Haute Couture Week, which represents the lofty pinnacle of the fashion calendar, has had an injection of energy in recent seasons: in January, Matthieu Blazy and Jonathan Anderson made their debuts in the medium at Chanel and Dior, respectively. Joining them for A/W 2026 were Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, and Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier, who both presented opening haute couture acts at their respective houses this past week. Both were vivid, contemporary riffs on the historic art – haute couture requires garments to be made by hand to the specific contours of a client’s body, taking thousands of hours of handcraft – with bold silhouettes, architectural construction, and, in the case of Piccioli, a liberated use of colour.
Here, reported from Paris, Wallpaper* breaks down the shows that defined Haute Couture Week A/W 2026 – from Blazy’s couture fairytale at Chanel to Anderson’s Lynda Benglis-inspired outing at Dior, as well as a brilliant Paris debut from London-based label Standing Ground.
Dior
For his second haute couture collection for Dior, Jonathan Anderson looked towards the American sculptor Lynda Benglis for inspiration. Particularly, her process of ‘knotting, pleating and moulding’, which here inspired the collection’s free-flowing, abstract silhouettes – from molten plissé gowns and metallic hats, to collaged skirts which referenced Benglis’ Georgia on My Mind (the 2018 work saw her cast glitter paper over chicken wire structures). Another reference was her Zanzidae: Peacock series, which was inspired by the birds she witnessed while staying at the Sarabhai family estate in Ahmedabad, India during the 1970s (she would return to the Gujarat city throughout her career). Recalling ceremonial fans, the vibrant works were reimagined on crumpled silk gowns, adorned with appliqué flowers and beads.
READ: At Dior Couture, Jonathan Anderson makes artist Lynda Benglis his muse
Schiaparelli
Daniel Roseberry’s haute couture collections have become incubators for the American designer’s more outlandish ideas, from robot babies to gowns adorned with enormous lion’s heads (memorably worn the next season by Kylie Jenner to watch from the front row). His A/W 2026 collection, shown at Paris’ Petit Palais, had begun with a trip to Barcelona to see the buildings of Gaudí, and, though there was certainly an influence from the Spanish architect’s surreal forms – as well as a vivid use of colour, more distinct than in recent seasons – Roseberry said that he was reticent to constrain the collection to prescriptive themes.
Instead, he found his creative stride when entering what he calls ‘the void’ – a space of unrestrained creativity and experimentation – prompting a journey which seemed to take him to the depths of the Mariana Trench, or the undiscovered realms of outer space. As such, the invitation was a tentacle, cast on metal; in the collection, the tentacle motif informed a latex jacket with protruding antennae, while frilled, spiked and heavily beaded surface details recalled the alien sea creatures that reside at the ocean’s darkest depths. And, just as those cast their own glow, some looks were installed with in-built lighting systems, the kind of fantastical, imaginative sleights of hand that continue to enchant the house’s dedicated haute couture clientele.
Chanel
Matthieu Blazy’s sophomore Chanel couture collection began with the discovery of a book of fairytales in the library of house founder Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. The leatherbound volume accessorised the collection’s first look, held in the model’s hand, used by Blazy as a jumping-off point for pieces which referenced childhood fairy tales – from Puss in Boots to Jack and the Beanstalk (indeed, the Grand Palais show space had been invaded by enormous growing vines and flowers, as well as mirrors and vases sized up for a giant).
True to his vision for Chanel – one of wit and whimsy – pieces were embedded with fantastical details, from buttons that went from ugly duckling to swan to pumps with a golden egg for a heel, while lightness was evoked in ethereal layers of organza, mousseline and guipure lace (a riff on the house’s signature tweed suit, for example, was reimagined in sheer mousseline). However, Blazy said it was not just pure fantasy: a series of sleeker looks, in black, provided a more grounded counterpoint. ‘Gabrielle Chanel climbed the ladder to find her golden goose by making clothes for real women. Her clothes were never parodies. They were rooted in life,’ he said. ‘Chanel couture is not just about the big “wow”. Chanel couture is about the details.’
