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Couture Week is a special, strange time. Unlike ready-to-wear runways, its shows are not necessarily about setting trends, but more so an opportunity for designers to flex their craftsmanship. Everything is custom-made, ludicrously expensive and deliciously beautiful to behold. For that reason, the stakes are high. But there’s also more freedom for brands to lean away from commercial demands and into the random. (Remember the Schiaparelli lion heads?)
Schiaparelli Haute Couture
At this point, Creative Director Daniel Roseberry is basically the OG of contemporary couture, kicking off each season by raising the bar on his previous collection. Roseberry reliably lets his imagination run wild—and this season, that meant spiky chest-protruding horns, curved spinal tails and Black-Swan-coded wings. “I think people want a reason to believe in something,” Roseberry told AnOther Magazine of the intent behind his world-building. Like all his presentations, there was an air of retooled opulence—from the sharp crowns to the Victorian collars rendered in feathers. The Schiaparelli Haute Couture 2026 show was dark and almost sinister—and, though undeniably dream-like, rooted in reality. Case in point: the accessories were designed to replicate the jewels stolen from the Louvre.
Dior Haute Couture
Florals for spring? Johnathan Anderson said, hear me out. For his Dior couture debut, the designer sourced inspiration from a bouquet of cyclamen that former Dior designer John Galliano gifted him when he started in this role. Cyclamen were suspended from the ceiling in the Musée Rodin, while XL florals were used as earrings, shoe appliqués and detailed dress embellishments. There was a sense of fresh overgrowth throughout, with thick grass-like fabric hanging from clutches and tucked under skirts. Anderson moved away from couture corsetry and into a realm of bulbous shapes with intricate ruching. The takeaway? A new era at Dior is in bloom.
Chanel Haute Couture
Expectations have been rising for Matthieu Blazy’s couture debut since he was announced as Chanel’s creative director in 2024—and today, he more than met them. To set the scene, the Grand Palais was filled with supersized pink and red mushrooms. The show then opened with a set of gauzy, body-hugging sheers. It evolved into a series of avian-inspired ensembles, with elegant plumage and pops of feathery fringe. “Here, birds are seen as the ultimate symbols of freedom,” the designer wrote in his show notes, equating the collection to a sort of “dream world.” In other words, Blazy is whimsy-maxxing. And in couture, we’d want nothing less.
Photo courtesy of Chanel
Armani Privé Haute Couture
Sharp tailoring with flowy movement? That’s a hard-to-pull-off couture task, and it’s one that Armani Privé mastered in its show this afternoon. Think: Floral brooches encased in mesh pouches, fan-like chest boning and neckties so sheer they appear as though they’d dissolve upon touch. In light of Giorgio Armani’s recent passing, the collection was led by his niece, Silvana Armani. All in all, it was an ode to the designer’s signature sharp tailoring, through a softened, wistful lens.
Valentino Haute Couture
One thing about Alessandro Michele? He loves a hit of theatrics. This season, instead of seating audience members in a typical runway row, the designer had attendees look through square-shaped peep holes as models, one by one, emerged in a series of circular, white rooms. The set-up is called a “kaiserpanorama”—a form of entertainment that dates back to the 19th century. Each look had a similar old-world glamour, via towering feathered headpieces, weighty velvet robes and ballgowns fit for royalty. There were nods to different decades, too—from the Roaring Twenties showgirl to ’80s-era billowing. Held a mere week and a half after Valentino Garavani’s passing, the collection was a tribute to house codes (detailed embellishments; flamboyant florals) in appropriately ornate Michele fashion. Continue Reading
