OUR PARIS/ MILAN FASHION WEEK SS26 FAVOURITES

The Spring Summer 2026 season in Paris and Milan brought a fresh wave of energy to the runways. Designers played with flowing silks, sculptural tailoring, and unexpected silhouettes, creating striking moments that captured the spirit of the season.

GUCCI 
A NEW FAMILY ALBUM
We’ve all been waiting for Demna’s Gucci debut: coming from Balenciaga, he brings precision cutting, character led storytelling and a taste for controlled provocation but integrates it into Gucci’s own codes. He frames the show as a family portrait, assigning distinct personas and letting cut, texture and accessories define the hierarchy: L’Archetipo nods to the house’s travel roots, the Incazzata snaps into a ’60s scarlet coat, La Bomba in feline stripes, while La Cattiva plays the femme fatale; Miss Aperitivo is busy having fun, L’Influencer plays the social native, and figures like La Mecenate, La Contessa, Primadonna, Principino and La Principessa take the spotlight. The clothes carry the plot: low waist suits, glossy and snakeskin coats, silk that moves and mules slipped on. The house signatures come into focus: the Bamboo 1947 bag in new proportions, neat Horsebit loafers, Flora in a darker take, and the GG monogram worn head to toe. Silhouettes move between feathered opera drama, sleek sheer bodywear, and yes, even swimwear. The takeaway is a confident reset of what “Gucci” means right now: one famiglia, many characters, same house – Gucci.

DIOR: HERITAGE REIMAGINED
For Spring/Summer 2026, Jonathan Anderson presented his first collection for Dior in the Jardin des Tuileries, offering a calm and confident reinterpretation of the House’s heritage. His approach was less about revival and more about transformation, translating the spirit of Christian Dior into a language of modern restraint and tactile sensitivity.
The palette was gentle and understated: ivory, dove grey, muted rose and deep navy created a sense of quiet clarity. Bows appeared throughout the collection, not as embellishment but as form, shaping coats, defining waists, and softening the structure of cotton miniskirts and lace dresses. The silhouettes shifted between control and ease. Cropped Bar jackets gained sculptural volume, while light capes and broad shorts moved with deliberate fluidity.
Material contrasts defined the collection. Sturdy cotton drill was paired with fine silk and lace, creating a dialogue between workwear and couture. Accessories carried the same balance of simplicity and craftsmanship, from the reinterpreted Dior Cigale bag to understated leather sandals and sculptural jewelry.
The setting by Luca Guadagnino and Stefano Baisi framed this new beginning. Inside the luminous space, an inverted LED pyramid by filmmaker Adam Curtis projected fragments of Dior’s past before collapsing into a single shoe box. A quiet metaphor for memory stored and reimagined. Anderson’s debut found its strength in subtlety, presenting a Dior that breathes, moves, and listens to the world around it.


A NEW ERA AT CHANEL WITH MATTHIEU BLAZY

Chanel explores a dialogue between work and love, masculine and feminine, through deconstructed shirts, tweeds, and draped knits that move seamlessly from day to night. Hand-painted silks, abstract florals, and architectural tweeds bring tradition into the present while emphasizing texture and movement. This collection marks a new era with the debut of Matthieu Blazy as Chanel’s new artistic director, offering a fresh ode to femininity that lies at the heart of the house while being reinvigorated by his vision. A highlight of the show came as the final model closed the presentation with laughter and an effortless energy that perfectly reflected the lightness and spirit of the collection. The collection celebrates freedom and individuality, merging heritage and experimentation to define a universal and borderless vision of Chanel women.

HERMÈS REFINED EASE IN MOTION
For the Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski continued the quiet elegance that defines Hermès. Precision and sensuality found a balanced dialogue, structure and movement merged into harmonious unity. The color palette ranged from warm neutrals to muted terracotta, olive, and the house’s signature leather brown, creating an atmosphere of calm and craftsmanship.
Soft leather and delicate silk formed the foundation of the collection. Flowing cuts gave the silhouettes lightness without losing their clarity of form. Vests and cropped jackets were paired with wide trousers, lightweight parkas with draped elements that appeared almost sculptural. Visible seams, braided belts, and polished metal details referenced the brand’s artisanal precision while translating it into a contemporary language.
The looks conveyed an effortless naturalness, as if they were designed to move with the body. Vanhee-Cybulski presented a woman who moves freely and with quiet confidence, grounded in the house’s tradition yet open to the present.