READ: Matthieu Blazy conjures a haute couture fairy tale at Chanel
Giorgio Armani Privé
Silvana Armani, in her second Armani Privé outing for the house – she took over the house’s haute couture line from her late uncle, Giorgio Armani, in 2026 – sought a mood of evening-time sensuality with a collection titled ‘Boudoir’. Rendered largely in tones of inky blue and midnight black, with the occasional interlude of leopard print, the collection riffed on the fluid Armani silhouette in seductive style: masculine tailoring came in satin and was decorated with gleaming shards of embellishment, while gowns came in liquid organza (an Armani Privé signature) or dramatic plumes of feathers, carefully stitched onto sheer bodysuits in a feat of handcraft. Silvana Armani said she was imagining the ‘boudoir as an intimate, deeply personal space’, one of personal rituals and pleasures. With it, she captured the essence of haute couture, which in its focus on tailoring designs to individual clients’ bodies, is an intimate ritual of its own.
Standing Ground
Michael Stewart of London-based label Standing Ground operates on his own schedule; last showing at London Fashion Week in 2024, he has since worked directly with clients who purchase the elongated, body-contouring gowns – part Azzedine Alaïa, part Alien – for which he is best known. This season, he chose to show as part of Haute Couture Week, presenting an A/W 2026 collection at the Irish Embassy on Avenue Foch in the 16th arrondissement. It felt like a fitting shift: Stewart is known for meticulous handcraft and works with private clients rather than wholesale retailers.
It made one of the season’s standout collections: the salon-style format left guests just centimetres from his exacting creations, which evolved a signature aesthetic originally drawn from the regal proportions of the standing stones of his native Ireland. Sculpted high-neck jackets were installed with channels of hand-fed beads under their surface (a signature technique, also used on the collection’s gowns), while draped gowns in velvet and satin saw Stewart experiment with a freer silhouette. One addition to the team was legendary corset-maker Me Pearl – known for his work with John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood – who added further rigour to Stewart’s already immaculate silhouettes.
Jean Paul Gaultier
The Dutch designer Duran Lantink is known for his surreal forms, which transform and manipulate the shape of the body in oftentimes provocative ways. And, while his debut collection as creative director Jean Paul Gaultier prompted heated online debate – particularly bodysuits printed with naked bodies, or the padded appendages which shot out from models’ breasts – his sophomore ready-to-wear collection, inspired by the severe uniform of Greta Garbo, showed his eye for truly inventive tailoring, and situated him as a fitting heir for fashion’s enfant terrible.
His debut couture collection for the house, presented at the Jean Paul Gaultier headquarters, continued this vision with a series of architecturally impressive pieces that drew on the Gaultier archive in surreal style. Panniered dresses shot out streams of tulle; sculpted body suits distorted the body, as if being viewed in a funhouse mirror; while twisting gowns appeared to have been crafted from the twisting necks of flamingos (one inspiration was the surrealistic costumes Gaultier created for Le Défilé, Régine Chopinot’s 1985 ballet). ‘It’s [a house] so built of freedom and playfulness,’ said Lantink. ‘I think Jean Paul is really interested in letting me be free to do my own take on the amazing history of the house.’
Balenciaga
Pierpaolo Piccioli has more than proved his mettle in the art of haute couture: his couture collections for Valentino are some of the most celebrated in recent times, recognisable for a liberated use of colour and abundant use of fabric. With his new role at Balenciaga, he drew on a similar spirit, presenting a series of vivid silhouettes in the grounds of Université Paris Cité in the blazing midday sunshine (such was the brightness of the scene, guests were told to ‘bring sunglasses’). Drawing on several of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s best-known gowns, what is striking about Piccioli’s haute couture is that despite the several thousand hours of handwork and oftentimes vivid embellishment that go into each piece, it feels entirely effortless – and thus, modern.