By Nick Remsen
Spring Couture 2026 looks from Valentino, Dior, Chanel, and Schiaparelli.
This was a buzzy couture season in Paris, both on and away from the runways.
First, a point about what was happening off-catwalk: Couture holds the most expensive fashion available, and its deep-pocket appeal was most visible this past week with the presence of Lauren Sánchez Bezos. She was seen front row at both Dior and Schiaparelli (and was styled by the image architect Law Roach for these appearances), and her attendance made global headlines. Her being there irked a good deal of onlookers, but, politics and personal stances aside, Sánchez Bezos is the couture client–and it’s standard practice for fashion houses to invite their highest spending customers to runway shows.
Now, the clothes: at both Chanel and Valentino–both Bal Harbour Shops residents–designers Mathieu Blazy and Alessandro Michele garnered plenty of praise.
In a set “planted” with gigantic mushrooms, Blazy’s suggestion was notable for its high-craft intricacy and its sportier, more everyday verve–though with couture, everyday is still pretty rarefied. I loved a couple of his ideas in particular: translucent denim-m: translucent denim-mimicking trousers, as if jeans were made of vapor. A dip-dyed blue pajama set (to which, post-show, the actress Tilda Swinton would lay claim). And light and languid day dresses, one of which had those mushrooms reinterpreted. Easygoing, but, far from frothy.
At Valentino–and under the shadow of Valentino Garavani’s passing just a few days prior–Michele presented his couture lineup with a novel staging: the audience watched his clothes in a “kaiserpanorama,” which is a circular room with small cutout windows. The kaiserpanorama predates cinema, and functions as a sort of crossover between live theater and the remove that viewers are now used to in film-going experiences. The collection was very Michele in its costume pizzazz: old Hollywood glamor, Vegas-like razzle dazzle and (maybe surprising) number of oversize, almost caftan-proportion tops and gowns made for a dressy, cheeky outing.
Daniel Roseberry, whose Schiaparelli has become a red-carpet darling, shone brightly with broody creativity this couture season. He said he was inspired by a visit to the Sistine Chapel, telling the media that he likened its ceiling to a “slow motion, orgasmic thing.” That resulted in extreme workmanship on statement-making clothing, which sometimes featured horns and scorpion tails. It was easy to make an association with armaments and protection, but, further than that, I think there’s more resonance in thinking of these clothes as existing in an intense dream state. Fleeting–but unforgettable, even after you’ve woken up.
And finally, Dior. This was creative director Jonathan Anderson’s premiere couture collection for the house. It was artful and varied–not everyone’s cup of tea–but encouraging, at the very least, in terms of its willingness to be expressive and unusual. The lineup paid homage to John Galliano, as well and in particular. Galliano formerly lead Dior, and he is a designer whom Anderson has long admired.
