The Jane Wade Girl Doesn’t Want To Be Quiet on the Creek

Where we last left her, the Jane Wade girl was out of office, exploring The Summit for Fall/Winter 2026. She expanded her workwear ether to previously unexplored territory, melding the label’s core office codes with tactical outerwear and sportswear silhouettes in a way only Jane Wade could. Hailing from Portland, Oregon herself, Wade’s unwavering connection to the natural world informs her Spring/Summer 2027 collection even more directly. Dubbed “The Riverbed,” the range is one Wade doesn’t even describe as workwear; rather, a “suggestion of workwear in the outdoor space.”

“There will always be workwear evident in the tactical details, but I think our version of workwear is taking on a new visual form. It’s leaning more toward this outdoorsy, sport-tech world,” she told me a few days before debuting The Riverbed — very aptly right on the water along Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers.

The collection signals our ever-evolving Jane Wade girl’s springtime descent from the summit, where she finds herself wading in the water at the riverbed. Wade can point to the exact catalyst of the collection, scrolling back through her camera roll to a photo from July, when she spent a day with her girlfriends “floating the river” on Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes River. “That day was the whole inspo,” she explains. “We were creek-maxing on the riverbed. It was that feeling I was trying to emulate in this season’s experience.”

Through her meticulous worldbuilding, Wade takes that feeling and brings it to life through more tactical outerwear. “Where we used to stack tool belt pockets and utility pockets, we’re now stacking gathered nylon toggle drawcord pockets,” Wade elaborates, introducing a new organza-weight nylon, intermingling ripstop with linen, and debuting her dream footwear partnership with Keen. “Our core workwear silhouettes are reimagined in nylon, tricked out with techy accents. We want things to feel techy and sporty, with the shape still being the basic office block. It’s our same Jane Wade language but in a new form.”

Last season, you took us to the mountains with The Summit. This season, we’re at The Riverbed. How did we get here?

Jane Wade: The Riverbed is an extension of “The Summit.” This collection continues the outdoor expedition from “The Summit,” but now it’s springtime; the glacial river waters are melting, everything’s heating up, and our girl has found herself traversing down the mountain into the riverbed. It’s been fun to play in the outdoor space while layering and stacking our core office codes on top of activewear. In looks that lean heavily into athletic-wear tropes, we might add some statement tech pieces into the styling to really cement that world crossover.

The crossover of the workwear world and the Great Outdoors continues to get stronger. What are some of your favorite moments in this collection where those two spaces merge?

There will always be workwear evident in the tactical details, but I think our version of workwear is taking on a new visual form. It’s leaning more toward this outdoorsy, sport-tech world; it’s more a suggestion of workwear in the outdoor space. Where we used to stack tool belt pockets and utility pockets, we’re now stacking gathered nylon toggle drawcord pockets.

Our core workwear silhouettes are reimagined in nylon, tricked out with techy accents. We’ll pair sport-forward fabrics with tech finishes that mirror our classic office stuff. We’ll match knit with nylon and ripstop in the same garment, or combine knit and poplin with twill tapes and zigzag seams. We want things to feel techy and sporty, with the shape still being the basic office block. It’s our same Jane Wade language but in a new form, and I’m excited to see how it’ll be received.

Last season we saw a lot of paracord and nylon; what materials appear most in this collection?

A lot of nylon again. This time, we’ve introduced a new air-light windbreaker nylon, which is super lightweight — almost like an organza weight — but in a nylon fabric. It has a little bit of rayon in it as well, making it breathable and soft. We’re using ripstop, and we brought back linen again. We did linen last spring, and it was very successful for us from a commercial standpoint, so we layered that back in. We also feature some cotton twill, which brings our workwear language into the collection, but in a more tailored way.

Location is always a character in the story. How does this season’s setting not only inform the collection itself, but the entire creative narrative?

The setting informs every part of the creative process. We’re asking ourselves, What kind of shoe should really go here? or What kind of person actually makes sense to wear this? This season, the Jane Wade girl is lounging and swimming in the river, so we relied on river-character tropes. You see hikers, lizardy, scaly, amphibious things you’re finding in the creek, backpackers, people at the campsite. It’s fun to imagine who these people are in the universe, and why they’re dressed like this. I’m really intentional about tying everything together; even the gifting element of the show was part of the story, with everything coming in a dry bag for your paddleboard excursion. It’s imperative to have this world-building component in place, especially as we’re building both the commercial side and the high-concept side. Everything we produce somehow responds to the theme.

The settings are also highly intentional choices, with last season’s summit setting drawing from your Portland upbringing and time spent skiing at Mount Hood. What made you choose the riverbed for Spring/Summer 2027?

A lot of the time, the theme is a double entendre that has a deep, dark undertone about technology. But for this season, I really wanted to relieve some of that tension and tap into the feeling I get when I go home and visit my family and friends.

Last season, it was the footwear that acted as the catalyst for the entire collection. What was the spark this season?

I can show you the exact photo that encapsulated the entire vibe for me this season. [scrolls to find photo of her on the dock at the river] In July, I spent a few weeks at home. It’s been a hard year, and my spirit needed that to be re-grounded in nature. My girlfriends and I went down to Bend, Oregon, where it’s all mountains and rivers, and one day we went horseback riding and what’s called “floating the river” on the Deschutes River. You get in at one part of the river and just float, and it’ll bring you back around on the river bend to the same spot. That day was the whole inspo. We were creek-maxing on the riverbed. It was that feeling I was trying to emulate in this season’s experience.

