Like it or not (and plenty of people do not), artificial intelligence is not going anywhere. The discourse is loud, the anxiety is real, the creative-industry handwringing is nonstop—but Stacey Bendet? Fully on board. Last season she called the current wave of tech innovation an “inspiration revolution.” This time, she went further and built an entire collection on it, very confidently naming it The Gilded Age.

Standing in the Surrogate’s Court in lower Manhattan—yes, again—Bendet drew a straight line between now and then. “The moment we’re in with AI, and how it’s transforming everything, feels similar to the Industrial Revolution and how the Gilded Age came to be,” she said. Big framing. No hedging. AI, according to Bendet, touches every corner of her business, from merchandising to design. In the design process specifically, it’s used to translate sketches and print ideas into photorealistic pattern renderings, especially for embroidery. In other words: draw it, dream it, feed it to the machine, and then make it sparkle in real life.

And sparkle it did. The collection leaned hard into excess. “Indulgence, maximalism, glamour, embroidery, beadwork,” Bendet rattled off—and she wasn’t exaggerating. Nearly every look was decorated in some way: rhinestones catching the light, beads piled on beads, embroidery everywhere, lace layered for good measure. The silhouettes, she said, were meant to echo the Gilded Age too—structured, dramatic, unapologetically dressed.

That said, there was also a very specific 2010s energy humming through the lineup. Leopard print made a surprise appearance. High-low hems showed up where bustles once ruled. Not exactly textbook Gilded Age references. But Bendet was clear about her real mission: resurrecting the going-out top. Crystal. Corset. One-shoulder. That whole era of dressing up with intent. Many of those tops were paired with corset trousers and pinstripe pants, nodding to that familiar moment when workwear became nightlife attire.

Actual period cues surfaced here and there. A black jacquard column dress came with a detachable train. Another look ended with an enormous white bow planted squarely at the lower back—Bendet’s modern take on a bustle, perhaps. It’s not hard to imagine them popping up on background characters in the next season of The Gilded Age.

AI anxiety aside, Bendet’s stance is clear: if we’re entering a new gilded era—technological, cultural, aesthetic—she’s dressing for it like it’s a party. Whether you’re coming for the future or side-eyeing it from the corner, the message was unmistakable: more is more, and the machines are already invited.