Courrèges’ Weather Warning
Anders Christian Madsen reviews the Courrèges Spring/Summer 2026 collection by Nicolas di Felice.
The invitation to the Courrèges show came in a white box with a pair of black, futuristic sunglasses inside. Those who brought them to the show – staged in a brightly lit circular white structure erected within Le Carreau du Temple – were wise. The upbeat soundtrack came with a voice announcing a constantly changing weather forecast: “It’s twenty-two degrees. The sun is rising. It’s twenty-three degrees. The sun is rising,” and so on. Eventually, it spiraled: “It’s thirty degrees in Paris. The sun is shining.” The lights were turned up, illuminating the set with blinding effect, prompting guests to put on their new Courrèges sunglasses.
It was a clever marketing stunt, and in these times of climate change also kind of alarming; no doubt intentionally on Nicolas di Felice’s part. The score also came with some unnerving background vocals of what sounded like people screaming. “Initially, I started with the soundtrack. The degrees were getting higher and higher, with a silhouette in cold blue colors that gradually became more and more loose and comfortable, which is something André was thinking about a lot: to give comfort to people,” di Felice said, referring to the house’s founder. “Towards the end, the colors become warmer and warmer.”
Backed up by the unsettling soundtrack, his storytelling played out in miniskirt silhouettes with tops that evolved from quarantine-like veils over caps to tops that resembled swimwear and jackets, dresses and evening gowns that were cut away from the body. That is, they looked as if the wearer had tried to break out of them to escape the heat, or as if parts of them had faded away under the scorching sun. “If I had to give a name to this collection, it would be Blinded by the Sun. I always start my collections with a feeling and the sentiment of being blinded by something – when you don’t know what’s true or fake, and you’re overwhelmed – was inspiring enough to start a collection,” di Felice said.
Courrèges
He cemented that feeling of uncertainty in dresses constructed post-apocalyptically from strands of rubber bands, followed by a series of dresses made from the curved rectangular sun shields you place in car windows. Covering half of the models’ faces, they underscored the quarantine vibe. “What I love about them is that they’re really Courrèges in shape,” the designer said. “I thought it was quite fun to experiment with.”
Despite the collection’s bright energy and eccentric constructions – and di Felice’s pragmatic descriptions of it – there was something menacing about the show. It may have been one of the only activist messages we’ve experienced on the runways this season. These days, it’s rare to see a fashion show that makes you uncomfortable, but whether it’s climate-related or otherwise political, we need that confrontation now more than ever. Hats – or make that veils – off to di Felice for breaking fashion’s eerie silence.
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