If you posted a video of Sandy Liang’s fall show on TikTok, you could easily tag it coquette or balletcore or perhaps light academia. But Liang was offering pinafores and prom dresses long before any of those terms became popular online. An all-but-official outfitter of the downtown cool set, she finds new ways to balance naivete and youth with spookiness, seduction, and a clientele who can drop upwards of $500 on a dress.

All the bows and first-recital-worthy touches belie Liang’s intense practicality. This season, many of the dresses came “prestyled” with rosettes, sashes, and, in a few cases, capelets. Liang’s intention wasn’t to make the dresses more saccharine but rather more utilitarian. “I love the idea of wearing a dress and you’re doing everything in it,” she said at her showroom during model castings for the show. She calls out washing your hands and using the skirt of your dress as a towel and playing basketball as two activities that can be done in a uniform dress with built-in accessories. “You’re not being precious about it,” she said.

The twisted doll motif was underscored by Hole’s “Doll Parts” playing in the finale. Courtney Love singing “I want to be the girl with the most cake” was as crucial an accessory as the dozens of bows adorning the models’ hair. Eat your heart out, TikTok.