September in New York means one thing: **NYFW.** As designers take over the city with new collections and bigger ideas, Brooklyn-based designer **ROBYN ELYSSE** brought her latest vision to the runway with **“ROY”**, Collection 5.

For Spring/Summer 2027, Robyn Elyse looks back to early-1900s Jamaica, pulling industrial history, family, and personal memory into a collection built on movement and identity.

The collection began with a feeling of disconnection. Elyse described feeling removed from her own work and realizing that something was missing: her roots. Rather than falling into the familiar visual language often associated with Jamaica, she went somewhere more specific, looking toward the island’s industrial history in the early 1900s.

That history became the foundation for the collection.

Industrial references appeared throughout the runway in ways that felt deeply intentional. Hats, intricate details, hardware, buttons, and military inspired elements gave the collection a sense of uniformity, while lace, frills, and flowing fabrics brought softness back into the picture. The tension between the two became one of the collection’s strongest qualities.

“I wanted to concentrate on early Jamaica,the 1900s, and really grasp the industrialism of Jamaica,” Elyse explained after the show.

The choice to avoid the expected Jamaican palette was intentional. Instead of relying on the familiar red, gold, green, or black associated with the country’s national imagery, Elyse focused on the machinery, labor, and atmosphere surrounding Jamaica’s industrial past. It allowed the collection to speak about place without turning culture into a costume.

Among ELYSSE’s favorite elements were the lace, frills, and fluid fabrics, alongside the extended captain’s hat and military-inspired details. Those pieces carried a personal connection to her grandfather, a Jamaican police officer who passed away in 2008.

She shared that her grandfather was also part of a secret society and had a role in funeral ceremonies, a memory that stayed with her and found its way into the collection. The uniform inspired pieces became more than styling. They became a bold form of remembrance, allowing ELYSSE to carry a piece of her grandfather’s legacy into her work.

That personal history gave the collection another layer. What could have simply read as industrial or military-inspired styling instead carried memory, family, and mourning within it.
And then there was the energy of the show itself.
The soundtrack amplified the collection’s sense of movement. The playlist moved between ambient sounds and recognizable songs rooted in Jamaican culture, creating an atmosphere that felt just as intentional as the clothes. The music helped ground the collection in its cultural references.

The production was brought together by Shauna Lee, Rahim Makes, and Taylor Rudolph, whose work helped shape the sound and atmosphere of the presentation.

Elyse isn’t simply referencing Jamaica. She’s out how Jamaica exists within her own design language, and how history can become something personal rather than something reproduced at face value.

By the time the final looks came down the runway, the message was clear: Robyn Elyse wants to be remembered for a point of view that belongs to her.

“I want people to feel like I have my own written creative design language,” she said. “I want people to remember me.”

For SS27, that language is rooted in Jamaica, but it is not confined to one version of it. It is industrial and romantic, structured and fluid, historical and deeply personal. Most importantly, it feels like Elyse finding her way back to herself through the clothes.

Robyn Elysee Finds Her Roots in the Machinery of Jamaica