Haute Couture Week SS26: The Best of Dior, Chanel and More
New blood
Haute couture went full spectacle this season, from Paris to Milan. Matthieu Blazy, Jonathan Anderson, and Silvana Armani each brought daring visions to the runway, transforming fabric into fantasy and every silhouette into a spectacle. And the veterans? They reminded us why couture still rules the imagination. Here are five shows that stole the season.
Dior
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Creative director: Jonathan Anderson
Venue: Musée Rodin
Highlights of the collection: Mother Nature serves as both muse and medium in Anderson’s first haute couture for Dior. Cyclamen motifs run through the line, appearing in embroidery and enlarged floral details that punctuate gowns and sculptural forms. Each creation reveals sculptural intelligence, as Anderson orchestrates a living garden of textures and stories that unfold with every step on the runway.
Key pieces from the line: At the heart of the collection is a sculptural sensibility drawn from the anthropomorphic ceramics of Magdalene Odundo, seen in a long tulle dress traced with bows along one edge and a spherical strapless silhouette that feels almost vessel-like. Elsewhere, an asymmetrical draped dress commands attention, while the Bar jacket is revisited with double loops falling over the hips. Shoes feature trompe-l’œil scale effects and oval medallions, and couture jewellery transforms 18th-century miniatures into brooches framed with pearls, bows and hand-painted orchids.
Chanel
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Creative director: Matthieu Blazy
Venue: Grand Palais
Highlights of the collection: Blazy’s haute couture debut unfolds like a fairytale, with the Grand Palais transformed into an enchanted garden of pink weeping willows and giant mushrooms. Some of its iconic looks are softened through delicate layering, while bird motifs recur subtly across the collection, enhancing its ethereal mood. The inclusive casting underscores a vision of Chanel that remains resolutely timeless.
Key pieces from the line: Airy silk mousseline defines the Chanel suit in tender, translucent shades, echoed by the 2.55 bag reimagined in sheer form. Dresses and tops bloom with embroidered mushrooms and flowers, while delicate fringe accents animate select cuffs and hemlines. The finale surprises with Bhavitha Mandava as the Chanel bride, wearing a sequinned two-piece ensemble and feathered headpiece—a fresh, modern take on couture bridalwear.
Giorgio Armani Privé
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Creative director: Silvana Armani
Venue: Palazzo Armani
Highlights of the collection: Silvana Armani, the niece of Giorgio Armani, opens a new chapter with Jade, offering a feminine perspective on the house’s established codes. Soft greens, pinks and whites meet graphic black, expressed through fluid, vertical silhouettes in satin and silk. The show closes with a shimmering long-sleeved bridal gown designed by Giorgio Armani himself, worn by his favourite muse, Agnes Zogla, as a tribute.
Key pieces from the line: Structure and softness coexist across the collection. Sharply tailored jackets and embroidered bustiers contrast with column dresses shaped by precise draping, each piece moving with intention. Midi-length tunics part to reveal crisp trousers beneath, while pullovers edged with fine fringe lend subtle motion. Sophisticated embroidery punctuates the line in unexpected ways, from delicate motifs to trompe-l’œil pocket squares, adding playful surprises that reward a closer look.
Valentino
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Creative director: Alessandro Michele
Venue: Tennis Club de Paris
Highlights of the collection: In the wake of Valentino Garavani’s passing, Alessandro Michele takes centre stage with Specula Mundi. The set, inspired by the Kaiserpanorama, transforms into a space where each look seems suspended in time, worthy of reflection. The gowns evoke Old Hollywood’s golden age: flowing drapes cascade, dramatic capes trail behind, and headwear reaches theatrical heights. Michele’s couture balances drama with devotion, celebrating the Maison’s past while staking a bold claim for its future.
Key pieces from the line: Modesty meets allure in abaya-inspired designs, from a red drop-waist gown with a plunging neckline to a velvet burgundy number with exaggerated shoulders. Show-stopping moments include a floral-embroidered bodycon with a sweeping train, a metallic-toned gown crowned with a kaleidoscopic ruffled collar, and a gold bodice with a flared peplum over a floor-length velvet skirt, where craftsmanship meets theatrical flair. With drama in every fold and artistry in every stitch, each look becomes a theatre of elegance and imagination.
Schiaparelli
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Creative director: Daniel Roseberry
Venue: Petit Palais
Highlights of the collection: Roseberry draws from the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel, transforming Michelangelo’s emotional intensity into sculptural couture. Reptilian and arachnid motifs dominate the collection, appearing in gravity-defying gowns and sharply tailored jackets. Ruffles and layered tulle swell across skirts, amplifying the drama while revealing the atelier’s technical daring and meticulous craftsmanship.
Key pieces from the line: Sharp shoulders, cascading feathers, and sculpted beaks make the Elsa jacket a showstopper. The ‘Isabella Blowfish’ skirt suit layers tulle and organza in crystal-dusted tiers, finished with delicate spikes. A crocodile-tail trompe-l’oeil bustier meets a floating tulle cloud embroidered with black mimosas, while a butterfly-spiral gown flows into a sfumato tulle skirt from nude to black. Not to be missed, the Scorpion sisters: a black jacket with handmade lace ruffles and a sheer bustier, each adorned with 3D embroidered scorpion tails.
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