Romee Strijd Has More to Say About the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Casting Drama

This is the October 21, 2026 edition of Fit Check, your front row seat to the power players, peacocks, and deep pockets of fashion—and how they influence the rest of the world.

Hello from Los Angeles. I chose a busy few days for a reporting trip to leave New York, where it’s a week of a thousand parties.

Most notably, the CFDA and Vogue announced the winner of its 2026 Fashion Fund on Tuesday at a dinner. Congratulations to Zane Li, who has now won enough young-designer prizes to have something like an EGOT, and to Aisling Camps and Emily Dawn Long, who are this year’s runners-up. Hats-off to Henry Zankov, who is toasting his collab with Banana Republic tonight, and to Carlos Nazario, who is celebrating the US launch of his new book, Silver Lining, on Friday, and to Eckhaus Latta, which will toast to its new New York flagship on the same night. Alas, you can’t be everywhere!

But you can see everything. There is much to be discussed about You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s mind-boggling documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, and rest assured that X users are on the case. There’s a fashion angle to dive into here too. Find it in today’s headline, plus more mess around the Victoria’s Secret fashion show drama, and notes about Jonathan Cohen’s ambitious revival of J. Mendel. (Yes, you haven’t heard that name in ages.)

Mentioned in this issue: Harry Styles and Harry Lambert, the actor in You Can See Everything (spoilers ahead!), Steve Jobs, black turtlenecks, Conner Ives, beige cashmere, Piergiorgio Del Moro, and many more.

In Other News…

The Gift Mess that Keeps on Giving

Last week, I reported on the drama surrounding this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show casting and model Romee Strijd’s viral TikToks on the matter. (Catch up on that here.) Victoria’s Secret had said in a statement that on September 6, Piergiorgio Del Moro, who cast the show, had informed Strijd’s agency, IMG, that she was not cast. Neither Strijd nor IMG replied to separate requests for comment last week. But Strijd did comment on VF’s Instagram post about this item on Saturday. (She later sent me a very polite message explaining this further.) Strijd, it turns out, did not attend the VS casting until September 10.

Whether this is a simple mix up regarding dates or a more complicated issue remains a mystery. “I had been on option since early summer,” Strijd said in a statement. “If the decision was that I should no longer be considered, I would appreciate an explanation of what happened and why I still attended.” Strijd understands not being booked for a job, she said, that’s not her issue. “They have every right to decide whom they invite or book, but after that preparation and planning, I think clear communication is a reasonable expectation,” she said. “I asked IMG for clarification but still haven’t received an explanation.” I again reached out to IMG for comment as well and have yet to hear back. Victoria’s Secret also did not reply to a follow-up request for comment by the time of publication.

“If there is still uncertainty, say that honestly,” Strijd said. “Keeping someone hopeful because a decision might change isn’t fair when they’re making plans and putting their time and energy into something. That has always been my point.”

This is an age of social-media-induced radical transparency, and Strijd appears to be coming out on top by pure virtue of laying it all out.

The Name on Everyone’s Lips Checks

Zane Li of New York–based label Lii is the winner of the 2026 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, which has previously awarded emerging talents including Rachel Scott of Diotima and Joseph Altuzarra. Li has bewitched the fashion set with his eye for color-blocking—which is almost Lego-like, but infinitely chicer—and his topsy-turvy take on American sportswear. Li also won the Fashion Trust US Ready-to-Wear Award in April and the Karl Lagerfeld Prize at the 2026 LVMH Prize in September. That’s over half a million dollars in prize money. The cash should give him the ability to establish his brand as he sees fit, or at least with fewer compromises, and hopefully he will find the mentorship included useful. I’m more curious about whether we’ll see him hired to design a brand sometime soon. He is only in his mid-20s, but the industry tends to lay it on thick once it gets excited about a breakout name. Veronica Leoni did just exit Calvin Klein Collection. I can imagine that CK will opt for a designer with a confirmed commercial track record in the US next, or at least someone less conceptual than Leoni. My pitch is still Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus of Eckhaus Latta, but Li’s take would be so fun.

When Harry Met Sally Conner

Harry Styles is two thirds of the way through his 30-night residency at Madison Square Garden. His stamina is impressive, but I’m more in awe of the number of looks that his stylist Harry Lambert has put together for the tour, which started in May and will continue through August 2027. On Saturday, Styles wore a look by past Fit Check profile subject Conner Ives, who, like Li, has become an industry darling. “Conner Ives is one of my favorite brands,” Lambert said, adding that the look is one of his favorites that Styles has worn.

“Working with the Harrys has been a highlight for me this past year,” Ives, who recently started including menswear in his runway shows, said. Styles was one of Ives’s first male bespoke clients, the designer said, and this ensemble, which is covered with more than 3,000 Swarovski crystals and made with vintage silk scarves, is based on that original look. “I love their dedication to fun and how collaborative the process always is,” Ives said of the Harrys, saying that Styles “is really the OG CI boy.”

Fit Check of the Week

Jonathan Cohen is the new “resident creative director” at J. Mendel, the 156-year-old French-American brand that, after several lives and a bankruptcy filing in 2018, is working on a comeback. Cohen texted me a couple of fitting images over the weekend, and his debut collection, which he showed this afternoon in New York, is dressy and elegant, but very much not your mother’s Mendel.