ten c aw26/27 | the urban explorer

Wearing a Jeff Koons sculpture is significantly easier than trying to fit one through your front door. This January, Stella McCartney is proving that point by launching a limited-edition collectors’ capsule that merges her signature organic cotton with some of the most recognisable imagery in contemporary art. The collaboration is a one-of-a-kind union between two leading creative forces who happen to be longtime friends. By bringing together fashion and art, as well as kitsch and craft, the duo has created a wardrobe that feels like a playful conversation between their respective worlds.

Amelia Gray stars in the sexy campaign wearing an organic cotton t-shirt that eagle-eyed fans might remember from the Winter 2025 runway. It features Koons’ ‘Untitled (Girl with Dolphin and Monkey)’ artwork slapped alongside Stella’s own ‘Slippery When Wet’ slogan, a cheeky callback to her debut collection in 2001. 

The collection also introduces a quirky ‘Doggy Style’ message paired with illustrations of Koons’ famous Yorkshire Terrier and Poodle sculptures. These canine images were personally selected by McCartney herself from the artist’s 1991 ‘Made in Heaven’ series, ensuring the animal-loving spirit of the brand remains front and centre.

This is not the first time these two have played in the same sandbox. Their history includes kaleidoscopic gowns from 2006 and a platinum Rabbit sculpture bracelet from 2005. For this 2026 drop, a tiny number of those iconic Rabbit pendants will be re-released exclusively at the Stella McCartney SoHo boutique by appointment. The broader capsule, launching alongside the Spring 2026 collection, includes two iconic tanks, a hoodie and a classic tee alongside a chunky turtleneck made from RWS-certified wool.

Collectors looking for something truly rare should head to the New York store, where a selection of pieces signed by both the artist and the designer will be available. These specific items are uniquely customised with lead-free crystals, fringing and more hand-applied detailing, making them genuine investment pieces. For everyone else, a series of t-shirts hand-signed by Jeff Koons will be available online. 

The Stella McCartney x Jeff Koons collection is now available here.

photography. courtesy of Stella McCartney
words. Gennaro Costanzo

Nobody was expecting it, and that is exactly why everyone was talking about it. Anthony Vaccarello slipped a surprise Saint Laurent show into the Paris Couture Week schedule, turning what had been a subdued moment in the fashion calendar into an instant appointment to watch. Guests were greeted with an unusual first impression: furry wallets handed out as invitations, hinting at the textural surprises waiting inside.

Front-row chatter lived up to the buzz. While this season was billed around menswear, the crowd felt delightfully cross-genre. Faces ranged from the cast of ‘Heated Rivalry,’ including Connor Storrie, François Arnaud and Robbie Graham-Kuntz, alongside house legend Kate Moss, who all gathered to see how the designer would translate the emotional texture of transition into a wearable wardrobe.

Vaccarello built Autumn/Winter 2026 around a surprisingly intimate idea: the emotional texture of transition. The collection pulled from James Baldwin’s 1956 novel ‘Giovanni’s Room,’ an exploration of self-discovery and vulnerability that sits well with Saint Laurent’s history of dressing identity and desire.

This was a wardrobe cast between private dusk and public dawn, featuring silhouettes that spoke with intent through long, lean lines that felt almost ritualised. Vaccarello chose to avoid unnecessary flourishes, instead focusing on a discipline of cut and proportion where the tailoring appeared to land on the body with a sense of inevitability. He describes the Saint Laurent ideal as a simplicity of silhouette, as though it were created with only a few pencil strokes.

Sharp shoulders were used to cloak the wearer’s uncertainty, while the signature smoking tuxedo was cut with such precision it felt like a protective shield against the world. One of the most daring pieces was a transparent, glossy trench coat that plays with the house trope of the morning after the night before, acting as a snapshot of human complexity by highlighting how we reveal and conceal ourselves.

Low-neckline knits peeked beneath tailored jackets, introducing a hint of softness against what might otherwise have felt like rigid structure. There were pinstripe patterns tucked into ensembles, appearing on shirts, suits and layered looks that felt both classic and modern at once. Furs appeared as considered accents, adorning collars trimmed with soft pelts or jackets backed with subtle hair.

