It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to you all directly from the heart. And honestly, a lot has been happening.

We are working over here!

Last month, we had the most amazing time in Martha’s Vineyard. We met so many incredible people, and so many of you showed up and shopped our Summer Collection—so much so that we sold out of most of it before we really even had a chance to launch it on the website.

Martha’s Vineyard is such a magical place. The energy is always high, the people are beautiful, and this year was especially meaningful.

While we were there, we collaborated with Harlem’s Fashion Row and Foot Locker to create one-of-one Air Force 1 sneakers that were auctioned to raise money for the United Negro College Fund.

And allow me to toot my own horn for just a second...

The Undra Celeste New York designs raised the most money of the evening!

Our NYC-inspired shoe raised $1,200, and our Room to Bloom shoe, created in honor of my alma mater, Howard University, raised another $900. I’m incredibly proud that something we designed resonated so deeply and helped raise more than $2,000 for UNCF.

That was a moment.

Then we fast-forward to September: Fashion Month.

This year, I had plans to produce a big show of my own. I had the vision in my head of exactly what I wanted it to be—and then it didn’t quite work out that way.

And surprisingly, I was okay with that.

I’m learning that nothing meant for me will miss me. I’m also learning that sometimes the opportunity arrives in a completely different package than the one you imagined.

Then I got a call from Erin of Live Affirmed Magazine. She was hosting an event during New York Fashion Week and wanted Undra Celeste New York to show.

I said yes.

And for me, that “yes” represented something bigger. It was me getting out of my comfort zone, getting out of my own head, and allowing an opportunity to be good even if it didn’t look exactly like the one I had planned.

And everything fell into place beautifully.

Last Friday, September 11, we showed our Fall 2026 Collection, Romantic Call, to a room filled with family, friends, customers, colleagues and people who have supported this brand along the way.

The response has been overwhelming—in the best way.

Runway video coming soon...

And now, we’re already moving on to the next thing. We have a pop-up event this weekend, and Q4 is looking like it has absolutely no plans of letting me rest. LOL.

2026 has been an extremely busy year.

I am tired. But I am so, so grateful.

I’m writing this with an incredibly grateful heart because when I think about where we were just a year ago, it almost doesn’t feel real.

A year ago, this brand was on the verge of shutting down.

Today, we are growing.

I told a friend the other day, “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

They replied, “Are you sure it’s not a train?”

I laughed because...it might be! 😂

But I don’t think so.

I think it’s a new light. A new level.

The next level is visible. It’s not crystal clear yet, but I can see it. And I know getting there is going to require something different from me.

I have to get outside of my comfort zone. I have to invest more deeply in the growth of this business. I have to trust myself. And maybe most importantly, I have to remain open to the possibility that the road to the goal may look nothing like the road I planned.

Which brings me to something else I’ve been thinking about lately...

Love.

Like romantic love.

No, seriously.

I’ve been thinking about the possibility of it for myself, but also about what love looks like for the Undra Celeste woman.

The surprise of it. The delight of it. The vulnerability of making room for someone else when you’ve worked so hard to build a life of your own.

Because she doesn’t suddenly become someone else when she falls in love.

She is still ambitious. Still busy. Still walking into rooms where she needs to command attention. Still building, leading, deciding, creating and becoming.

But now, perhaps, there’s another side of her life asking to be seen.

Her clothes have to move with her from authority to intimacy.

How does a woman make room for love without losing her ambition, her identity or herself?

How does she soften without becoming smaller?

How does she allow herself to be surprised?

Those questions became the inspiration behind our Fall 2026 Collection:

Romantic Call.

It’s about the woman whose phone rings in the middle of her workday and suddenly there’s a smile on her face.

The woman leaving the office for dinner.

The woman who can command a room at 3 PM and allow herself to be swept away at 8.

The woman discovering that ambition and romance don’t have to compete.

Maybe there’s room for both.

And maybe that’s what this season of my life—and this season of the brand—is teaching me.

Sometimes you make the plan.

And sometimes, life calls with something you never planned for.

The question is: will you answer?

Romantic Call launches Wednesday, September 30.

Stay close. ❤️