Silk chiffon Philippa top; Carine jersey bodysuit; Carlotta legging

Photo: Gwen Trannoy / Courtesy of Mel Usine

Not all fashion events at the Met happen in the Costume Institute—at least not for designer Stephen Biga who is debuting his new brand for spring 2026. On a walk through the galleries last year, the designer discovered and was seduced by the figure of Melusine, a water nymph whose myth was put down by Jean d’Arras in 1393. In brief, she married a nobleman who didn’t know her true identity. Included in their vows was the promise that he could not see her bathe on Saturdays, but he spies on her, she discovers his perfidy, and turns into a dragon and leaves him. “I come across this and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh is, this is the narrative arc for me.”

A Parson’s grad, the designer was working at Gabriela Hearst, after stints with Rodarte and Proenza Schouler, and the prospect of going solo was percolating in the back of his mind. “When you’re designing for someone else, you’re a method actor in a way, which is its own skillset. When I sat alone with this idea, it was like, ‘Well, what do I like when I’m not answering to anybody else except myself?” Biga discovered he was inclined to “narrative fashion—not just a dress in a white room with no kind of context. I wanted my brand to really feel like a world, and I think separating Melusine into a pseudonym of a first and last name is kind of ambiguous; it was never about me naming the brand after myself, because I always wanted it to be about the clothing.”