The best of Paris Fashion Week A/W 2026: live from the Wallpaper* editors

Michael Rider refines his vision at Celine

Presented this afternoon in a sunlit white space at Paris’ Institut de France – dotted with a series of modernist speakers – Michael Rider continued to hone his vision for Celine with a breezy A/W 2026 collection for men and women.

Building on the wardrobe of refined, uptown-inflected essentials he has established so far at the house, the collection also featured bolder flourishes – from vivid moments of colour to animal prints, metallic fabrics and giant sequins. Silk also featured, lending the collection an easy, fluid line, while accessories were typically desirable – from miniature accordion handbags to plimsols.

Marking his sophomore on-schedule Paris Fashion Week show, Rider joins a number of designers in the nascent stages of their tenure – earlier this week, Jonathan Anderson showed his second womenswear show for Dior; tomorrow, it will be the turn of Matthieu Blazy at Chanel. Jack Moss

Victoria Beckham offers a ‘sense of dimension’ for A/W 2026

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Last night, Victoria Beckham took us to the southernmost of Paris’s arrondissements, to present her A/W 2026 collection at Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, a residential complex which hosts around 6,000 of the French capital’s student population. The foundation was conceived in the 1920s – the same period in which Beckham’s seasonal muse, the painter Tamara de Lempicka was reaching her creative heights.

De Lempicka’s portraits of modern women through the Machine Age offer much in the way of inspiration, sartorially speaking. Her statuesque subjects wear marvellous folds of fabric, rendered through bold, geometric planes of colour, close to the face. Beckham played upon this geometry with a collection which focused heavily on tailoring, or ‘anatomy-enhancing suiting,’ with playful constructive details: extended pockets on tightly fitting trousers, or blazers with intriguingly wonky necklines.

Her palette was largely neutral, but with the occasional uniform-colour, khaki and Air Force blue, or turquoises and oranges taken straight from The Girl, and Portrait of Ira P (both 1930), respectively. The ‘sense of dimension’ and ‘optical depth’ integral to clothes which borrow from Art Deco was achieved through sheer crystal organza and ‘crinoline shell garments’, and that unmistakably Art Deco line was suggested through pattern cutting – a bomber-shaped jumper in leather with a thick wool turtle-neck, met the upper torso in a deep-V, and a one-shoulder velvet dress connected to its bubble skirt via a sloping, ovoid drop waist.

Beckham also introduced the Sloan bag, a top-handle design ‘crafted in aged leather and croc-embossed leather in rich heritage jewel tones, the bag is constructed with folded side gussets that reflect the light and create shadows in motion.’ India Jarvis

Issey Miyake let clothes speak for themselves

Satoshi Kondo’s offering yesterday for Issey Miyake was a treatise on a familiar tension for a designer: that of ‘creating’ vs ‘allowing’. How to navigate ‘the relationship between deliberate intervention in design and the absence of it, the unfilled space,’ or, in other words, the artists’ hand and its necessary sympathy with the inherent beauty of material.

The resulting collection, summarily titled ‘Creating, Allowing’ but divided into nine different chapters, saw fabrics cut into typically avant-garde shapes – large enough that their unique characteristics were evident and otherwise un-interfered with. These shapes made their impression on the negative space too, but the most important impact was made through the human frame, distilling ‘the notion of minimizing design intervention and leaving the form-making to the wearer's own body’. India Jarvis

An assertion of resilience at Givenchy A/W 2026

‘How can we put ourselves back together in the world we’re living in’ is a question which feels particularly potent this fashion month, and one which Sarah Burton placed front and centre of her third Givenchy show. The answer, Burton suggests, is through an assertion of resilience, and an unerring celebration of the best of what humanity has to offer, namely its creativity.

This was hinted at through luscious tailoring bolstered by collars and headpieces which could have come straight from a Flemish Old Master, the simplest of velvet dresses cut with great thigh-high slits, and leather accents seen across pockets and neck ties. Clothes which speak absolutely to the ‘power of reflecting one’s own identity out into the world’. India Jarvis

Loewe A/W 2026 was ‘an expression of joy’

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s sophomore collection for Loewe – featuring menswear on the runway for the first time – was an exercise in ‘joy, experimentation and play,’ the American designers said. Cue blow-up outerwear, supersized parkas and colourful latex slip dresses, playing out amid a show set populated by Cosima von Bonin’s soft-toy sculptures of clams, octopi and dogs. ‘For us, the act of making is, at its core, an expression of joy – an intellectual, process-driven pursuit charged with playfulness,’ they said.