Speaking of footwear, you’re on a roll with collaborations — Salomon, SOREL, and now KEEN. Could you elaborate on this season’s footwear?

KEEN has been at the top of our list. The brand is also based in Oregon, so if we were ever going to make a hiking water shoe, it had to be with KEEN. There really isn’t a better alignment this season. It fits perfectly with our outdoorsy, deep-cut camp characters.

What about the accessories this season?

Now, what we’re trying to push internally is this collaborator engine where we use all of our internal fabrics to execute the accessories. It feels more considered this season. I love the little pouches and bags made in the same energy as the main pieces, complete with toggles and paracords. The crocodile leather you see is mirrored in matching leather handbags. Everything goes together, and although one might be a very high-concept, editorial piece, we also have a more commercialized bag that mirrors it somewhere else.

Balancing commercializing your collections with maintaining brand identity has to be hard. How do you navigate that?

That challenge of making more commercial pieces to mirror the special stuff arises every season. You never want to leave the special stuff behind. Now, we’re finding ways to do it through accessories, which has unlocked a new layer for us and brings something interesting to the subtle stuff, and something crazy into the commercial stuff.

With technology being such a key point of creative inspiration for you, as we’re growing more reliant on technology, how has that sort of shaped your approach?

Our partnership with Google and the CFDA Google Fellowship has taught me a lot. I’ve gotten to see how the Google creators are developing these programs, how they care to understand our process, and how everyday tools through AI can aid our businesses. I’m inspired by the capabilities of how tech can shape fashion, but ultimately, tech can’t do my job without me. The more I use tech, the less afraid I am. I’m really inspired by the different ways people use AI to aid their creativity. With any new wave of technology, there’s a leap that happens at a certain point, and I think right now the leap that we’re in is how AI grows creativity. Instead of it feeling like AI is stealing our jobs, it should feel like: How is this helping us expedite where we would arrive anyway? [holds up crocodile leather dress] AI can’t make this! AI wishes!

Last season, you told me: “The Jane Wade girl needs pieces that can be broken down and put back together. They need to serve her in all facets of her life as she expresses herself differently.” Checking in on our girl: what era is she in now, and why are these pieces apt for this current point in her life?

I’m staring at this skirt on my rack that sums it up perfectly. It’s maxi length, but has sleeves that tie around, so it’s like an undone shirt with the energy of a maxi skirt. It’s feminine and flowy, but made out of 100% windbreaker nylon, making it waterproof. I imagine the Jane Wade girl is in the office one day and has to run across the street in the rain for an errand. She has a meeting in 25 minutes, and the rain is just slicking right off of her skirt. It has a very Prada Red Label feel in that way, where it’s built for outdoors, but also built for that woman who is in that liminal in-between space.

Speaking of women on the move, you recently styled Ella Mai for her big comeback tour. What was that process like?

Her tour wardrobe is the perfect case study for the Jane Wade brand. We really had to consider: how does this person need her workwear to function for her? Everything she wears has to allow her to belt from her diaphragm. We had to integrate the mic pack and in-ear monitors. How can I create a little hidden pocket that snaps on so she can put her receiver in it, and have it feed through the garment so no one sees it connected? It was a fun exercise in seeing how a performer needs to build out their wardrobe. We basically shut our studio down for four weeks in July to focus on the tour. Just being able to be ahead enough on this collection that we could pause it for four weeks was an undertaking.

We made almost 23 different pieces for Ella, which is generally half the size of a full-scale runway collection. It was seven looks, each with intermingled pieces that could be broken down and worn different ways. Every night she had a new look without the tour wardrobe having to be 50 different fully considered looks. It was a special project. Dianne Garcia is incredible, and they really just let me do my thing. Ella’s a very chill and low-key person, and I’m a pretty chill, low-key person, so we meshed creatively.

Looking at the range of talent you’ve worked with recently — Ella Mae, Kehlani, JT, Lisa Rinna, to name just a few — the names are all across the board, yet each one makes sense. What makes someone a “Jane Wade girl?”

I like that. It’s a very targeted question. Even just those names you just listed, the Jane Wade girl is somebody who is fearless. She’s powerful, funny, silly, and maybe a little bit cheeky sometimes. She doesn’t take herself too seriously. She’s having fun. Nobody’s telling her what to do, where to be, or what to wear. She’s humble, kind, and thoughtful, and somebody that others look up to. She’s on the move, and she’s got places to be. She has multiple hats to wear, and her wardrobe needs to function as such. It needs to be able to withstand a meeting and a rainstorm. She’s curious, somebody who doesn’t want to blend in, and she needs her personality reflected in her wardrobe. She’s participating in the supernatural and touching grass. She’s definitely on the scene. She’s a cultural powerhouse, like a Julia Fox sort. Those are the synergies and similarities that make everyone we work with a true Jane Wade girlie. We champion people who are in alignment with us.

People online love to say that NYFW is dead. As an actual NYC-based designer, what are your thoughts on this debate?

It’s giving you didn’t have an invite anywhere cool. All of my favorite designers are New York-based and making crazy, cool stuff — Luar, Kim, Willy — like, what do you mean? New York’s on fire. Say you’re not tapped in without saying you’re not tapped in. That’s how I feel about that. That’s crazy. Anyone saying that is clearly not in the fold. I only read it from haters online because everyone in my circle is aligned in that everyone in New York is doing really cool stuff.