October 5, 2026 |
Milan, that’s amore, but all roads lead to Paris! We’re heading to France for the grand finale of fashion month, with one last round of shows, collections and fashion-week madness before we call it a wrap. Here’s everything that’s going down at Paris Fashion Week SS27.
KIKO KOSTADINOV
Light, quite literally, took centre stage at Kiko Kostadinov‘s SS27 show. Laura and Deanna Fanning, the brand’s womenswear designers, tapped into Nanda Vigo’s ’60s experiments with light, steel and glass by treating light as a material capable of altering our perception of space. The same thinking extended into the venue, where Vigo’s Due Più chairs and Andromeda and Light-Light pieces became part of the show’s architecture, turning the space into an immersive installation rather than simply a backdrop.
The clothes followed suit. Cotton-yarn dresses flickered between transparent and opaque, while organza slips moved weightlessly. Coats ballooned at the shoulder and swung away from the body, moirè print caught the light, whilst the sharp, geometric knitwear kept everything grounded. The palette stayed cool, with icy blues and tonal whites punctuated by sharp jolts of colour. Even the makeup had a glow to it. Vigo claimed light had the power to carry something into the future. Here, the Fannings gave that idea legs. MC
SACAI
The Art of Wearing One’s Inner World was the title of Chitose Abe’s latest Sacai collection, an “exploration of human complexity” and “continuous personal evolution”. The designer was fascinated by sheer fabrics this time around, particularly how they respond to the body within. Her hybrid creations, at a glance, looked as if they were coated from fur, giant sequins or cable knits, which were actually all trompe l’oeil prints on lightweight fabrics. These came overplayed in sheer bomber jackets and dresses, paired alongside crystal-strewn satin military jackets and sharp suits. The standout looks were two jackets that were reversed so that their complex linings took centre stage. Sometimes it’s what’s on the inside that counts. PT
MUGLER
Miguel Castro Freitas has begun his Mugler tenure by studying the “Glorified Clichés” of the house. The final instalment in his triptych – his first two collections looked to Manfred Thierry Mugler’s fetishisation of military wear and fascination with femme-fatale fierceness – took an animalistic turn. Freitas wanted to reconstruct the “purest beauty of flora and fauna” through the maison’s boundary-pushing lens. Beaded and hairy dresses resembled the hypnotic colours of exotic birds, draped gowns bloomed with delicate florals and sculpted dresses, covered in a python print, had cheeky cut outs at the bum. Unleash the beast, Mugler style. PT
MESSIKA
Messika brought some serious shine to Paris with the unveiling of its newest high jewellery offering, Terres de Contrastes. With a late-night catwalk show featuring the likes of Irina Shayk and Adriana Lima, Valérie Messika proposed a collection inspired by “the lush blues and deep greens of the Okavango Delta, the burning ochres and rich reds of the Kalahari Desert, and the stark mineral whites of the Makgadikgadi Pans, veiled in dusk’s delicate pinks and violets.” There was plenty here to impress an eagle-eyed jewellery fanatic, especially a necklace donned by Shayk that featured the Okavango Blue, the eighth largest blue diamond on earth made from 41.11-carat rough into 20.46 sovereign carats. PT
VALENTINO
There is a particular kind of joy Alessandro Michele seems able to conjure with his designs, and for Valentino‘s SS27 collection, he harnessed it in, of all places, a library. He booked out the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, lit it with strobes and asked us to fall in love with the books we buy but never read, and by extension, the clothes we covet but never wear. Antibiblioteca, he called it, after professor and author Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s lovely notion that the unread volumes on your shelves are the real treasure – a sign of all you have yet to become.
Michele reads fashion the same way. A dress you never wear, he believes, is not a waste but a pure possibility, as precious for the life it lets you imagine as for anything it ever does on the body. And so he sent out a cast of characters drawn from those unopened books, each one longing to go out – a black strapless dress worn with a single red lip, red gowns cut to the sternum, leopard pencil skirts, sequinned blazers crowned with a baseball cap, emerald suiting with great ’80s shoulders, a pink gown trailing a Marilyn Monroe-worthy train of bows. “Even the garments that we will never wear,” Michele wrote, “still speak to us of the lives we could have lived. Not as regrets, but as promises.” You came away wanting to live every one of them. TP
ALAIA
As we patiently wait for the announcement of Alaïa’s next creative director, the house unveiled its winter/summer 27 collection last night in Paris, designed by its atelier team. In this transitional period, the Maison lent into the design lexicons of both Azzedine himself and Pieter Mulier who exited the brand in March.
