What a season for fashion September/October was — the fashion weeks served up SS26 collections like parties thrown by Gods. The stress and expectations were higher than the cocaine levels in London’s water. Let’s dive into what happened after all that feather-shaking, with so many creative directors hopping maisons. Meanwhile, luxury’s desperate to boost its numbers and net new clients like never before.
Dior SS26: Reinventing a Legacy
In record time, JW Anderson delivered his inaugural collection, steeped in Dior’s archives — yet simultaneously redefining Dior. Exactly what the market and the critics were screaming for. Only a truly skilled fashion director could walk that tightrope, resurrect the Dior woman (as many know, she once walked the French Resistance). Sorry, Maria Grazia Chiuri, you don’t make a feminist with a t-shirt.
Chanel by Matthieu Blazy: Roots & Revolution
Grounded in the maison’s archives, yet fully forward-looking, Chanel’s SS26 is bold. Matthieu, unashamed before Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy, went straight to the source, Chanel herself. He crafted a woman in motion, fluid, comfortable in her clothes, ready to conquer everything.
Gucci: When Hype Trumps Design
Oh, Demna … you really believe a marketing campaign and social media blitz can substitute for fashion? Gucci SS26 delivers nothing new or original. Sabato de Sarno could’ve signed every single piece. (Am I the only one who actually liked Sabato?) And even as a marketing coup, on social media, the true victors are Chanel and Dior, by a mile.
Valentino SS26: Glamour Reborn
Alessandro Michele is still Alessandro Michele, wherever he lands. That was the gamble Valentino took — not a designer who’d imitate the brand identity, but one who brings a new audience. Valentino hoped Michele’s fan club would come. That commercial momentum is still pending.
Meanwhile, he unveiled a collection rooted in glamour. The inspiration: a letter by Pier Paolo Pasolini from WWII. From it, he mined Pasolini’s description of fireflies in darkness, a metaphor echoing our times. “We need to disarm the eyes and reawaken the gaze,” he wrote. The audience sat spellbound. Valentino’s romanticism coursed through the pieces, yet over it all, the aura was ’80s glam: iridescent fabrics, power shoulders, jewel tones, sequins, liquid satins, mesmerising.
Balenciaga: From Gimmick to Gravitas
Who could endure another season of Ikea-bag knockoffs priced at €2,000? Pierpaolo Piccioli rescued Balenciaga from a season of gimmicks and gloom. He turned to the founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga, bringing his vision into the present. Not homage, but a recalibration, and it earned a standing ovation.
“Traces of the past are redefined for a future,” the notes read. Shadows of Balenciaga’s shapes echo in today’s vocabulary: bold, disruptive volumes on jackets, chinos, knits, tees; a contemporary lexicon transformed. Cristóbal can finally rest.
Versace by Dario Vitale: A House Reclaimed
For Dario Vitale’s much-anticipated Versace debut, he went back to the roots, “unearthing the foundations” and “connecting with the fundamental essence of the House.” He mined archives but aimed “beyond clothing”, attitude, presence, energy.
Vitale’s Versace is sexy, vibrant, and irreverent. To me, it’s Gianni’s spirit, not Donatella’s echo. Some critics are confused; the proposal is bold. Vitale’s mother collected Versace in the ’80s. So here we are: ’80s glam meets Gen Z edge. Clashing colours, maximal layers, tightly cinched waists. He calls it “profoundly Italian elegance with an outrageous impulse.” Does he steal attention from Miu Miu clientele? I bet he will.
Victoria Beckham: Minimalism with Muscle
Mrs Beckham is a phenomenon. Thought she was just a former pop star? Think again — she’s a first-rate fashion designer. Thought she was already a designer? Think again — she’s a high-powered businesswoman.
Victoria launched her SS26 in Paris at the same venue as in 2022. That 2022 show is now the backdrop of her Netflix docuseries, which dropped three days after the runway. She’s positioning VB as a luxury brand with vast upside: VB Decor or VB Hotels? Why not? Perhaps she’ll fill the void Armani left.
But the heart: her SS26 is stunning and fresh. Minimalism that’s never boring, sexy and luxurious. The feather top sums it all up.
Verdict: Who Won the Battle of Fashion Week SS26
Fashion Week SS26 was less a catwalk and more a chessboard, where creativity and commerce faced off move by move. Some played to win hearts, others to win markets.
Dior came out strongest, proving that pure fashion remains a powerful selling point. JW Anderson’s debut was intelligent, emotional, and perfectly calibrated for a house that had been losing its couture soul to slogans. Chanel followed close behind, Matthieu brought motion, freedom, and that rarest quality in fashion today: joy.
Balenciaga, once the meme of the industry, reclaimed its dignity thanks to Pierpaolo Piccioli’s vision, proof that true design can silence the noise of marketing. Valentino and Versace, both nostalgic and glamorous, reminded us that archives can be engines of reinvention when handled with a contemporary pulse.
Gucci? A marketing win, perhaps, but a creative hangover. And Victoria Beckham? She’s quietly building an empire where elegance meets strategy, and it works.
So, who won? Dior, without a doubt, for giving us what fashion needed most this season: conviction.
Because at the end of the day, likes don’t make legacies; great clothes do.