It resulted in a collection laden with optimism and fun: pastel shearling, gradient-trimmed ‘in the same manner as poodle grooming’, bouclé coats made from looped lacquered leather, and allusions to inflatables. ‘It is the idea of play as rigorous experimentation and problem-solving, moving between instinct and experience,’ they continued. ‘Between a devotion to craft and its endless opportunities for innovation… propelled by boundless curiosity.’ Jack Moss

Rick Owens’ show of strength

Picking up where his menswear collection of the same name left off, ‘Tower’ once again saw Rick Owens play with ideas of strength and protection, and a high-performance fibre called kevlar which is purportedly five-times stronger than steel. Flight jackets and mantles were made using heavy-duty fabrics – demonstrating Owens’ ongoing commitment to responsibly sourced materials such as ZDHC-certified washed denim and boiled wool traceable all the way back to its source. Marlene Dietrich was the season’s muse, her spirit translated through a ‘steeliness’ and ‘grit’, which will be immediately familiar to the brand’s disciples. India Jarvis

Rabanne gets ‘a little louche’

Julien Dossena was in full character-development mode for Rabanne this season, and the character in question is one of insalubrious repute, or, as the brand puts it: ‘a little louche’. A take on modernist femininity told through blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses of slip through unbuttoned blouse, a hint of lace underneath a more conservative skirt, and pussybows left suggestively undone. Countered with vintage-inspired T-bar heels, tea-dress florals, and clashing knitwear, the effect was, to quote Dossena, ‘slightly shady, somewhat unknowable, but definitely confident and in control’. India Jarvis

A closer look at Jonathan Anderson’s latest Dior collection

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Earlier this week, Jonathan Anderson showed his sophomore womenswear ready-to-wear collection for Dior in Paris’ Tuileries Garden. The gardens – constructed by Catherine de’ Medici in 1564 and later renovated in 1664 by Louis XIV before becoming a public park – also inspired a collection which was about ‘seeing and being seen... [where] a walk in the park becomes a performance’. Cue riffs on Belle Époque silhouettes, alongside a rich amalgam of fresh, nature-inspired flourishes – from lily-pad footwear and fronds of feathers to floral jacquard and appliqué. Wallpaper* returned to the water-lily strewn showspace today for a closer look at the collection – swipe through above to see what we found. Jack Moss

READ: Jonathan Anderson’s latest Dior show was a walk in the park

Pieter Mulier holds his swansong show at Alaïa

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Watched on by fellow designers Raf Simons and Matthieu Blazy, last night in Paris, Pieter Mulier presented his final collection for Alaïa at the former Fondation Cartier (it was preceded by an exhibition of works by Japanese photographer Keizo Kitajima, capturing the entire Alaïa atelier and team). It would mark the culmination of a critically acclaimed five-year tenure, which saw him succeed house founder Azzedine Alaïa, following the couturier’s death in 2017 (Mulier started four years later, in 2021, after a stewardship by an in-house team).

Encapsulating the idea of ‘modern beauty’ which has characterised his time at the house, the A/W 2026 collection was defined by a feeling of reduction: simple, body-contouring dresses met trapeze-shaped outerwear, while peplums, ruffles and hoods – albeit in Mulier’s graphic, contemporary style – evoked house codes. The intimate show featured a line-up of house muses, from Mona Tougaard to Alex Consani, and was rounded out by a rousing standing ovation. Mulier’s next move? Creative director of Italian powerhouse Versace, where he takes over from Dario Vitale.

‘[It is] not my Alaïa, [but] our Alaïa,’ said Mulier. ‘I am proud that I am a part of the history of this house – and this house will be a part of me, forever.’ Jack Moss

The show set at Acne Studios was a series of colourful rooms

This afternoon, Acne Studios transformed the historic nave of Le Collège des Bernardins with a series of intersecting rooms, each with different colour walls, carpets and archways, recalling classic Parisian salons and apartments. The illusion was best when you looked down the runway to see the various rooms at once – a surreal, hall-of-mirrors effect which backdropped a typically vivid collection from the brand, who will celebrate this evening with a performance from current campaign star Robyn at a party titled ‘Robyn and Friends’. Jack Moss

Julian Klausner channels an eclectic beauty at Dries Van Noten

A sequel of sorts to his menswear show in January, Julian Klausner channelled a mood of eclectic beauty at Dries Van Noten this season with an A/W 2026 collection which featured a heady amalgam of colour, print, jacquard and embellishment. Shown at Paris’ Lycée Carnot, the kaleidoscopic looks were reflected off a vast mirror at the end of the runway.

Meanwhile, a coming-of-age spirit emerged in garments evocative of school and college uniforms, from duffle coats and piped-edge blazers to varsity jackets. Vivid piled-up knitwear and denim added to the spontaneous, freewheeling mood. Jack Moss

The invite to Pieter Mulier’s final Alaïa show is a make-you-own leather bodice

This evening at 9pm Paris time, Belgian designer Pieter Mulier will show his final collection for Alaïa – a swansong which will mark the culmination of a five-year tenure at the house, where he succeeded the namesake couturier, Azzedine Alaïa. It will no doubt be this evening’s most sought-after ticket: Mulier has honed a vision of ‘modern beauty’ which has resulted in commercial expansion and critical acclaim (as well as numerous memorable red-carpet moments). So it is fitting that the invitation is a keepsake: the pieces for a leather bodice, delivered to attendees in a box with instructions on how to put it together. ‘Swan song... only love,’ Mulier captioned a picture of the constructed invites on Instagram today. His next move? Creative director of Versace, taking over from Dario Vitale. Jack Moss