The show notes described the collection as “dialogues with women”, focusing on clothes that “explore the rapport between skin and cloth”. Dresses traced the contours of the body before falling into asymmetrical knife-pleated hemlines, or came cut in sheer fabrics that migrated into swaths of tulle. Many pieces were crafted from buttery leathers in shades of aubergine and black, like a standout trench coat with a structural, ribbed waistline. These were clothes that celebrated the body that was within them and shaped up to be an elegant stepping stone to the house’s next era. PT
NOIR KEI NINOMIYA
Kei Ninomiya learned his craft at the side of Rei Kawakubo, and his SS27 collection, Petal Rebellion, found her protégé in full, fantastical flight. There was a whiff of wonderland to it – a garden of peaceful resistance in which the flowers had grown teeth. Models came sealed inside towering, bloom-strewn silhouettes that looked less made than grown. Roses were clamped between lips, playing cards reassembled armour, and hundreds of fine wires sprang from each body like the arms of a chandelier, petals shivering at their ends. Here and there a figure disappeared altogether under a shimmer of beads and chains, hair wound upright like something from a storybook.
For all the romance, Ninomiya kept it severe, with the offering presented in uncompromising black and white. He doesn’t just design clothes, he conjures worlds – and this was among his most bewitching. TP
JUNYA WATANABE
What better way to start a Saturday than with Ciara walking a Junya Watanabe? The Noughties pop princess took to the catwalk, baby bump proudly on display, in a catsuit draped with a chandelier style headdress that cascaded down her body. The audience could barely contain their excitement as the likes of her and Paloma Elsesser sauntered to Chaka Khan’s ‘Like Sugar’. It was easily the week’s most joyous show, defined by daring design and feel-good factor.
Each look saw Watanabe build on a catsuit base with metal pailettes, deconstructed lady-like tweeds and leather jackets that were chewed up and spat out in divine concoctions. No one comes close to Watanabe with his pattern cutting wizardry, and this collection saw him have a whole lot of fun when piecing together each ensemble. Some get-ups came draped in dresses made from found metal objects, another was paired with a bra accented with protruding spikes. All seriously eye-catching stuff. PT
Photography by Cris Fragkou
VICTORIA BECKHAM
Shown in the candlelit Gothic hall of the Conciergerie, Victoria Beckham‘s SS27 explored the push and pull between a garment’s structure and the body moving inside it. Fitting, then, that she reached for dance – a language woven into the brand’s DNA, and one she knows from a former life on stage – alongside the clean lines of 1920s portraiture, letting both influences pull her disciplined tailoring loose. Blazers plunged to the navel, trousers pooled on the floor and against all the rigidity came accordion-pleated minidresses edged in lace, bias-cut slips knotted at the hip and sheer columns crusted and beaded with pearls. Even the colours were relaxed, those strict greys warming into chocolate and burgundy. The offering was the Beckham signature with its precise edges softened. TP
ISSEY MIYAKE
Titled Figure of Ma, after the Japanese concept of the space between, Satoshi Kondo’s SS27 collection for Issey Miyake turned that gap into its subject. Held at the Paris Dojo, with Koki Nakano‘s piano rippling live through the room, the show opened with eleven dancers swirling beneath an enormous sheet of pale cloth. Vast, parachute-light hooded capes and colour-blocked pleats in electric cobalt and acid yellow were set against rigid cast bodices that embodied the wearer’s torso.
In Kondo’s hands, raincoats, shirting and column dresses were built up through pleating and draping, drawn straight from the archive. The best bits came in the detail – a honey-toned sheer trench you could see straight through, a lilac pleated dress scrunched tight at the waist, or a charcoal coat so inflated it swallowed its wearer whole. TP
RICK OWENS
Fog swallowed the Palais de Tokyo on Thursday evening, and out of it came Rick Owens’ tribe: eyes ringed red, lashes spiked pink, faces half-hidden behind silver shield visors. Three decades on, the man who coined “glunge” still makes glamour out of gloom better than anyone. His latest collection was called Stone – which he says was partly inspired by the “all-to-common stone throwing, which I have made my life’s modest mission to oppose”.
