THE DIALOGUE OF DESIRE

 

    original image and video courtesy ©Tom Ford

Haider Ackermann's Spring/Summer 2026 collection for Tom Ford opened with three models in patent leather moving slowly across a midnight blue lacquered floor. A warm green trench coat with a popped collar, a deep mauve jacket-and-skirt set, a black hooded ensemble, each piece glistening like water under moonlight. This opening gesture announced the collection's central proposition: seduction rendered through careful calibration between exposure and restraint. 

The midnight swim inspiration revealed itself gradually. Patent leather carried laser-cut perforations that suggested mesh, creating patterns of revealed skin beneath. Bias-cut silk dresses moved like liquid. Satin suits appeared in unexpected pastels: lime green, baby pink, mint, pool blue, and orange. David Bowie's stripped-down, a cappella version of "Heroes" filled the space, the song's yearning transformed into an intimate whisper as models walked slowly, often in pairs, making eye contact with each other and the audience. 

Ackermann's technical mastery showed in the details. Wire construction held strapless gowns suspended as though from invisible threads. A lapis blue gown with cap sleeves featured a cutout back plunging low enough to eliminate undergarments entirely, yet the precision of construction read as classical sculpture rather than provocation. Shawl draping appeared on evening pieces. A mint-and-black draped gown created visual tension through two-tone contrast. Slip dresses carried trim of laser-cut leather lace, juxtaposing the delicate against the strong. 

SPECULA MUNDI

 

    original image and video courtesy ©Valentino

Valentino Garavani passed on January 19, at ninety-three, and nine days later his voice inhabited the Tennis Club de Paris. Alessandro Michele summoned the founder through documentary footage, that analogue ghost speaking of cinema, of sisters in darkened theatres, of how moving images taught him to dress bodies for dreams. This opening gesture contained everything: the past made present through deliberate framing, beauty preserved by understanding how to look at it. 

Michele built twelve wooden chapels in that Paris space, each one a Kaiserpanorama, that strange Victorian peepshow machine where vision became ritual. Guests perched on stools facing away from the spectacle, leaning forward to peer through small rectangular windows at what turned slowly within. The device belonged to the moment just before cinema, when seeing still demanded patience and the body bent toward revelation. Walter Benjamin knew it staged something essential about consciousness, how meaning arrives in sequence rather than simultaneity, how distance between viewer and viewed allows wonder. Michele translated this nineteenth-century technology into twenty-first-century proposition: what if garments could reclaim the weight of hierophany, could demand the kind of attention we once gave to sacred things? 

The red dress that opened the procession carried Valentino's signature crimson like a relic, a drop-waisted gown with the liquid drape recalling 1930s silhouettes, cardinal-bright against the white chamber. Then came the rest. Hollywood's golden age filtered through something older, more pagan. What criticism often misses: the screen goddesses of the thirties and forties wore costumes drawn from priestess robes, temple ceremonies, and myths in which women mediated between the human and divine realms. Garbo, Dietrich, Crawford, they moved through Biblical epics and Grecian dramas draped like Salammbô, crowned like Salomé, sculpted like Maria in Metropolis. Cinema simply gave ancient archetypes electric light and celluloid immortality. 

THE WHISPER OF IMPOSSIBILITY: ON BLAZY´S CHANEL AND THE SOUL OF HAUTE COUTURE

 

    original image and video courtesy ©Chanel

A meditation on craft, lightness, and the misunderstood poetry of making 

When Matthieu Blazy sent his first haute couture collection down the runway at Chanel on this grey January morning, beneath the vaulted glass ceiling of the Grand Palais, something curious happened. The room, packed with Nicole Kidman, Dua Lipa, Penélope Cruz, and every significant name that attends such occasions, witnessed garments so ethereal they seemed to float rather than walk. Silk mousseline suits rendered transparent. Featherwork achieved through pleating rather than plumage. Tank tops and jeans reimagined in organza through trompe l'oeil. The collection asked a question the fashion world has been grappling with ever since Worth founded the first true couture house in 1858: what, precisely, constitutes haute couture? 

The answers came swiftly, as they always do in the digital age. Forum members declared the collection mundane, a snoozefest, questioning whether haute couture was even "in the room with us." Critics wondered where the embellishment lived, where the iron-clad corsetry resided, where the heavy-handed drama had gone. In their estimation, Blazy had committed the cardinal sin: he had made couture that whispered rather than shouted. 

