chanel | the haute couture ss26 collection

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

Montblanc’s Artistic Director, Marco Tomasetta, is directing a stylish new film where your favourite fountain pen is the leading star and your luggage is the supporting cast. For the Spring/Summer 2026 leather collection, the German manufacturer is stepping out of the boardroom and into a vivid landscape where storytelling, heritage and meticulous design meet among the earthy tones of a traveller’s dream. The palette range includes more organic tints such as khaki, velvet green and fauve, all of which are energised by accents of tangerine and saffron colours.

Stationery is no longer confined to the bottom of a briefcase because the Maison has found a way to transform the art of writing into a wearable accessory. The new Pen Loop Necklace allows you to keep your writing instrument close at hand, draped around the neck or fastened to a bag in punchy shades of tangerine or saffron sartorial leather. 

For those carrying more than a single pen, the Medium Notes Holder serves as a grain leather clutch that houses a notebook inside while displaying a writing instrument on the outside. This season represents a dialogue between the written word and fine leather that ensures your creative tools act as daily companions.

New silhouettes also draw inspiration from the hardware of the wardrobe, specifically a horseshoe buckle belt that wraps around the body of a bag to become a shoulder strap. This design appears on the Belt Crossbody Messenger and the compact Belt Vertical Crossbody, both available in black or khaki tones. These pieces are intended to be essential style statements wherever inspiration strikes, blending the utility of travel with the elegance of the brand’s writing heritage.

The heavy hitters of the collection include the return of the Writing Traveler, a portable ‘cabinet of curiosities’ for the modern nomad now available in a rich fauve shade or deep velvet green. Each piece features a sfumato effect where the soft gradient finish recreates the gentle saturation of ink on paper. 

This same artistic technique adorns the #MY4810 Cabin Trolley, while the spacious Weekender bag is refreshed with archive-inspired Jacquard 4810 fabric and fauve leather details. Even the desk itself receives a makeover with trays and boxes in fauve-hued corteccia leather, allowing an intimate workspace to become an expression of personal style.

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

photography. courtesy of Montblanc
words. Gennaro Costanzo