style, real style, is never the loudest thing in the room. It’s the thing that looks effortless, because it is.
Well done to the entire team who produced the show, including my friend Jack Carlson, J. PRESS President & Creative Director.
This is a great review. You’re a spectacular writer too. I’ve never been a fan of ivy but appreciate what J Press has done here. IMO the red socks make the stencil outfit 💯
Excellent.