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(Image credit: Getty Images)

From my seats at New York Fashion Week, I’ve been seeing spots all over. A polka dot trend is extending its reign for Spring 2026 on floaty crop tops and bubble hem mini skirts at Private Policy; on skintight turtleneck dresses at Altuzarra; and on hoop-skirt dresses and midi skirts at Tibi. It’s Kendall Jenner‘s version for her look in Khaite’s Saturday night show that had me reaching for my phone the fastest, snapping photos and taking styling notes for when her look is finally shoppable next spring.

models wearing polka dot trend during new york fashion week

A collection of the polka dot (and dot-inspired) prints I’ve seen at New York Fashion Week: From left: Tibi, Altuzarra, Private Policy.

(Image credit: GO Runway; Su Mustecaplioglu; Launchmetrics)

While I raced up and down Manhattan between catwalk shows and smaller presentations, Kendall Jenner made her way to Khaite’s Spring 2026 show at Hudson Yards. She arrived in a a black sleeveless top with a buttery skirt, a low-key look to rival the sheer silk tank she’d worn the day prior. By the time I arrived in my seat a few hours later, Jenner had changed—and set next season’s polka dot trend in motion.

The model arrived second-to-last in Khaite’s expansive collection. She emerged from backstage onto a runway that zig-zagged through a pool of shallow water, fog swirling around her, in a taupe circle skirt dotted with oversize cream polka dots. A chunky gray sweater slouched off one shoulder and left the other bare. Leather toe-ring sandals wrapped around her ankles with ribbons. It wasn’t as demure as the other ways I’d seen polka dots presented; it immediately resonated with me.

Kendall Jenner arrives at the Khaite fashion show in a layered slip skirt and flip flops

Kendall Jenner arrived at Khaite’s Spring 2026 show venue in a skirt that’s right at home in 2025—before changing into next year’s big print trend.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Kendall Jenner walks down the Khaite runway

A few hours later, I got this view of Kendall Jenner from my seat, where she walked second-to-last in the Khaite Spring 2026 show.

(Image credit: Halie LeSavage)

Throughout Khaite’s runway, polka dots, well, dotted the runway looks in refreshing and unexpected ways. Sometimes, it was the focal point, as in Jenner’s ballgown skirt. In other looks, it arrived as a dash of contrast beneath an open leather jacket and a denim midi skirt. From outfit to outfit, the dots played off the tougher or more sumptuous pieces typically defining creative director Catherine Holstein’s Khaite collections (like her sumptuous leather jackets) to achieve the perfect balance.

Jenner’s voluminous polka dot skirt and one-shoulder sweater were a delicious contrast—the kind that makes me see fashion staples I’d once written off in an entirely new way. I’d once thought of this pattern as polished and sweet. Other designer collections hadn’t really subverted that notion. But with Kendall Jenner and Khaite as my guide, I’ve spotted a more interesting way to style the polka dot trend for next spring. Here are the skirts I’m trying for now until I can get my hands on her exact piece.

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