As the big luxury houses ushered in a new generation of creative directors, the spring/summer 26 collections were framed as a competitive reboot. EE72 Fashion Critic, Anders Christian Madsen looks at the season’s winning debuts, while supermodel Natasha Poly brings the clothes to life.
With new creative directors entering a number of fashion’s greatest powerhouses, the media hyped up the spring/summer 2026 shows and their incoming designers like they were gladiatorial matches in the arenas of Milan and Paris. Who would be more creative? Who would do a better job at balancing heritage and innovation? Who would win and who would lose? Some outlets even made scorecards. Dior’s debuting designer Jonathan Anderson captured the daunting feeling in a short film directed by Adam Curtis, which screened before the show. Opening with the written words “Do you dare enter the house of Dior?” It mixed clips from black-and-white suspense movies with archival footage of the epic eras and designer legends of Dior.
NATASHA WEARS WOOL AND SILK JACKET, DENIM SKIRT, AND TWILL SHOES, ALL BY DIOR
We don’t live in a clone zone. I want different women to engage with this brand.
JONATHAN ANDERSON
Of course, creativity can’t and shouldn’t be tallied up in points – nor hype. it’s almost impossible to create the evolutionary clothes quakes some were expecting, especially in a first collection. As the shows progressed, you heard the same question asked around the fashion capitals again and again: “Which debut has been your favorite?” Every answer was different, reflecting the culture of choice that defines fashion today. At Dior, Anderson also reflected that within his collection. “We don’t live in a clone zone. I want different women to engage with this brand. You can go here, here, or here,” he said backstage, gesturing at the different energies represented by the looks in his lineup.
There were pretty princess floral dresses (some with fairly avant-garde triangular crinolines), arts-and-crafty braided skirts, shrunken Bar suits, and normcore chino-and-polo compositions: a something-for-everyone approach that felt like a confrontational representation of the way we now consume fashion. The same mentality structured a number of the designer debuts at the big houses. At Chanel, the ceiling at the Grand Palais was bejeweled with large planets, serving as a metaphor for the universal awareness of the brand and its household codes. Matthieu Blazy reinterpreted this cultural tapestry as if he’d seen it through the eyes of another dimension. Everything felt new yet recognizable. “[Chanel] has no time or space; this is an idea of freedom,” he said.
Chanel has no time or space; this is an idea of freedom…
MATTHIEU BLAZY, Chanel
NATASHA WEARS BROADCLOTH JACKET AND MATCHING PANTS, LEATHER SHOES, METAL EARRINGS AND LEATHER AND METAL BELT, ALL CHANEL
The show opened with pantsuits cut in heritage menswear fabrics, segued into skirt suits worn as if coolly thrown-on, and ended in frothy feather ball skirts paired with T-shirts. A similar sense of choice was present at Balenciaga, where Pierpaolo Piccioli made the (in fashion) controversial choice of embracing the trademarks not just of the founder but all his predecessors at the house. “If you’re stuck in one silhouette, it’s not Balenciaga,” he said. “I feel that this stupid thing to deny what’s been before is so disrespectful and also not good for you. Embracing the past is part of the present, in order to build a future.” Piccioli showcased his philosophy in a collection that unified the couture volumes of Cristóbal Balenciaga with T-shirt dresses, baggy flared jeans, and sci-fi masks.
If you’re stuck in one silhouette, it’s not Balenciaga. I feel that this stupid thing to deny what’s been before is so disrespectful and also not good for you. Embracing the past is part of the present, in order to build a future.
PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI, balenciaga
NATASHA WEARS LEATHER TOP,COTTON-TWILL SHORTS, VELVET SANDALS,LEATHER GLOVES, AND LEATHER BAG,ALL BALENCIAGA
With his head-start debut show in July, Michael Rider had already illustrated a like-minded ideology at Celine, fusing his own vision of bourgeois prep with the house’s heritage and the codes put into the house by Phoebe Philo and Hedi Slimane. His show in October was a demonstration of the endurance he plans to practice going forward. “There’s continuity in the brand, and I don’t think we’ll ever be one to jump from concept to concept. And the concept is: you may not be the person wearing the strangest thing—that you may throw away—but you’ll have the best coat and the confidence to wear it,” Rider said. “You can make something that lasts that’s full of attitude.”
You can make something that lasts that’s full of attitude.
MICHAEL RIDER, celine
NATASHA WEARS LEATHER TOP,COTTON-TWILL SHORTS, VELVET SANDALS,LEATHER GLOVES, AND LEATHER BAG,ALL BALENCIAGA
Our task is to carry this spirit forward, interpreting it through our own distinct lens. How might craft be redefined today?
