The Cruise runway shows offer the fashion calendar’s most transporting spectacle: a scattered two-month-long schedule which sees powerhouses like Chanel, Gucci and Dior decamp to a series of exotic, picturesque locales to present their latest Resort collections. Previous locations have spanned Oscar Niemeyer’s Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Niterói in Rio de Janeiro (Louis Vuitton), a Scottish castle (Dior), and the streets of Cuba (Chanel).
This year, Italy has proved to be the destination of choice, with Chanel, Gucci, Max Mara and Dior all showing in locations across the country. Chanel opened proceedings with a waterside show at Lake Como yesterday afternoon (29 April), while Gucci will show in its home city of Florence, Max Mara in Naples, and Dior in Rome (as such, it’ll be a homecoming of sorts for creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, who was born and grew up in the city). Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton will also remain in Europe, with Nicolas Ghesquière showing his latest Cruise collection at the historic Palais de Papes in Avignon, France, the former papal seat.
Here, Wallpaper* picks the best of the Cruise 2026 shows, as they happen.
Chanel, Lake Como
Chanel selected Lake Como in northern Italy, the perennial playground of the rich and famous, for its first Cruise show since the departure of Virginie Viard (next year it will be in the hands of recently appointed creative director Matthieu Blazy, who will host his debut this September at Paris Fashion Week). Unfolding at Villa D’Este – a palatial hotel on the lake’s shores – the en terrace runway show saw the house’s ‘Creation Studio’ channel an insouciant ease befitting the luxurious surrounds. Think: off-duty movie star padding through the hotel’s covered terrace (memorable patrons of Villa D’Este include Elizabeth Taylor and Greta Garbo).
As such, the collection featured silk made-in-Como headscarves, dark sunglasses and a white tweed coat which coyly referenced a hotel robe, while a disco glamour emerged in ruffled pastel-coloured dresses, opera gloves and lamé capes. Elsewhere, typical playful – and no doubt highly collectable – accessories included gelato-tub shaped handbags, chain-handle beach bags and flower-adorned sunhats, no doubt an appeal to the house’s exclusive-hungry customers, many of whom were in attendance. Other guests included Keira Knightley and The White Lotus’ Sarah Catherine Hook (had a previous series not taken place in Italy, Villa D’Este would be a fitting White Lotus backdrop), while Sofia Coppola, who created a short film for the occasion, also watched on from the front row.
Stay tuned for more from the Cruise 2026 season.
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