Rafaela Prifti
The runway is a place for storytelling but Lejda Troci’s is stitched from family, courage, and an unshakable belief in beauty. Last night, that story unfolded in fabric, color and movement during New York Fashion Week through her brand, A Tangerine Design.
Opening the show, her husband, Stuart, introduced the audience to Lejda and Caroline—mother and young daughter—whose shared love of creativity and ability to see beauty in humanity have brought them to where they are today. Presented at The Horizon of Fashion: Beyond the Runway event in Manhattan’s Garment District, Troci’s work conveyed her perspective as both a designer and a breast cancer survivor. Her Spring/Summer 2027 creations drew admiration for the way the flowing waters of Durrës, Lejda’s hometown in Albania, were captured in a delicate chiffon dress. Traditional embroidery appeared on a maroon colored gownlike creation as a tribute to her mother and grandmother, a piece that captivated Keti, Eva, and Agathia. Other softly draped dresses, adorned with handmade embroidered details, created an airy and graceful movement, noted Dr. Zana Nikolla, who was there with her family. Among the many friends and supporters who admired the collection was Loreta Stamo, who was especially drawn to the golden-painted leaves embellishing a goddess-like robe, that evoked the grandeur of ancestral roots and the lasting beauty of antiquity.
Yet beneath the beauty of each garment was a deeper message. When asked what she hoped another person facing cancer would take away from the show, Troci answered: “The future can still belong to us. We have the strength to fight for it, the love to rise above the bitterness of asking, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ And we can remember that life is beautiful, even beyond the permanent scars.” Through her work, Lejda Troci joins a growing community of designers who use fashion as a platform for cancer awareness, solidarity, and support for research and survivors. In the next room, Ana Marku’s pink dres, offered in a silent auction to benefit Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center made its own quiet statement. Adorned with a necklace featuring the iconic pink ribbon, the ensemble evoked the partnership between fashion and cancer-awareness campaigns that began gaining visibility in the early 1990s.
True to its name, A Tangerine Design brings a burst of color to the runway—and a fresh taste of possibility to everyone it touches.
