Teyana Taylor, François Arnaud, Queen Latifah, and More Celebrate Thom Browne in San Francisco

Though it’s the home of Levi’s and The Gap, San Francisco has never been known as a fashion hotspot; its ethos leans more toward flip flops, hoodies, and (for the tech crowd) those ubiquitous branded vests. But that vibe dramatically shifted Friday night, when designer Thom Browne rolled into town to debut his Fall 2026 collection at the GQ Bowl, a Super Bowl-adjacent party intended to bring together sports and fashion. Stars including Oscar nominee Teyana Taylor, Heated Rivalry‘s François Arnaud, and music icon Queen Latifah strutted the grey carpet before taking front-row seats for the suiting specialist’s latest looks.

Pulling up to SF’s Legion of Honor, it was easy to forget that the Bay Area was in the midst of football frenzy. With Super Bowl LX in nearby Santa Clara this weekend, the town has been a hotbed of parties. It seems everyone I know has brushed shoulders with Jason or Travis Kelce in the last few days, and Bad Bunny seems to be blaring from every speaker in the city. But at the Vertigo-featured art museum Friday, the scene was less locker room and Gatorade than extremely tony prep school—Gossip Girl‘s fictional Constance Billard and St. Jude’s spring to mind.

Part of that was due to the museum’s grand location, just blocks from the Pacific. But most of the Dead Poets aura came from the flocks of fashion fans and influencers posing along the path, all clad in Browne’s immediately recognizable spins on pleated skirts (for all genders), shorted suits, and grosgrain stripes.

One of the first to pass through the grey carpet just inside the Legion’s gates was outgoing GQ editor Will Welch, who announced his departure from the title earlier this week for a position with musician and Louis Vuitton creative director Pharrell Williams. That transition is likely one of the reasons Welch spent the night surrounded by people eager to get a word in—though the rangy scribe was often seen looking over the heads of his hangers-on, trying to catch the eye of his tween nephew, who noted that this was his first-ever fashion show.

Welch was followed by a tide of camera-ready influencers and dressed-up athletes, but as the sun set, the fog started rolling in, and things got chilly. Not New York chilly, but cold if you’re from Los Angeles, the home of many of the attendees. “What is that Mark Twain quote about the coldest winter being summer in San Francisco?” a woman who described herself to me as “Thom Browne’s most loyal customer” asked. I didn’t tell her the quote has been debunked, and that February is not a summer month in the Northern Hemisphere.

The last carpet walker I saw before the cold drove me inside was Queen Latifah, who’s been dressed by Browne for years. “What’s your favorite part of San Francisco?” I heard someone ask her. The Set It Off star snickered, tossed her waist-long blonde pony tail, and replied “Oakland.” Well played, queen.

My heart stopped for a moment as I headed into part of the museum’s Rodin installation—the place for pre-show cocktails—and spotted a woman in a red baseball cap. It was San Francisco local Kim Dempster, a high-end shopper and Browne faithful, as well as a proud member of the resistance. As she adjusted her [Gavin] “Newsom was right about everything” hat, she said, “It just felt right to wear this tonight. I’m really upset about what’s going on in this country. This is a small thing, but it’s something.”

“Have you gone to any of the human banners at Ocean Beach?” she asked, after learning, like her, I was an actual Bay Area resident. “I’ve been to all of them. They’re really wonderful.”

Inside the gallery, François Arnaud also talked San Francisco between conversations with fans and well-wishers. “Is this your first time here?” he asked, seemingly unaware that I was supposed to be asking the questions. (These Canadians and their famous friendliness!) I was this close to explaining the joys and heartache of life in a rent controlled apartment in San Francisco when we were distracted by Twix, a small service dog near both of our feet.

As Arnaud was swept away by a handler, I made friends with Twix. (His guardian patiently repeated the working pup’s name to me several times, as the grand marble room was echoing more loudly than that shower in episode one of Heated Rivalry.) My Apple watch warned me of dangerous noise levels; Twix remained stoic. What a pro.

Soon after, we were ushered into another wing of the gallery, reconfigured into a runway with a big, Steelcase-style desk—and a gigantic Rodin—at one end. The room was maybe three-quarters seated when the energy completely changed. Teyana Taylor (when does she sleep?!) was hustled in to briefly perch on the edge of the desk. She took a seat with her children and Queen Latifah in the front row a few minutes before the highly theatrical presentation began. (The actual runway show begins at around the 25 minute mark in the video below.)

As the lights came up, Taylor had already been hustled out, as had Arnaud. Others, including Queen Latifah, lingered for a chat. “I loved it, I want it,” gold medal-winning gymnast Sunisa Lee said of the designs from the show, saying she couldn’t choose just one favorite. Sneaker customizer Dominic Chambrone called out the show’s final moments, in which Browne’s collaboration with sneaker brand Asics made its debut. “Was that the Gel-Kayano 14?” he asked. Yes—but that’s all we know for now, as the limited edition kicks won’t drop until March 2, 2026.

At the show’s afterparty, Browne and his models—some still wearing the metallic hair adornments from the show—loosened up a bit as a DJ positioned in one corner of the tent attempted to manifest Latifah with a quick mix of her hits. No dice there. But suddenly, there was model, influencer, and my favorite Making the Cut judge Wisdom Kaye, who’d eschewed the grey carpet but happily posed for photos mid-party.

“Is that someone famous?” David Oakey asked me, pointing at a woman carrying three of Browne’s signature dachshund-shaped bags. I didn’t think so, I told the London transplant, who moved to San Francisco just eight months ago to become the curator in charge of European decorative arts and sculpture at the museum. How did he feel about having his workplace invaded by the glitterati?