Hanging upside down on a support pillar in Zaldy’s spacious atelier is what looks like a body wrapped in garbage bags ready to be disposed of in the New Jersey marshlands.

In actuality, it is a sculpture made by Desi Santiago, who has worked with Zaldy (he abandoned the use of his last name in high school) since 2001, and it encapsulates the theme of the new ZALDY collection, which is on the New York Fashion Week calendar for the first time since 2006.

Everything came together with their trip to Paris for the Première Vision fabric fair in February. “This woman walked by,” Zaldy said, “and Desi was like, ‘I loved how she was wrapped like a mummy.’ ‘Luxury mummy’ was the jumping-off point. Nothing looks wrapped in bandages, but that’s the spirit. It’s subtle, a feeling.”

The muses didn’t stop shouting when they went to lunch at a Japanese restaurant; its minimal décor consisted of a single floral arrangement.