The palette was made up of earth and chalky tones – ivory, bone and washed grey – and the shapes were pure Rick. His signature sharp shoulders migrated upwards into collars that climbed above the ears, while the Old Hollywood drape he has always loved fell into gowns as pale as candle wax. Hems frayed, trousers pooled and one cape dragged across the steel grating behind its wearer. The collection’s showstoppers were made from a heavy duty nylon webbing that is usually used to transport shipping crates. In Owens’ hands, they became a thing of beauty. TP
Photography by Cris Fragkou
BALENCIAGA
With Fugees’ seminal hit Ready or Not pumping through the speakers, Pierpaolo Piccioli continued to define his vision for Balenciaga. Not only did he flex his muscles has one of fashion’s greatest colourists – this collection was littered with gorgeous oranges, hot pinks and cornflower blues – but the designer found elegant ways to connect Balenciaga’s couture beginnings with looks that felt distinctly now. In Piccioli’s hands, everyday staples like jeans, cargos, trench coats and bombers are elevated through cutting techniques pulled directly from couture. There was plenty to marvel at here. Like calais lace frocks with sensual cut outs, leather blousons with pronounced collars or shirts with built-in corset detailing. PT
August Barron
August Barron’s latest outing looked to Hollywood’s hunger for fame through the worlds of Boogie Nights, Sunset Boulevard and All That Jazz. You’ll find this collection between an Old Hollywood Starlet and a San Fernando Valley hopeful. Each look followed the feverish pursuit of stardom in all its excess, vulnerability, and ambition. The famous Marilyn Monroe’s pleated white dress got a new outing, while crystal-encrusted slip dresses, undone bustiers and Playboy bunny suits played with the art of getting into character. Foulards took flight, as if cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway, beside star-studded 1970s satin gowns and sportswear that peeked out from beneath bomber jackets. A mix of oranges and punchy purples, rich jewel tones and faded pastels, the collection was full of showgirl flair, with tiara-adorned sandals and rhinestone-covered platforms ready for their own moment in the spotlight. MC
Dries Van Noten
What a joy it is to see Julian Klausner totally nail it at Dries Van Noten. He might be only a few seasons in to his tenure, after taking the reins of the namesake label from its Belgian founder in 2024. but he is totally across the pillars of the brand. This collection was a feast of clashing textures, prints and colours. The designer was led by intuition when building his eclectic looks. He was thinking about universal “signs of glamour”, bulldozed into one another in get-ups that fused embellishment, chunky stripes, lady-like skirts and dresses and flashes of vivid pinks and greens. The moments that shone the most were coats, skirts and dresses that looked as if they were printed with old film posters. They make for the sort of pieces that’ll instantly take a starring role in your wardrobe. PT
Acne Studios
Denim is the most democratic thing anyone owns, which is precisely why Jonny Johansson wanted to dress it up. Denim Hystoria, his SS27 womenswear for Acne Studios, put jeans in conversation with the costume of centuries past – then scuffed, singed and tore at both until history and the everyday had worn each other down.
It began with feverish screams and a Faig Ahmed backdrop of carpets that seemed to be melting. Johansson, who has never met a grand gesture he didn’t like, gave us a showstopper. Denim carried fragments of torn Renaissance paintings, or was lacquered until its flowers hardened into porcelain. A pea coat lost its length, a morning coat arrived singed at the edges, and britches became butter-yellow leather capris – while a grand brocade skirt was brought down to earth by a plain polo knit. None of it tipped into fancy dress, and that is the Johansson trick: he plays without ever pretending.TP
Vaquera
The Vaquera twosome know how to put on a show. Designers Bryn Taubensee and Patric DiCaprio not only sent out a stellar collection that riffed on 1920s and ‘30s garb with a wink and a nudge, but the pair sang a rendition of Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe as their models walked the finale. The brand has a dedicated fanbase amongst the fash pack who will undoubtedly be thrilled with this season’s best bits. These included military shirts paired with drop-waist skirts, polo tops accented with big bows and fishtail gowns drenched in highlighter neons. Too fab. PT
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney has always worn her conscience on her sleeve, and for SS27 she pinned it to the ocean floor. In the rain-soaked gardens of the Hôtel de Charost – the Paris residence of the British ambassador, Sir Thomas Drew – she argued once again that beauty and ethics need not be strangers, every stitch cut from responsible cloth, from recycled denim to gossamer organic organza.
Savile Row tailoring drawstringed at the waist, long-sleeved swimsuits masquerading as eveningwear, oyster-shell knitwear held in shape by invisible fish wire. Dolphins drifted across denim, orcas across jersey, hems curling into little Hokusai waves, all in the seafoam, coral and chocolate of a coastline. Oceanographer Sylvia Earle set it up, in a video sent with the invitations; the front row drew Jennifer Lopez and Juliette Binoche. Desirable, certainly – but persuasive too: proof that, a quarter-century in, McCartney’s mission has lost none of its force. TP
Balmain
Antonin Tron wants to get pulses racing with his vision for Balmain. His second outing for the house was littered with python print shirts with big shoulders, leopard print tank tops with necklines that scooped down the chest and bodycon party dresses. Monsieur Balmain’s penchant for “extravagant animalia prints” wasn’t the only big focus here. Tron was fascinated by the draping of the founder’s couture silhouettes as well as radical thinkers who populated California through the ‘60s and ‘70s – from Walter De Maria to Joan Didion,. And so he described his sensual evening wear, where prints migrated into body-hugging creases and folds, as a “Los Angeles fever dream” – laced with a rush of hedonism. We’re intrigued to see what adventures his Balmain woman goes on next. PT
Courrèges
Courrèges has got a new look! As one of only two debuts this season – Kai Nesselrath will unveil his first Carven collection Thursday – Drew Henry ushered in a new era for the maison in glorious colour. The future-facing club wear of his predecessor, Nicolas Di Felice, who led the brand’s revival for the last five years, was sidelined for an eclectic wardrobe drenched in gorgeous hues. Hazard orange coat-dresses, cropped navy jumpers, lime green woollen dresses for boys. It had all the joy of the brand’s ’60s heyday, now with modern flair. PT
Maison Margiela
Fresh from his Diesel swan song show in Milan, Glenn Martens presented his latest Margiela collection against a wall of dead flowers. It was a homage to fellow Belgian Raf Simons’s Dior couture debut in 2012, “as if the flowers have undergone the effects of time”, read the show notes. Martens, through his technical wizardry, is driven to subvert age-old couture techniques for a new era. Here he collided both the tailoring and flou arms of the house where moments of structure and draping both existed in each look. Like elegant frocks held together with solid bodices, or trench coats with scooped, lady-like necklines.