At Courrèges, Nicolas Di Felice muses on time as he marks five years at the French house

The invitation to Nicolas Di Felice’s latest show for Courrèges was an alarm clock, its hands set to seconds before 10:30am, the time that the A/W 2026 presentation began this morning. Indeed, the passing of time was on the Belgian designer’s mind this season: the show marked five years since he began his tenure at Courrèges, during which he has transformed the fading French house with sleek and sensual riffs on André Courrèges’ 1960s Space Age designs that, despite intriguing experimentations in fabric and form, are designed for the everyday. Such was the case here: amid a sparse reimagining of a Parisian street, he created a wardrobe to take the Courrèges woman from dawn to dusk, and back again (she likes to party). Cue signature vinyl sets and cut-out bodysuits, raised-collar jackets and skirts with protruding sculptural waistlines, as well as more playful details, like leather handbags moulded to appear as if their contents were poking through, and dresses made from organza versions of Paris metro billets. It ended with a finale in which every look was recreated in white. ‘It was André Courrèges’ favourite colour,’ Di Felice said backstage. ‘To him, it expressed lightness, purity.’ Jack Moss

Saint Laurent channels 1970s cinema

‘Structure and construction’ were the focus of Anthony Vaccarello’s latest collection for Saint Laurent, presented last night, which played out amid a ‘streamlined dream of modernist glass, wood and leather’ with an enormous bust – a recreation of one found in Yves Saint Laurent’s own Paris apartment – at its centre.

The collection itself had an equally cinematic sensibility, where ‘intimacy and vulnerability’ were captured in a use of lace, coated in silicone to hold its structure, alongside latex macs, slips and giant chubby ‘fur’ coats. On the mood board? Actress Romy Schneider in the 1971 movie Max et les Ferrailleurs, who Vaccarello called this season’s protagonist.

The show began, though, with a stream of tuxedos – riffs on ‘Le Smoking’, arguably Yves Saint Laurent’s most enduring design, which turns 60 this year. In single and double-breasted iterations, Vaccarello said that their sloped-shoulder construction and feeling of fluidity were a rejection of the women’s suit as a ’clichéd projection of power’ but a ‘liberating sense of ease’. His version of ‘Le Smoking’ in its purest form closed the show, its ‘attitude more insouciant shrug than swagger,’ as Vaccarello described. Jack Moss

Jonathan Anderson’s latest Dior show was a walk in the park

The Tuileries Gardens in Paris, first constructed by Catherine de’ Medici in 1564 and later renovated in 1664 by Louis XIV in its formal French style, has long proved fertile ground for the wandering flâneur seeking artistic inspiration and enlightenment – from Édouard Manet to Oscar Wilde; Claude Debussy to Victor Hugo.

And this afternoon, Jonathan Anderson – the Northern Irish designer and creative director of Dior – was the latest creative mind to be seduced by the gardens’ charms, using the Tuileries to stage his A/W 2026 womenswear collection for the Parisian powerhouse. In bright spring sunshine, the show set had been erected around one of the park’s lily-pad strewn ponds (here, those water-lilies were clever imitations); across its centre ran a contemporary imagining of the Tuileries’ tree-lined Grand Allée, a site of promenade since the gardens opened to the public in 1667.

Continue reading our review of Dior A/W 2026 here.

A first look at the Dior show set

‘A walk through the park becomes a performance,’ said Jonathan Anderson of his A/W 2026 collection for Dior, which was staged in Paris’ Tuileries Garden this afternoon. The show set, built over one of the gardens’ ornamental lily ponds, was a contemporary reimagining of the tree-lined Grande Allée, a traditional site of promenade and gathering. Jack Moss

The Dior invite is a pair of miniature Tuileries chairs

Despite a handful of smaller independent labels showing yesterday, the Dior show this afternoon – taking place in the historic Tuileries Gardens – marks the definitive start of Paris Fashion Week. It is a moment made all the bigger by the creative director at its helm: the voraciously creative Jonathan Anderson, who will show his sophomore womenswear ready-to-wear collection for the house. After a brilliant couture collection this past January, which referenced the curves of Dame Magdalene Odundo’s ceramics and a posy of cyclamen gifted to him by former Dior creative director John Galliano, expectations are high.

The show invite for this season is an appealing pair of miniature green outdoor chairs, a reproduction of those which are scattered about the Tuileries Gardens – a longtime gathering spot for Parisian locals and tourists alike. ‘I will always feel like a tourist in Paris,’ he told designer and podcaster Bella Freud in a conversation which aired before the show’s start. ‘But sometimes being a tourist is quite good, because you see the thing, you kind of edit.’ Jack Moss