Pioneering Cuban American artist Carmen Herrera was dedicated to her own unique style of geometric, hard-edged abstraction, working in relative obscurity for sixty years until her final decades, when she began to be recognized and exhibited by major museums. This striking example, Black and White (2009), is found in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Encapsulating the unrivaled hold Ralph Lauren has on timeless American glamour, this standout dress from the spring/summer 2026 runway collection features a halter neck, fluid shape, and hypnotic black-and-white print.

For The NewOnes, Will Free Us (2019), a major commission for the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wangechi Mutu conceived four large bronze sculptures that stood sentry in the institution’s niches for more than a year as a powerful meditation on history, gender, and mythology.

A multidimensional texture of gracefully draping folds animates the Micah pendant by Arteriors, which is rendered in antiqued, bronze-plated iron.

Radically ahead of her time, Sonia Delaunay was a trailblazer whose vast body of work includes paintings and drawings, prints and illustrations, textiles and furnishings, clothing and accessories. She is most known for her groundbreaking use of color, as seen in this graphic work on paper, Valet de Carreau (circa 1976).

In a riot of trippy patterns and color combinations, the Fendi spring/summer 2026 collection, the final one by creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi, electrified the runway’s Marc Newson–designed sets with a spirited vivaciousness, as seen in the bold contrasts of the Peekaboo bag.

For six decades, artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian mined the traditional craft techniques of her Iranian heritage to construct captivating pieces such as this mirror work, Family Triangle (2013), in which cut polygonal glass fragments are arranged in kaleidoscopic compositions evocative of Islamic patterns.

The dazzling Tsagaan high-jewelry necklace by Cartier, which Oscar winner Halle Berry donned at the most recent Met Gala, is distinguished by its subtle snow leopard motif fashioned in 18K white gold, onyx, and diamonds cut to catch the light from every angle.