Never mind flower power, this collection was a total floral head fuck, chockfull of kitschy, ‘60s wallpaper-style prints. The strongest appeared across dresses that appeared as if they’d had their seams picked open and their lining pulled over the torso, coated in a glossy texture that gave these looks serious shine. Paul Toner
Matières Fécales
For SS27, Matières Fécales did the unthinkable and turned Place de la République into a runway – it is said to be the first fashion show ever held on the communal square. Ninety-nine models, every one a person of colour, walked three chapters titled Family, Tribe and Gods, as design duo Steven Raj Bhaskaran and Hannah Rose Dalton wove the setting into the story.
With Rihanna, Rick Owens, Michèle Lamy, Daphne Guinness and Gigi Goode looking on, a procession of white opened proceedings – wrapped draping, sculpted tailoring, cross-marked kurtas and modest headscarves pulled from Bhaskaran’s multi-faith childhood – before the first act closed, disarmingly, on the designer beside his mother, sister and niece. Then came the punk and protest scenes that raised him: distressed leather, military tulle, unravelled knits and metal spikes, offset by the irreverence of Christian Louboutin‘s curved flip-flop heels and a French tricolore reading “Resist”. The frame kept widening, and by the final act, handwoven Burkina Faso cotton and embroidered Varanasi silks (the Indian textiles used for saris) had swelled into grand evening wear, with one gown constructed from 300 metres of tulle.
For the finale, hyper-real statues of blindfolded billionaires were carried around the plinth – a pointed echo of last season’s The One Percent collection. It was an enormous, occasionally chaotic production, but its most affecting moments were its most personal. TP
Photography by Cris Fragkou
Hodakova
This SS27, Ellen Hodakova Larsson took her practice to sea, looking to sailing, marine tackle and the battered beauty of materials shaped by time. The collection moved through waxed cloth, sails, fishing net and rope, transforming utilitarian remnants into dresses, tailoring and sculptural layers. There was plenty of transparency too, with wet-look pieces revealing the body underneath, while leftover leather was painstakingly worked into a crocodile-like finish. On the runway, sea salt underfoot sharpened the collection’s aquatic mood. Even the beauty played with illusion, with painted eyes appearing on closed lids. As ever with Hodakova, the clothes found new purpose in what already existed, but this season pushed that instinct into more elemental territory: salt-stung, slightly strange and beautifully undone. It made old materials feel newly seductive, without sanding away their history. Talia Panayi
Julie Kegels
Julie Kegel’s SS27 begins with an unlikely starting point: an apple. To be more specific, the Jonagold apple, one she eats every evening before going to bed, and the apple that famously fell on Isaac Newton’s head. From there, Apple of the Day becomes a collection that explores the duality of light and heavy and a study of the ways things fall.
Kegels’ idea of gravity isn’t as simple as something being weighed down; instead, she considers it a force. It’s almost mystical, keeping us grounded and giving weight to things that matter. It’s a thought ripples through the garments – each one pulled earthward.
Leggings and low-slung nylon tights hang unusually low, beneath the crotch, giving familiar silhouettes an off-kilter quality. Other materials like denim, jersey and suiting follow the same downward pull –shoulders appearing to slip from their intended position. Elsewhere, dainty sequin bras are reduced to their bare-bones outline, over skintight bodysuits and jersey tops, reminiscent of fragments left behind.
The palette of the collection is similarly grounded. Nude tones and soft beiges sit beside chocolate brown, white, black, sherbet pinks and muted greys. Softness runs through the collection, even when the clothes are deliberately made to look as though they are sagging and falling. Then there was the Edelweiss embroidery. Its flowers designed to look pulled towards the ground, weighing dresses down at the hem. The apple might’ve been the simplest idea in the collection, but it gave everything else a place to fall. Mateo Carmona
Top image: photography courtesy of Valentino.
