ace & tate aw26 | creative visionaries

Lacoste.

Lacoste has dug into its archive to address a modern footwear question: how can an athletic shoe transition to the everyday wardrobe? The Slam Break is their answer. 

The new silhouette arrives as the latest chapter in Lacoste’s long relationship with tennis, a story that stretches back to René Lacoste and the company’s beginnings in 1933. Sneakers entered that history in 1958 with the René, the brand’s first dedicated tennis shoe, and more than six decades later the Slam Break picks up the same conversation from a different starting point. 

The launch follows the limited-edition Slam Break Premium, fronted by rising French tennis player Arthur Fils. His version comes in premium leather with an off-white base, deep red accents inspired by clay courts, and a metallic crocodile taken from the archives, while A.D.S. (Absorption de Shock) cushioning technology brings a piece of Lacoste’s performance history into the design.

Lacoste.

Lacoste.

The wider Slam Break keeps that tennis influence but gives it a more everyday shape. Clean leather uppers sit alongside perforated suede panels and a mesh tongue, with stretch mesh lining for a closer fit and a TPU heel counter for stability. Underneath, Lacoste’s A.D.S. technology, originally developed for its performance tennis shoes in the 2000s, handles the cushioning. 

Two versions lead the collection, with the first sticking to leather and the recognisable Lacoste combination of white and green. Meanwhile, the other takes a technical route with ripstop fabric, metal eyelets, suede details and a printed crocodile. Colours range from bright pink and deep blue to softer pastels, brown-toned neutrals and black, with options available across both men’s and women’s collections. 

The campaign tracks the same concept, moving between the tennis court and the footwear atelier as archival references are pulled apart and turned into something new. Lacoste has always excelled at making tennis clothes work far beyond the baseline, and the Slam Break is engineered for exactly that transition. After all, the best tennis sneakers have never stayed solely on the court.

The Lacoste Slam Break collection is available now in boutiques and online. Find out more here.

photography. courtesy of Lacoste
words. Gennaro Costanzo

Rebecca Hall by Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

Rebecca Hall is having a strange time on set: she arrives to play an actress preparing for a new role, only to find herself repeatedly confronted by another version of herself, face hidden behind an elaborate mask and dressed in exactly the same clothes. From there, things become increasingly difficult to explain. Who is the actress and who is the double? And, more importantly, what happens when the person staring back at you knows you too well?

That is the premise of ‘ANONYMITY’, Maison Margiela’s new Autumn/Winter 2026 campaign, directed by Thibaut Grevet and presented as the trailer for a psychological thriller that never actually reaches the cinema. The film takes the house’s longstanding fascination with anonymity and turns it into a story about identity, performance and the strange distance that can exist between a person and the character they are expected to play.

Rebecca Hall by Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

The use of masks remains a foundational code for the house, tracking back to its very first runway presentation where face coverings were introduced to redirect focus away from the model’s identity and onto the clothes. In this cinematic campaign, Hall’s doppelgänger wears identical wardrobe pieces paired with different artisanal masks, which were crafted individually in the Paris atelier. The thriller format connects directly with the label’s history of cinematic exhibition, referencing the white cloth-covered cinema seats inside its Ebisu boutique in Tokyo, the 2021 film ‘A Folk Horror Tale’, and the live-projection mechanics of the 2022 ‘Cinema Inferno’ performance.

Much of the film’s strange atmosphere can be traced back to Margiela’s Autumn/Winter show by Glenn Martens in Shanghai this April, staged around towering stacks of shipping containers and populated by masked models dressed as though they had wandered out of a Parisian flea market after closing time. The collection marked the house’s first show in China and brought its ready-to-wear and Artisanal collections together. 

Rebecca Hall by Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

Rebecca Hall by Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

Edwardian tailoring is fused with second-skin jersey, destroyed tapestry is turned into flowing dresses, and garments are intentionally left with excess fabric hanging from their construction. The house’s signature Bianchetto treatment reappears on a chopped-off tailcoat and a fluid skirt, which are painted white, baked, and systematically cracked open to expose the layers beneath. Distressed details continue through an ill-fitted, knitted tank top featuring a nibbled collar and hem, worn alongside an Edwardian riding jacket entirely encased in velvet.

The accessories introduce several structural developments, led by the new Link bag. Drawing on an archival study of vintage coin purses, the design features a strap inspired by a silk-muslin covered chain from the 2001 collection. This utilitarian chain study expands into vacuum-formed leather jewellery, where a tubular leather sleeve is fitted over chain links before a machine extracts the air to mould the hide like a second skin. The iconic Tabi boot arrives covered in floral tapestry motifs, running parallel to the new Tabi Claw in nude leather. The accessory selection concludes with a thermoformed Box bag accented by ornate ceramic corner appliqués and a distressed, 17th-century tapestry iteration of the 5AC Soft bag.

Rebecca Hall by Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela.

The Maison Margiela Autumn/Winter 2026 collection is available now in boutiques and online. Discover more here.

photography. courtesy of Thibaut Grevet for Maison Margiela
words. Gennaro Costanzo

Tom Craig for Furla.

Furla has headed to Rome to frame its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection through a cinematic lens, showing that daily life carries its own emotional intensity when viewed from the right angle. Titled ‘Iconic Drama’, the campaign draws on the visual atmosphere of classic Italian cinema. Instead of hiring professional runway models or film stars, the Italian leather goods label cast authentic personalities from its own community circle, the ‘Furla Family’, as they move across a piazza, a café terrace or a sunlit street.

The collection treats the new-season bags as meaningful props that help define the character of a frame. The structured Furla 1927 archetype – named after the year the house was founded – anchors the lineup with its clean architectural lines and geometric, lightweight top-handle or crossbody layouts. For the festive winter timeline, the icon updates its identity via ultra-soft black velvet surfaces subtly punctuated with tiny gold galvanic micro dots.

Tom Craig for Furla.

Standing in contrast to this rigid structure is the Furla Debby, a looser shoulder silhouette reinterpreted for the colder months in soft, unstructured shapes. The design creates a contemporary dialogue through material play, matching smooth calfskin with printed grain leather and supple suede in deep seasonal tones of chocolate and espresso. Its rectangular, compact-yet-spacious body features a functional two-way zip closure finished with unique, refined cylindrical hardware that houses an engraved Arch logo puller.

The final piece of the narrative is the Furla Iride, a compact trapezoidal hobo and crossbody family built to adapt to fluid daily movement. The bag is secured by a distinctive leather strap feeding into a new cylindrical hardware weight emblazoned with the iconic Furla Arch. This season, the Iride line introduces an edgier attitude through rich suede versions embellished with metallic studs, alongside deep wildflower-inspired hues like cherry, dark forest, urban grey and winter bloom. It provides a versatile, customisable layout equipped with interchangeable leather straps and signature charms, offering a contemporary option for women who choose to view their own routines as stories worth remembering.

Tom Craig for Furla.

Tom Craig for Furla.

The Furla Autumn/Winter 2026 collection is available now across global boutiques and online. Discover more here.

photography. courtesy of Tom Craig for Furla
words. Gennaro Costanzo