Everyone wants to be a “Gong girl” these days. Parsons-trained, Shanghai-based designer Mark Gong’s pieces have been everywhere lately, spotted on the likes of Margot Robbie during the Wuthering Heights press tour, Jennie and Lisa on Blackpink’s Deadline world tour, and Jenna Ortega promoting season two of Wednesday. One celebrity, however, stands above the rest in Gong’s memory.

“Rihanna is a goddess for me, no matter what,” he says with a laugh outside his Shanghai Fashion Week showroom, where a crowd of Gong girls has convened to preview and pre-order pieces from his fall/winter 2026 collection. The singer donned a Mark Gong ensemble at a promotional event for her beauty brand, Fenty, in Shanghai in 2024. “I’m still thinking about that moment. When I’m not feeling that confident about myself or the brand – because building a brand is difficult sometimes – looking at pictures of Rihanna wearing Mark Gong [is] how I encourage myself: like, OK, I can do one more season.”

Another “It” girl of the moment, Sabrina Carpenter – who Gong dressed for a special concert appearance in New York in 2024 – served as the starting point of inspiration for his fall/winter 2026 collection, named Almost, Baby, which takes a deep dive into the messy world of modern love, dating apps and so-called “situationships”. “I’ve been listening to Sabrina’s [new] album, and it’s just so cool [how] she plays with men,” says Gong. “That’s so hot. For me, that was iconic.” Smart, sexy, cheeky and of course, confident, Gong’s fall/winter 2026 line-up embraced elements of Carpenter’s playful, showgirl-esque signature aesthetic, complete with lacy lingerie, sheer separates and short skirts.

Like most of Gong’s collections – for the past few seasons, the designer has looked to the characters of Sex and the City for inspiration – this latest season celebrates unabashed femininity in all its forms, from the relationship-averse, proudly promiscuous Samantha Jones to the hopelessly romantic Carrie Bradshaw archetype, who just can’t seem to get over her ex.

But the Gong girl of fall/winter 2026 encapsulates all these characteristics in one, painting a picture of what the designer believes makes the modern woman more fascinating, multidimensional and alluring than ever. She’s someone who doesn’t need a man but wants to have fun with one anyway, and who wholeheartedly embraces her strong and not-so-strong moments alike.

“Girls can feel free to date anyone or do whatever they like to do,” Gong says. “It’s empowering women in an easier way, instead of saying you have to be strong, you have to be confident, using power shoulders [all the time] – you don’t have to. [The Gong girl] respects herself. She knows what she wants, even [when] sometimes the desire is a little nasty or messy.”

Gone, Gong seems to say, are the days of women settling for any less than they desire or deserve for the sake of being in a relationship with a man. And when even Vogue asks if having a boyfriend is embarrassing now, you know you’re onto something. “I feel like the messier you get, the sexier you get,” Gong says of women who are making the most of singlehood and calling the shots in casual dating.