Here lies the magnificent misunderstanding. 

THE ELEGANCE OF THE EVERYDAY FORM

 

    original images and video courtesy ©Toteme

The light in New York was soft, almost Scandinavian, as TOTEME presented its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, a study in the precision of looseness, in beauty built from calm decisions. Elin Kling and Karl Lindman refined their signature minimalism into something more fluid this season, striking a delicate balance between structure and softness. 

Optic whites and inky blacks formed the foundation, joined by sun-faded pinks and deep greens that recalled fabric left to dry by the sea. Matte and gloss, washed leather and pearlescent silk, crinkled cotton and compact knits, the contrasts were deliberate, subtle, and deeply tactile. 

The silhouettes held the body without confining it. Pyjama-inspired shirts paired with slim skirts, long hems that traced the ankle; trench coats, once stiff, now moved with the air. Raw edges appeared beside clean seams; bags were left unfastened, coats draped loosely over the arm. Every detail suggested motion and wearability rather than pose. 

EASE AS A RADICAL ACT

 

          image and video courtesy of ©Fforme

The first sound was not applause but the faint slap of rubber against floor, jandals, flip-flops, walking into New York light as if the runway were a strip of black sand by the sea. Frances Howie’s FFORME Spring/Summer 2026 collection opened with this disarming gesture, setting the mood: a refusal of hauteur, a declaration of intimacy with the everyday, an insistence that luxury can arrive barefoot. 

From there, the clothes unfolded with a dual discipline: the strict clarity of construction and the looseness of garments designed for ease. Black, camel, and white grounded the palette in elemental calm, but were pierced by eruptions, a linen-silk suit in grass-green with a saturation that seemed almost alive; hammered gold draped across a halter dress; silver and royal blue satin dresses gleaming with liquid reflections. These colours did not decorate so much as strike, like sudden sunlit interruptions of cloud. 

Materials extended the dialogue between utility and elegance. Bonded seams, recalling the functional logic of wetsuits, erased distraction and let the eye travel unbroken along the body. Silk satin carried a mirror’s liquidity; washed metallic cotton satin gave black dresses a velvet-like depth; airy knits were hand-embroidered with feathers so light they seemed always on the verge of departure. There were frayed fringes, lace, and woven linens that remembered touch, that carried the mark of weather as much as the discipline of tailoring. 

LEMAIRE’S WINTER GRAMMAR

 

    image and video courtesy ©Lemaire

Paris in January, a city breathing mist from its stone lungs, provided the frame for Lemaire’s Fall/Winter 2025/2026. What unfolded was not a spectacle, but a grammar of quiet elegance, garments cut to move with the body and to be lived in, rather than merely displayed. Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham hovered invisibly in the wings, not in costume but in gesture. These were clothes conceived for living movement, not static tableaux. 

The collection opened in restraint: stone, taupe, coffee, grey, navy, and black tones formed its architecture. These earthbound shades were interrupted by sharp accents of scarlet, cobalt, indigo, pale yellow, lavender, and vermilion. The contrasts did not overwhelm but punctuated, like sudden notes in an otherwise measured score, awakening the eye within the calm. 

Fabrics revealed themselves as a dialogue between density and lightness. There were rich wools, alpaca and yak blends, elongated knit collars that rose almost to the face, their weight counterposed with silk sets that seemed to glide, satin surfaces catching and releasing light, twill carrying its structure quietly, and leather rendered with sculptural precision. Coated and lacquered finishes lent sheen, as though surfaces were designed to hold light as much as shadow. 

MICHAEL RIDER’S CELINE: BETWEEN THE WHISPER AND THE VOID

 

   image and video courtesy ©Celine

Some debuts thunder into being, shaking the rafters. Michael Rider’s arrived in a hush: elegant, deliberate, and just a little too polite. On a sun‑washed Paris afternoon, beneath a canopy of suspended foulards, Rider unveiled his first Spring/Summer collection for Celine, a house that, for over half a century, has oscillated between the rigour of restraint and the allure of rebellion. His stated aim was modest: to honour the "language of Celine," to write his chapter without erasing what came before. And honour it he did. Perhaps too much so. 

