Fashion has forever been a fun-house mirror of the world, exaggerating certain aspects of the zeitgeist rather than reflecting them exactly—it’s always been about the vibes. What resonated for fall was a kind of short-term thinking, pragmatic and people-pleasing, that suits a time of instability. The future is a great unknown but getting dressed every morning is something that brings purpose, comfort, and joy.
At Prada, 15 models wore four multi-layered looks each, peeling a layer off after every exit; and a ticking clock soundtracked Nicolas Di Felice’s investigation of “24 hours in the life of a Courrèges woman.” Designers translated the step-by-step approach to progress into a piece-by-piece, separates solution to dressing. (Essentially the American sportswear idea.)
Rather than focus on story telling, creative directors were engaged in problem solving. The plethora of good-looking coats, many in shearling, addressed a specific issue: cold temps and inclement weather. And while the media addressed communal desires for sex and romance with Heated Rivalry, “Wuthering Heights,” and Love Story, designers did so with body-con, peek-a-boo dressing, and frothy, historically-inflected fashions. A sense of things coming undone was conveyed by slashed and torn garments.
More wholesome, and a welcome respite from a sea of black and white, was the colorblocking trend, rendered in pop and muddy colors. Craft came to the fore as designers artfully obsessed over quotidian objects like subway tickets, buttons, ribbons, and puzzle pieces that they unexpectedly magicked into garments. Sartorial power plays took the form of classic menswear staples—the button-down-shirt and the tuxedo—updated and adapted for women.
Beyond the strapping shoulders of Saint Laurent’s le Smokings, a feeling of smallness prevailed this season. And it wasn’t just about Ozempic. So much feels out of one’s control in a world in chaos. No wonder Miuccia Prada decided to focus on form at Miu Miu, saying: “That you have your body and mind should be enough.”
Sex (or the Idea of It) Sells
Call it wish fulfillment in a time of what The Atlantic has called a “sex recession,” the body centered many fall 2026 collectsions, whether it was Gucci’s “walk of shame” show or the more subtle innuendo of Alaïa and Tom Ford.
Let It Rip
The Lucio Fontana–like slashes that Jil Sander’s Simone Bellotti introduced for spring returned for fall. Elegant slits morphed into jagged tears that hinted at decay (at Prada) or the long lost days of punk (at Ottolinger). We saw slashed Renaissance garments and sexy skin reveals of a ’90s vintage, too.
Warm Fronts
The return of winter, marked by snowpocalypses and negative temps, created both a need and desire for snug and stylish outerwear. Many designers turned to shearling as the perfect alternative to full-on faux or hard-working parkas. Most coats came with face-framing collars—the bigger the better. All the better to heat you with, my dears.
Isn’t It Romantic?
“Wuthering Heights” was on everyone’s lips at the kick-off of the season, so it’s no surprise that bustles and trains were big news on the runways. Poetcore, expressed via lace-trimmed cuffs and the Brummelian cravats popularized by Dior Men, added lyricism to the proceedings.
Shrink Wrapped
Shrinkmaxxing was very much in evidence in the fall collectsions. At Jean Paul Gaultier and Balenciaga, garments were cut to push the shoulders forward, creating an almost hunched posture. Elsewhere models clasped their clothing close to their bodies, perhaps in reaction to the raging chaos in the wider world. “Keep small and carry on” might be a motto for fall 2026.
The Ghost in You
A soignée game of peek-a-boo was played with plastic at Tom Ford and Adam Lippes, while Caroline Hu and Ann Sophie Madsen embedded roses and jewels, respectively, in mesh.
Shirt Tales
The button-down shirt is anything but a sartorial tabula rasa, given its associations to class (white vs. blue collar), gender, and sex. When women entered the work force, they took up this symbol of corporate power, but borrowed-from-the-boys has a steamier connotation when the shirt was worn, as a morning-after look, à la Holly Golightly.
Decade-Hopping Dropped-Waists
As Coco Chanel owned the Jazz Age look, drop-waisted looks are part of Matthieu Blazy’s Chanelaissance. Following the centenary of Art Deco in 2025, flapper influences were present in the new collectsions, but they weren’t designers’ only reference. Waistlines also dropped in the mini-skirted ’60s and the pouf-loving ’80s.
Multiplication Tables
Andy Warhol once asked, “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” Designers latched onto the Pop artist’s love of the ordinary and use of repetition, exposing their savoir-faire in the process. Courrèges’s Nicolas Di Felice made garments out of thousands of Paris Métro tickets and Marine Serre puzzled the Mona Lisa into a dress.
Smoking Hot
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent’s revolutionary smoking ensemble. “I was deeply struck by a photograph of Marlene Dietrich wearing men’s clothes,” the designer said in a 1980 Vogue interview about his take on the tuxedo. “A woman dressed as a man must be at the height of her femininity to fight against a costume that isn’t hers.” NB: Shirts are now optional.
True Colors
The mood-lifting, color-blocking trend we saw everywhere from Lii in New York to Celine in Paris definitely has legs off the runway—see Oscar winner Jessie Buckley’s Oscar’s dress in her two-tone Chanel gown.
