Emily Dawn Long Brings Crack of Dawn to Highsnobiety

Emily Dawn Long took a cinematic approach to her NYFW debut for S/S 27, presenting her latest collection, Crack of Dawn, through a film rather than a traditional runway show. Known for her screen-printed vintage T-shirts worn by Zendaya, Justin Bieber, and Kaia Gerber, as well as her draped eveningwear, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist enlisted director Mayan Toledano and writer Paige Elkington to bring the collection to life in an “offbeat, present-day heist” starring Meadow Walker, Sydney Lemmon (Love Story, The Drama), Terrence O’Connor, Nico Geiger, Delar Gaston, and Luca Apple. For Long, the decision to work in film was a natural extension of her creative process. The film and collection developed in tandem, with Long building the characters alongside the clothes and styling the film herself. The Georgia native describes Crack of Dawn as a three-act “case study on the nature of a fold in fabric,” incorporating box-pleated ruffles, “Southern Cleavage,” and references spanning the ’80s to the early 2000s.

Long celebrated the collection alongside Highsnobiety, which featured her in its Fall 2026 issue, No. 38, Process, at a joint after-party held at Chinatown Fair Family Fun Center. Featuring Sam Rockwell on the cover, photographed by Jeremy Liebman, the issue explores the “how” behind creative work, how ideas come to fruition, how products are made, and how people become who they are. For Highsnobiety Editor-in-Chief Noah Johnson, Long’s work was a natural fit for the issue’s theme, particularly her collaborative approach to building the world around her clothes. “For Emily, it’s really about the entire universe she’s created, and especially the people in it,” he said. Models.com spoke with Long and Johnson about the world built through Crack of Dawn, the process behind bringing the collection and film to life, and Highsnobiety’s Process issue.

For your S/S 27 collection, why did you choose a film rather than a traditional runway show, and what can film communicate that a runway can’t?

Emily Dawn Long: Film is a huge part of my life. A few years ago, I started something I call morning movies, where I watch a heist or a comedy or a documentary while I do emails to get the day going, so film was a natural language for me to work in. We don’t usually do two big calendar seasons a year, but this has been such a big year for the brand that I wanted to do something fun to round it out. I don’t think it’s an either-or, I wanna do more of both! But I will say film let me build a whole world, and more than anything, real characters. And a physical body of work I have and will remember forever!

The Highsnobiety Fall ’26 issue is centered around “the process.” Why did that feel like the right conversation to explore at this particular moment?

Noah Johnson: So much of the conversation about style revolves around “what” and “who,” we wanted to explore “how.” How do ideas come to fruition? How do people become who they are? How are great products made? The process is always the hard part, but it’s also the most interesting part. This idea really came to us as we started making the magazine, and as the stories and visual directions developed, we realized how perfect it is.

What was the central idea behind Crack of Dawn, and how did it translate into the clothes?

Emily Dawn Long: The collection is a case study on the nature of a fold in fabric, in three acts. The drape frozen mid-fall — box-pleated ruffles creating southern cleavage, reminiscent of a sunrise and the study of traditional cockade prize pins that are almost origami-like. It’s the ’80s meets early 2000s. Dusty yellows and a clay-like molten orange bleeding into sky blue, with our Torino Cobra Jet running through it all. It’s cheeky in all the right ways.

You describe the Fall ‘26 issue as valuing the “how” over the “what.” When you were looking at Emily Dawn Long’s work, what did you find particularly compelling about her process?

Noah Johnson: For Emily (Dawn Long) , it’s really about the entire universe she’s created, and especially the people in it. The most interesting thing about her process, to me, is how she involves friends and makes the whole thing feel like a group effort. She’s the pied piper, and everyone under the spell of her magic flute feels like she’s playing it just for them. She’s got great taste, she makes great clothes, but it’s this process of bringing the clothes to life in the real world through real people that interests me most.

How did Crack of Dawn develop alongside the collection? Did the film shape the clothes, or did the collection come first?

Emily Dawn Long: They grew together. I was building the characters the whole time I was building the clothes, which is exactly why I styled the film myself; each character’s quirks live in their details, and I built them around my friends and the cast themselves. A good example is the detective type I knew I wanted in a Hawaiian shirt, Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet, meets this paparazzi shot of Bruce Willis walking out of an airport in the perfect red Hawaiian print. Scout, his daughter, is a dear friend, and we’d joked about recreating it a while ago. Then, working on the film, it turned out to be the perfect print. That’s how my brain works.

How has your creative process evolved as the brand has grown?

Emily Dawn Long: It’s gotten faster but also more freeing. I can throw an idea out, and my team of three and I will figure out how to make it happen; that’s my favorite place to be: problem-solving, learning, growing. As the brand grows, it lets me play more, which is the biggest honor an artist can ask for, and it’s opened the door to more and more fabric development and textile research across our pieces.

Highsnobiety has evolved considerably beyond its origins in streetwear. What kinds of stories feel most urgent or interesting to you as an editor today?

Noah Johnson: I’m interested in authentic style. The real world and the people in it are far too cool and interesting for me to waste time chasing fantasy, or trying to create an image that doesn’t actually exist. We approach style with a level of obsession that is matched by our audience, we’re enthusiasts and experts speaking to enthusiasts and experts.

“Consistency creates identity, that’s what I want to protect. What’s changed isn’t the work; it’s that there are more eyes on us now.”

As a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, what do you want to preserve, and where is there room to evolve?

Emily Dawn Long: Consistency creates identity, that’s what I want to protect. What’s changed isn’t the work; it’s that there are more eyes on us now. We’ve run a 1/100 model on our collection pieces for seven years, and I want those to stay rare. I won’t pretend everything can be an edition of 100 forever, but we don’t need it to. We already have a core collection that’s always available and sells every day, with fresh colorways every other season. That foundation is what lets the 1/100 stay sacred on the collection pieces, and an always-available baseline only makes the limited work read louder. So evolving isn’t about stretching the number, it’s about going deeper into fabric and textile research — and a bigger runway show, which is what we’re building toward.