Every season, designers should grapple with vogue’s distinctive steadiness of pragmatism and fantasy – garments you may put on, sure, but additionally these that may thrill, transport, excite. It’s why, when it comes right down to defining the developments and takeaways of a given season, juxtapositions may be discovered right here, too.
Take, for instance, this A/W 2026 season, which culminated this previous week in Paris after stops in Milan, London and New York. On the one hand, there was a prevalence of black – a color that means a sure seriousness, or sobriety – on the opposite, Muppets-bright fake fur and shearling dominated the runway, suggesting an altogether extra liberated temper. The identical might be stated for what appeared to be the season’s defining clothes, the slip costume and the tailor-made swimsuit – each loaded with connotations – or the lived-in layers of Prada’s A/W 2026 assortment versus the levity and romance of Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore ready-to-wear assortment for Dior.
Right here, Wallpaper* unpacks six of A/W 2026’s defining developments and takeaways – ones that start to set a blueprint of how we’d costume for the season forward.
Layering extremely
(Picture credit score: Prada)
Prada’s A/W 2026 present had a novel conceit: as an alternative of the same old 40-or-so fashions, there have been simply 15, every carrying 4 seems in a formidable act of fast altering (such was the facility of the phantasm, when Bella Hadid appeared only a minute or so after she’d left the runway, I puzzled if maybe she had a secret twin). Largely, this was achieved by intelligent layering, with fashions stripping away clothes to disclose what lay beneath – a metaphor, stated co-creative administrators Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, for the altering calls for of a lady’s life. ‘As a lady, your life is layered – every day calls for not solely a shifting of garments, however a richness of identities inside your self,’ stated Mrs Prada of the gathering, the place an anorak may need been layered over a cocktail costume; an organza skirt eliminated to show a pair of bloomers. ‘You make selections, you resolve who you wish to be.’
Certainly, it’s a approach of dressing that feels significantly attuned to the calls for of up to date life – not least the altering climate, which was in full show over vogue month (the early days of Paris Vogue Week have been so heat for early March that the discarding of things of clothes was mandatory). Except for Prada, collections this season felt significantly richly layered: at Celine, polo-neck sweaters have been worn beneath a silk shirt, which was in flip worn beneath an overcoat (Michael Rider added loads of equipment to the collage, too, from belts and large scarves to blankets grasped within the hand) whereas at Zits Studios, blazers have been insouciantly hung over the shoulder by way of the usage of intelligent in-built straps (the thought of layering was enhanced by a pile-up of clashing checks). At Loewe, parkas have been constructed with additional collars, hoods and shaggy shearling trims (some layers might even be inflated like seaside lilos), whereas Rabanne, Chanel and Valentino favoured vivid amalgams of color, embellishment and texture, usually achieved by way of inserting one garment over one other. Within the respective exhibits, it made for some daring seems, however one might think about teasing these items aside and carrying them – or certainly layering them – with your personal wardrobe.
Black out
(Picture credit score: Photograph by Peter White/Getty Photographs)
It might sound trite to name black a development: in any case, it is a color that by no means goes out of fashion (a lot so, it’s the color all others are in comparison with – such and such is the brand new black). Nevertheless, the prevalence of the hue on this season’s runway was noticeable – not least at Fendi, the place Maria Grazia Chiuri embraced the color for her first Fendi assortment, offered in Milan. By our depend, round three-quarters of the 81 seems have been majority black, a stark departure from Silvia Venturini Fendi’s primary-hued S/S 2026 assortment final season. Although it didn’t really feel dour: as an alternative, it allowed the gathering to straddle each a uniform sleekness – lean tailoring, flight jackets, and the like – and one thing extra sensual in textures of lace, silk and crepe. A part of the selection, she stated, was a riposte to the form of attention-grabbing collections she sees as changing into the norm. ‘I feel we should be pragmatic,’ she stated. ‘Vogue will not be leisure. Vogue is a job. I’m that form of designer.’
An analogous temper was struck by Peter Copping at Lanvin, the place the languid glamour of the Twenties and Thirties impressed sculpted tailoring and sinuous robes, many in textures of black, from lustrous vinyl and silk to dramatic fake fur, whereas at Saint Laurent, a stream of black Le Smoking-inspired tailoring launched Anthony Vaccarello’s femme fatale for the season. Balenciaga, Issey Miyake and Gucci additionally had giant sections of black of their respective collections, although it was Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons who was most adamant concerning the color’s inventive – and certainly revolutionary – potential. This season, save for a brief interlude in saccharine pink, the remainder of the Japanese model’s A/W 2026 assortment was all-black. ‘I’ve come to understand that, in any case, black is the color for me,’ stated the Japanese designer. ‘It’s simply the strongest, the very best for creation, and the color that embodies the rebellious spirit. And has the largest which means: the universe and the black gap.’
Enjoyable ‘fur’
(Picture credit score: Loewe)
Vogue has lengthy revelled in its contradictions and, if black dominated a number of of the runways, a extra vibrant countercurrent ran alongside. There was the daring yellow ground at Loewe (and equally pop-hued assortment); Matthieu Blazy’s lustrous metallic palette at a triumphant Chanel; or the daring flashes of electrical blue hosiery at Jil Sander, the place Simone Bellotti, in his sophomore assortment, sought inventive liberation and ‘abandon’. Bolder nonetheless, although, have been the flashes of brightly hued fake fur and shearling – or certainly materials which mimicked their shaggy textures – which appeared all through the season, lending a way of play that my colleague Jason Hughes, Wallpaper* vogue & inventive director, affectionately described as a ‘Muppets temper’.