Every look was anchored by high boots and a heavy commitment to black, which Vaccarello chose for its combination of classicism and rebellion, while also serving as a staple in Alexander Skarsgård’s wardrobe.

Black remained the heart colour of the Maison, chosen not for anonymity but for resonance. Pieces in deep chocolate and navy surfaced as well, but it was the classic noir undertone that gave the show its taut, focused feeling. This was a collection built on moments of truth, offering a thoughtful and sharply alive perspective on the ritual of dressing.

Discover the collection here.

photography. courtesy of Saint Laurent
words. Gennaro Costanzo

To look closely at nature is to understand that nothing ever truly stands still. Jonathan Anderson understands that the same goes for haute couture. It is an arena for experimentation, where craft is exercised rather than preserved. Anderson’s vision for Dior begins precisely here, with nature becoming the beating heart of Dior’s Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2026 collection. As his first couture offering for the house, the collection frames couture as a dialogue between past and present, memory and use.

Drawn to objects that carry both time and memory – meteorites, fossils, 18th-century textiles, and portrait miniatures – Anderson treats history as material to be handled, altered, and put back into circulation. The show notes describe the collection as a Wunderkammer (or Cabinet of Curiosities), “a place where museum-quality pieces and natural wonders are gathered and recontextualised.” The result is a constellation of references, each translated into couture with precision.

Nature appears not just as a metaphorical reference, but as an undeniable physical presence within the collection. Flora hung from the ceiling, models’ ears were decorated with oversized spherical florals in lacquered brass and sculpted silk; hand-painted orchids draped over their shoulders, and silk petals perched on the toes of their heels. Cyclamens – a pink bloom native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin – run as a throughline throughout the collection, nodding to the bunches gifted to Anderson by John Galliano, one of the house’s former creative directors. 

Blue and silver wildflower embroideries adorn a sablé double georgette asymmetrical long dress; white floral motifs taken from a screen print by Magdalene Odundo are printed on a black silk velvet one-shoulder dress; and a sleeveless Art Deco-esque dress is embroidered with floral microbeads reminiscent of a 1957 Christian Dior motif. A long ecru dress with white and red nasturtiums embroidered in chiffon and beads takes the theme even further, with the model carrying a tropical leaf over her head as if it were an umbrella. 

The collection is a study in micro and macro – and how the two can be transformed into one another. Shredded chiffon and organza materialise as feathers; a flared horsehair peplum skirt resembles black tweed thanks to five types of net overlaid; a spherical bustier dress is shaped by an invisible tulle structure; and chunky cuffs and rings are crafted from meteorite fragments. Paired alongside these intricate designs are bright orange cable-knit jumpers, chunky chain stitch cowl-neck knit tops, and grey asymmetrical knitted capes.

Nods to the house’s history take shape in many forms – something Anderson has been doing since his inaugural collection as creative director. A strapless corolla dress embroidered with silk cyclamen bouquets parallels the Miss Dior Spring/Summer 1949 dress. A fan-shaped skirt takes inspiration from the Cyclone dress, which debuted in Autumn/Winter 1948. The house’s famed Bar Jacket features a draped and twisted silk collar. Upturned square-toe shoes are inspired by an archival Roger Vivier design. And 18th-century oval miniatures by artists like Rosalba Carriera and John Smart are worn as brooches.

Nothing is left untouched, especially the handbags, which have been reinterpreted as true couture creations. Many are made from 18th-century French fabrics, adorned with embroideries and patchworks to add further visual interest. Their silhouettes are soft and pillowy, emerging as envelope clutches and oversized totes. Minaudières sit at the other end of the spectrum, their structured forms designed to resemble bumblebees and ladybirds. Referencing nature even further, one tote appears as if it is growing grass. The Lady Dior, too, receives a sculptural makeover. 

Anderson’s couture debut is a refined amalgamation of design sensibility, nature as art, and nods to the House’s storied past. Once again, he redefines what Dior can be – not by diminishing its history, but by illuminating both its enduring icons and those softened by time. Above all, it does exactly what couture should: experiment and inspire. As noted in the release, “To wear couture is to collect it, and to carry forward – with empathy – the mindset that created it.”

Discover the collection here.

photography. Courtesy of Adrien Dirand and Dior
words. Amber Louise