The collection itself was a quiet exercise in precision. Rider’s women glided through the silk‑draped set in masculine tailoring, knife‑pleated skirts, funnel‑neck trenches, and long, lean proportions, a wardrobe of Parisian archetypes rendered in navy, camel, ivory, and a whisper of cobalt. Silk scarves knotted at the neck evoked Philo’s intelligence; striped rugby sweaters tucked under blazers evoked a kind of Connecticut‑via‑Rive‑Gauche nonchalance. Charm belts tinkled at hips. Archive Phantom bags made their comeback as though nothing had changed. 

WORLD OF CONTRASTS

 

Decadency and opulence or rich, rare fabric and poor, raw fabrics, dreamy, soft, almost fairy-tale mood and dark realness vibe, vintage and modern, sculpturesque and wearable, these are just a few contrapositions in Uma Wang´s aesthetic present not only in this s/s 2024 collection, but it´s a design trademark made of contrasts for each Wang´s collection. 

TECHNO-UTILITARIAN

If you ever thought to get an easy, specific, one-thing collection at Prada, you were wrong or you never really got Miuccia´s aesthetic, yeah that famous "the beauty of ugly." In this this occasion the focus is on leisurewear/sportswear. Sounds easy, too easy for this Milanese brand, and you are right, because Miuccia this time sees his man (and woman, as it is a part of the show too, showcasing traditionally a pre-collection) sharing the wardrobe with a traveller, parachutist, explorer and even a cowboy. Utilitarian style goes hand-by-hand with active-wear, a galore of layered wardrobe made mostly by technical fabrics, shoes included. Not to mention the accessories of the season, at least for Prada, the return on the spotlight of the brand´s nylon backpack, originally invented by dame Prada in the 1990´s, the one that among other Prada nylon-accessories started to make a fortune to the brand. 

FROM PALOMINO TO LADY D

Ryan Roche´s soft colour palette for S/S 2017 got inspired by her childhood obsession with a neighbour’s palomino horse, whiles the lace pieces and knits, especially the ones with structured shoulders, were all about Princess Diana. Among her already known-soft shapes, mostly made from her distinguished knit-pieces, the real novelty for Roche this season was her "embark" into a new teritory, tailoring; soft silhouettes made by high-wasited pants matched and light blazers with knit panels. 

LESS STRUCTURED, MORE SOFTER

The upcoming warmer season sees a bit less of Ackermann´s well known cinched-waist structured and rigid silhouettes, but more softer and feminine ones. Far from renaissance-feeling, his women´s femininity is still kind-a bold, full of male/female contrasts, like a punk-rocker who without any hint of demure showcase its softer side. A world where oversize gets hand-in-hand with slim silhouettes, punk/rock elements matches well with Far East ones. 

EASY BREEZY

Easy-breezy can we name it in short, a collection of many Howell´s signature pieces, like fine knits, roomy raincoats and cropped pants, matched with more, let´s call it "seasonal-pieces" or more eye-catching ones, like knee-length skirt with a layer of a navy tulle or metallic ensembles, which at the end still look very chic and simple as everything made by her. 

80´S BOLD SPIRIT WITH 40´S SENSUALITY BASE

The supersize movement continues even at the Jil Sander fashion house. Rodolfo Paglialunga proposed a true-minimal Sander-esque collection, but turned on the volume with super-wide shoulders, emphasized even more due the cinching waistline. After all the whole collection was made by oversize slash “borrowed from men” tailoring; from shirts with oversize proportions, Bermuda shorts with different “stages” of bagginess, all double-breasted jackets and pinstripe suiting to those sculptural pleating sheath dresses with batwing sleeves, evoking the 80´s bold woman spirit with a sensuality base of the 40´s.

SENSUALITY MEETS COMFORT

Who likes minimal, low fuss and chic dressing by London-based Brazilian designer Barbara Casasola, will not be disappointed with her S/S 2017 collection. Actually this one, in our opinion, is even more appealing than the previous ones, while the execution is always impeccable. Who cannot find lovely her, yet become signature, ribbed fluid dresses, or waist cinched ankle cut jumpsuits, long-line lapelled blazers or loose shirts worn over boyish shorts, full skirts, long shirtdresses, tank tops and loose pants in neutral, earthy tones. Sensuality meets comfort, with no-fuss, but very rich in her minimalism. 

