“If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.”
— Wharton Esherick

As a child, much to my mother’s dismay, I was always finding ways to “enhance” my clothes. A plain dress might suddenly have hand-embroidered flowers stitched onto it. I wrapped colorful threads around the buttons of my school uniform and glued ribbon bows onto my shoes simply because I thought they needed something more.

Like all children at play, I had no grand design behind it. It was simply the instinct to experiment, embellish, and make something ordinary feel entirely your own.

That spirit became the starting point for Lali’s AW26 collection, The Art of Play.

We found a kindred spirit in artist Wharton Esherick, whose extraordinary home and studio became the backdrop for the collection. Esherick blurred the line between art and everyday life. Furniture became sculpture; sculpture became furniture. Staircases, tables, chairs, and even the smallest functional details of his home became opportunities to create something beautiful, unexpected, and deeply personal.

Perhaps most inspiring is that this world wasn’t created all at once. Esherick began building his studio in 1926 and continued shaping it over roughly forty years. It is a beautiful reminder that creativity can unfold slowly—that the things we make are often richer when we give them the time, attention, and craftsmanship they deserve.

That philosophy feels deeply connected to Lali. We believe the things children live in every day can be works of art in their own right—and that making them beautifully takes time. A custom-woven fabric. An unexpected embroidery. A special button. A pocket made more beautiful simply for the joy of it. These details may be small, but together they transform something ordinary into something deeply considered.

For AW26, we explored this idea through custom textiles and playful details. A rich red double-sided jacquard draws from woven textiles of the 1970s. Oversized brown checks combine autumnal colors with twisted rope details woven directly into the cloth, while hand-drawn prints play with the warm, expressive color combinations of the era.

At the heart of The Art of Play is the freedom to experiment without rushing toward the finished result—to add the details, mix the colors, turn something over, try something unexpected, and allow the process of making to become part of the joy.

Maybe that little girl decorating the buttons of her school uniform wasn’t simply embellishing her clothes. She was beginning to discover the joy of making something entirely her own.