MIU MIU AND THE VALUE OF WORK
The significance of work. Its weight, its relevance, its visibility. The Spring/Summer 2026 collection by Miu Miu, under the direction of Miuccia Prada, focused on the work of women, their effort, resilience, and experience. What is often unseen was made visible, acknowledged, and honored.
Work as effort, as care, as a form of self-determination. The apron, a universal symbol of labor, was treated with dignity. Functional yet decorative, it reflected different contexts, from domestic to industrial, from clinical to caregiving. A single garment could carry many meanings.
The collection played with the textures of labor. Sturdy cotton drill and leather met fine poplin, delicate silk, and embroidered raw canvas. Ruffles, the classic symbol of femininity, introduced contrast: strength softened by delicacy, resilience shaped by tenderness. Accessories such as bags, shoes, and belts in robust leather emphasized durability, functionality, and a restrained elegance.
The show’s staging reflected this approach. The Palais d’léna, itself a site of human labor, was transformed into an abstraction of everyday workspaces, punctuated by fields of Formica tables in contrasting colors. Miuccia Prada’s collection honored women’s work, its invisibility, its endurance, and its quiet beauty, making it both a lived reality and a source of aesthetic reflection.

PRADA: BODY OF COMPOSITION
Miuccia Prada once again proves her instinct for modern elegance.
Together with Raf Simons, her creative partner since 2020, she delivered a collection that balances intellect and ease, where cool tailoring meets fluid femininity.
New silhouettes, unexpected color pairings, and a subtle play on proportion redefine the classic Prada codes.
The striking set design, featuring a glossy orange floor, amplified the looks through contrast, making the refined palette and textures stand out even more.
Chic yet forward-thinking, the show reaffirmed Prada’s position at the center of contemporary fashion.

FİDAN NOVRUZOVA: LE DÉBUT
Fidan Novruzova, a Moldovan designer and Central Saint Martins graduate, celebrated her debut at Paris Fashion Week this season with “Le Début.” The collection draws upon the aesthetics of the 1920s, the 1980s, and the Art Deco movement, which have been defining historical references for the brand since its establishment in 2020. Accessories such as headpieces, square-toed boots, and clasp bags have become the brand’s signature elements, giving each look its own distinctive character. In this collection, the designer’s new home of Paris, with its bourgeois elegance, meets her Azerbaijani and Moldovan heritage.

LOEWE ON FORM AND COLOUR

For their LOEWE debut, Jack and Lazaro introduce Spanish craft made modern with sculptural lines and strong color. Ellsworth Kelly’s Yellow Panel with Red Curve sets the tone; the clothes make it tangible: molded leather jackets with barely a seam, a sharp red opener over micro shorts and yellow loafers, a black version layered over citrus brights with little red details, black dresses that break into planes of yellow and orange, a sheer striped column with flow, a pale lime fuzzy coat over mesh trousers, an oversized black peacoat under a sun hat, and a soft yellow bomber above a white fringe skirt. Textiles are crisp and sometimes stiff, and the palette plays from strong blue and yellow into soft pastels. Sportswear archetypes are pared back: polos, parkas, five pocket jeans; while skin and leather become the medium, sometimes treated to trick the eye. Flat sneakers and slipper like shoes keep it immediate, and the new Amazona 180 is carried open or closed. Vivid colors and disciplined lines define a confident LOEWE.

SAINT LAURENT: SILK AND STEEL

Anthony Vaccarello stages a new chapter under the Eiffel Tower’s silver glow,  a study in duality, where softness meets command. He works through Saint Laurent’s vocabulary with his signature precision: the bow blouse reappears in crisp silk chiffon, the tailored jacket in dense leather, the sheer dress in layers of tulle that shift between strength and surrender.
Each look defines its own attitude – the Secretary in transparency and sharp heels, the Rebel wrapped in patent trench and attitude, the Muse floating in parachute silk. Vaccarello’s characters move with intention: shoulders structured, fabrics whispering, silhouettes built on quiet tension.
House codes return with modern clarity – the high neck, the sculpted waist, the confidence of simplicity.

JULIE KEGELS AND LIFE IN MOTION
Julie Kegels is a young designer who studied Fashion Design at the Royal Academy of Antwerp and started her brand in 2024. She debuted at Paris Fashion Week in February last year and hosted her third fashion show this season, showcasing her SS26 collection with the theme Quick Change.

Under the metro line 6, Kegels presented looks that seemed UNDONE, playing with the idea of everyone always being in a hurry, rushing from appointments to work, to events, parties, etc. Exposed underwear and garments slipping out of place, skirts and shirts half-tucked, on the verge of falling off, represent women in motion, the different roles they occupy, and the expectations placed upon them. She initially wanted to include elegant jewelry in the collection, but once she learned about the production costs, she decided instead to use 3D-printed stickers of jewelry. This young label is definitely one to watch.

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