JACK MCCOLLOUGH AND LAZARO HERNANDEZ, loewe
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez defined Loewe through its craftsmanship and Spanish identity. “Our task is to carry this spirit forward, interpreting it through our own distinct lens. How might craft be redefined today?” Evolving the artsy atmosphere that their predecessor Jonathan Anderson instilled in the house, they injected said spirit into sportswear staples and experimental proportions, producing an expression that also gave their former brand Proenza Schouler new life through Loewe.
PVC SHOES, LOEWE
NATASHA WEARS LEATHER DRESS AND PVC SHOES, BOTH LOEWE
That sentiment echoed in Louise Trotter’s debut at Bottega Veneta, which continued the hyper-textural tactility left at the house by Matthieu Blazy but augmented it through Trotter’s own voluminous sculpting. “I wanted to talk about Bottega Veneta as a living person and the journey that the house had been through. There is also a little accent of my own journey,” she said.
I wanted to talk about Bottega Veneta as a living person and the journey that the house had been through. There is also a little accent of my own journey.
LOUISE TROTTER, BOTTEGA VENETA
NATASHA WEARS SILK-TAFFETA DRESS, LEATHER SLIPPERS, AND ACETATE SUNGLASSES, ALL BOTTEGA VENETA
LEATHER BAG, BOTTEGA VENETA
At classic houses like Chanel and Dior, designers are hired to invigorate and evolve heritage codes. In the case of younger brands, whose codes can feel as relevant now as when they were created, the nature of that assignment is different. At Maison Margiela, Glenn Martens re-evoked the archives of Martin Margiela in a collection that remixed some of the founder’s most recognizable work: lapel-less leather coats and blazers, apron-like structures and skirts, reconstructed denim pieces, taped-up crinkled slip dresses, collaged floral dresses, and garments encased in plastic and tape. For Simone Bellotti, evoking Jil Sander’s minimalist magic was all about feeling. “It’s a brand that you need to learn,” he said. “Finding the balance between structure and tailoring and classicism; modernity and lightness; trying to reveal the body in a subtle way.”
Jil Sander is a brand that you need to learn. Finding the balance between structure and tailoring and classicism; modernity and lightness; trying to reveal the body in a subtle way.
SIMONE BELLOTTI, JIL SANDER
NATASHA WEARS WOOL JACKET AND MATCHING PANTS, LYCRA BODYSUIT AND LEATHER SHOES, ALL MAISON MARGIELA
NATASHA WEARS WOOL JACKET AND LYCRA BODYSUIT, ALL MAISON MARGIEL
NATASHA WEARS COTTON SHIRT, POLYESTER BIB (WORN UNDERNEATH), ALL JIL SANDER
NATASHA WEARS COTTON SHIRT, POLYESTER BIB (WORN UNDERNEATH), WOOL SKIRT AND LEATHER SHOES, ALL JIL SANDER
In the post-digital fashion age, big-house designer debuts have become a kind of championship for people who, ironically, aren’t known for their love of sports. But making creatives go head-to-head on ideas or their immediate ability to reinvigorate a house’s heritage goes against the nature of creativity itself. Those anticipations were no doubt why Demna kicked off his Gucci tenure with a palate cleanser. Accompanied by a film, it came in the form of a look book capturing the house’s codes on 37 Italian archetypes seen through his own anthropological lens. “I shaped the collection by imagining a constellation of characters, asking myself what Gucci means to me, from its archive to the many identities it embodies,” Demna said. The debut calmly dealt with the expectations of the industry while clearing the path for his first spin on the Gucci runway.
I shaped the collection by imagining a constellation of characters, asking myself what Gucci means to me, from its archive to the many identities it embodies.
DEMNA, GUCCI
LEATHER BAG, GUCCI
NATASHA WEARS SILK-TWILL SHIRT, COTTON-CANVAS SKIRT, COTTON AND LEATHER BAG, AND MATCHING BOOTS, ALL GUCCI
Photography ALEC MAXWELL
Styling ENIOLA DARE
Hair DAVID HARBOROW
Makeup LAURA DOMINIQUE
Nails MICHELLE CLASS
Casting PIERGIORGIO DEL MORO for DM Casting
Production TOMASINA LEBUS-PRICE AND TOM HARDERN
Digitech ALJAŽ HABJAN
Styling assistant JUSTINE DOMEJEAN
Hair assistant TOM ARNETT
Casting assistant JULIUN WILLIAMS
Production assistant ELISE SMALL
Lighting tech LUKE REGAN
Lighting assistant MATT DAVIES
Retouch SIMON INGS AT COCOON CREATIVE
Location YOU STUDIO, LONDON
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