Paris Couture Week Spring Summer 26 edition saw designers drawing inspiration from nature, looking inwards and mining maison’s archives to create craft-led, contemporary designs. The overarching trend was the emergence of a refined yet decidedly restrained couture sensibility, which was not meant to break the internet. Exemplified by lightweight pieces and sculptural silhouettes, there was a sense of freewheeling weightlessness punctuated by unexpected details. Here are the key trends that emerged.
House Codes Honoured
Lightweight and constructed from transparencies of silk mousseline in tender shades, the key house insignia - the lunch suit opened the Chanel show. It appeared almost as a memory of Chanel’s layered histories, entwined with the wearer’s own; a delicate embroidered love letter, a bottle of N°5, a red lipstick, tokens, and emotional artefacts appear, in silk mousseline or as jewellery. Slipped into pockets, stitched into interiors, suspended from the famous chain that weighs, or in a ‘palimpsest’ of the iconic bag; a symbolic interior life was exposed to the exterior.
At Dior, creative director Jonathan Anderson paid a thoughtful homage to his hero, John Galliano, who worked as the Maison’s creative director for 15 years. Anderson underscored the influence the former Dior designer had on his design process, stating, “For me in the modern-day world, he is Dior.”
Tactile Appliques Galore
Feathers - a distinctive house signature at Chanel made their presence felt across ensembles. Blazy conjured up Chanel birds of a mythical paradise - from raven black looks, with a concentration on the supreme cutting skills of the tailleur and their flow in the flou, to complex coloured plumage evoked in embroidery, layering, pleating, and weaving, where the feather was often conjured, yet hardly used. A host of birds appeared from the domestic to the exotic: the simple grey pigeon to the extravagant pink spoonbill; the linear heron to the crested cockatoo. Like a conspiracy of ravens, or a mischief of magpies, the birds congregated around towering mushrooms in an enchanted willow wood, then disappeared, free to fly away.
However, feathers in Schiaparelli served more than mere embellishments. These surrealist plumes flapped and swirled. For artistic director Daniel Roseberry, feathers became a metaphor for evolution, offering escapism and also embodying a protectionist streak. At Dior, the divinity of the blooms was extrapolated, nodding to Monsieur Dior's lifelong penchant for gardens and flowers. Crafting synergies between nature and haute couture, there were blooms everywhere - from the earrings to the embroideries to the ceilings.
Philosophical Subtexts
Always rooted to ancient wisdom and staying true to decoding it through the transformative power of his designs, couturier Gaurav Gupta looked at the Indian philosophy of “advait,” or the idea of an indivisible and nonbinary reality. The emergence of life on Earth was played out in a long white column dress, followed by the realm of spirituality, which was depicted with a sculpture replicated from an Indian temple. The designer engineered a unique thread technique that resulted in web-like lace, which was a metaphor for energy flows. This craft gave birth to a twin silhouette, with a pair of models walking hand in hand, donning two enmeshed dresses.
Also worth mentioning is Rahul Mishra’s couture showcase, which beautifully played out the deep meaning of the Panchbhuta – or the elemental forces – air, fire, water, cosmos, and earth. Assembling elements with care, balance, and restraint, the designer sent out stunningly embroidered, gravity-defying silhouettes steeped in savoir-faire and loaded with symbolism.