So there have been Louise Trotter’s daring, shaggy silhouettes at Bottega Veneta, constructed from numerous cloth improvements from pulled threads of silk (they evoked fur, or shearling), or high-pile velvet manipulated to appear to be astrakhan; Junya Watanabe’s collaged silhouettes, the place alongside crunched-up Mylar blankets, curtains and licence plates have been daring panels of sentimental toy-like fake fur; or Loewe, the place degradé shearling was trimmed ‘in the identical method as poodle grooming’. These ‘enjoyable furs’ made a case for dressing exterior of your consolation zone, or just giving your outfit – even whether it is all-black – a single vibrant (and fluffy) flourish.
Slip on
(Picture credit score: Loewe)
In our March 2026 Type Challenge, we recognized the slip costume as one of many S/S 2026 season’s defining clothes, significantly those who recall Nineties minimalism. For A/W 2026, the garment returned to the fore, albeit reimagined in an unconventional method. Take Loewe, for instance, the place nighties – like these you would possibly discover in a Marks & Spencer four-pack, full with the tiny bow on the chest – have been recreated in rubber, cleverly 3D-printed in numerous major hues (for males, a model got here as a prime with lengthy sleeves). The outcome was one thing playful and somewhat surreal – a mirrored image of the gathering itself, which was outlined by a sense of experimentation. ‘For us, the act of creating is, at its core, an expression of pleasure – an mental, process-driven pursuit charged with playfulness,’ stated Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the American designers behind the gathering.
An analogous, if extra overtly sensual, strategy got here at Saint Laurent, the place Anthony Vaccarello constructed a sequence of clothes from sheer lace coated in silicone (he talked concerning the approach giving ‘construction’ to the historically delicate materials, with ‘fragility changing into drive’). In the meantime, at Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada additionally explored the juxtaposition of delicacy and toughness, one thing the deep-thinking designer stated was impressed by the distinction between the ‘smallness of the physique… and the vastness of the [world] which surrounds us’. The latter got here in trapper hats, shearling-lined parkas and hefty, bubble-soled sneakers; the previous in a sequence of sheer organza slip attire adorned with sequins, crystal embroidery and scalloped trimmings.
New romantic
(Picture credit score: Dior)
Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore ready-to-wear assortment came about in Paris’ Jardin des Tuileries, the place a runway had been constructed round one of many round fountains, its floor dotted with Monet-esque water lilies (or, at the least, very real-looking reproductions). Within the vibrant spring sunshine, it made for an idyllic scene, one backdropping a group of romance and lightness, from Belle Époque ruffles and feather-trimmed outerwear to floral appliqué and bow adornment (finishing the look have been polka-dot pumps or sneakers embellished with lily pads). ‘Dior has this large previous, and I needed to begin there,’ he stated of the free-spirited temper. ’Now I be at liberty to launch it from that.’
All through the season, designers mined this sense of up to date romance, outlined by levity and play. At Matthieu Blazy’s personal sophomore ready-to-wear assortment for Chanel, seems have been richly textured and adorned – from crystal flowers to golden butterflies, or the multitude of illusory tweeds and trompe l’oeil materials – although by no means felt heavy. In the meantime, ruffles and lace turned defining motifs, showing in all places from Alaïa (dropped-waist peplum attire with layers of raw-edge ruffles) and Bottega Veneta (fronds of ruched cloth harking back to shearling that emerged from beneath tailor-made materials) to Simone Rocha, the place sheer lace and organza have been delicately embellished with crystals. One inspiration for her A/W 2026 assortment was a fairytale from her native Eire – Oisín and Niamh’s journey to Tír na nÓg, the Celtic land of everlasting youth and sweetness.
Energy transfer
(Picture credit score: Saint Laurent)
The Saint Laurent present started with eight dark-coloured fits in a row: some double-breasted, others single, every with a sloped shoulder and narrowed – although not constricted – waistline. Anthony Vaccarello stated it was about proposing a brand new energy swimsuit, one influenced by ‘severity of the Seventies and Nineteen Eighties’ however with new fluidity and ease. ‘[They are not about] a clichéd projection of energy,’ he stated by way of the gathering notes. ‘[But] a quiet and fluid dialog between the parameters of femininity and masculinity.’ Certainly, the present ended along with his riff on Le Smoking, Yves Saint Laurent’s tuxedo reduce for a lady’s physique and one among his defining creations (it celebrates its sixtieth anniversary this 12 months). Worn by mannequin Loli Bahia, it was reduce with the identical fluid line because the opening seems – ‘the angle extra insouciant shrug than swagger’.
It was a season of nice tailoring throughout the board, significantly in Paris. At Givenchy, Sarah Burton stated reuniting along with her tailoring group from Alexander McQueen had introduced new sharpness to her suiting this season – there have been some nice blazers with cut-in lapels and gently sculpted waistlines – whereas the highlights of Copping’s Lanvin got here in jackets with plisséd panels on the again, which gave a dramatic (although not restrictive) hourglass silhouette. If largely tailoring this season adopted these contours (wide-shouldered; narrow-waist; fluid in building), an opposition got here in a extra streamlined proposition from the likes of Fendi, the place slender suiting had a uniform really feel, or Hermès, the place contouring equstrian-inspired blazers recalled these worn for dressage competitions.
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Supply: Wallpaper