MULTICULTURAL FUSION

This can be Jonny Johansson answer, point of view on that at the end we are all immigrants by putting a collection where there are no ethnic boundaries, no limitations, but a fusion of different cultures and people, translated in simple, oversize shapes,  with rich textures and patterns, like bohemian caftans, patchwork knit-dresses in fabrics reminding Berber blankets, workwear-inspired overalls, loose judo pants and envelope robe coats and bed jackets, not to mention those Jais crystal-studded loafers.

URBAN NOMAD

In an industrial estate, south of London´s Lambert Bridge, was the place where Louise Trotter presented her striking, minimal slash quite avant-garde collection for Joseph. Her woman for the upcoming summer season could be described as a modern, urban nomad, where uniform, utilitarian world meets cultural tribes. Trotter masterfully reinvented those classic pieces, brand staples that everyone know and have, like good tailoring, trenches, great-quality shirting and knitwear, not to mention sportswear elements like tracksuits, by playing with exaggerated volumes and proportions, giving to these sometimes too rigid classics a freshness, a new soul, regardless if it´s about khaki chiffon trenches, wrap skirts, apron dresses, transparent-plastic pieces or parachute-like multi-layering of multi-pieces dressing.

QUITE A STRICT MINIMALISM

The Row sister duo presented their S/S 2017 collection at the brand´s East 71^st Street townhouse with models going up and down the marble staircases. Olsen played quite a strict-minimalism throughout the whole show translated in soft tailoring and some volume, mostly seen in shirtdresses. Even the colour palette was "just" black and/or white and a touch of sand. Actually the total sand-look with an A-line duster is the one composed by the open in back silk apron dress and paired with ankle-length pants, my favourite look.

A TRUE ANTI-CONFORMIST

Models walked round of sinuous glass pavilions created by the artist Dan Graham, showcasing fluid, fresh and soft silhouettes with a touch of urban, mostly in a sharp black and white colour palette and with a sporadic adding of tomato red, soft orange, pink, mint and burgundy. Philo continuously corroborates the well-known fact of a Céline woman, as always being different, eclectic, and unique, a free and individual spirit, and a true anti-conformist. She likes for instance tuck her blazer into leather pants or wearing socks with sandals in two different colours. Even though is more like a runway styling, I wouldn´t be surprised to see a C-woman in real life that way, after all each piece breaths individuality. Don’t ‘you think? Just mind those silk wisps at the end of trousers, crocheted embroidered tops, knotted dresses and coats, the part of a leather skirt used like a corset, the same effect made by parts of jacket that were stitched into another skirt, abstract Yves Klein blue figures prints on white dresses, or those boxy, studded coats, not to mention ladylike bag, oversized shoppers and rigid gusset bags. A nice play of strong contrasts, like between reality and fantasy, soft and strong, classic and contemporary, with art as a primordial ingredient. 

STRAY

The creative/design duo Lemaire-Linh continues with their mostly wide, oversized proportions and timeless day-elegance, but with some quite important changes shown at the end. If Christophe´s eponymous brand was known to be immune to fashion whims by literally avoiding trends and stay on its own, distinctive aesthetic, last few women´s-wear collections showcase some changes, especially evident in this one. The last part of this S/S 2017 collection was abundant of printed tops and dresses, demonstrating their following to the current street fashion obsession. So far I was really fond of every piece, from every collection and always asked myself how much this love and devotion will last. Now I´ve got the answer. Till this collection and thankfully changed just for the women´s-wear, because the men´s one is continuing to go to the same Christophe Lemaire direction. The one that is built with timeless, simple, elegant and comfortable pieces that you can each season add few garments to refresh this way your wardrobe. The one I felt in love from the first moment I saw. Let´s hope that this was just a little "faux pas". Have hopes for winter.

ARCHIVE - HELMUT LANG F/W 1997/1998

The F/W 1997/1998 was Helmut Lang´s last collection presented in Paris, before he relocated the whole company from Vienna to New York in 1998, becoming the first fashion company to make a transcontinental move. The collection itself was not only a return into luxury, by reintroducing fine blended wools, silk and cashmeres, but also a debut of pleated skirts, funnel neck coats, silk-down coated duvet wraps and silk tulle, cummerbunds, marking the brand´s new style with made-to-measure finishes.