Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026 wrapped up on October 6, 2025, leaving the city abuzz with creative energy, bold transformations, and a clear shift toward restraint and modern elegance. The world’s fashion capital became the stage for a season defined by both a reverence for heritage and a hunger for reinvention, as legendary houses and headline-grabbing celebrities alike redefined what it means to be stylish in the new era.
The week opened with a powerful statement from Dior, where Jonathan Anderson unveiled his first women’s collection for the storied Maison. According to coverage by WWD and the Associated Press, Anderson dove deep into Dior’s archive—reviving icons like the Bar jacket—only to loosen their seams and soften their silhouettes. His approach replaced symmetry with suggestion and rigidity with drape, signaling a liberation through design. It was, as WWD described, “a Dior that understands history but no longer bows to it.”
Elsewhere, Loewe’s runway was a study in clarity and intelligence. The house’s refined silhouettes, sculpted knits, and architectural handbags—pieces that folded and flexed like kinetic sculptures—proved that simplicity, when handled with care, can feel radical. Pieter Mulier’s Alaïa collection continued this theme of feminine precision, focusing on garments that traced the body’s architecture with meditative discipline, offering a rare sense of permanence in a season of conceptual reinvention.
Daniel Roseberry’s Schiaparelli managed to balance fantasy and reality, with gold hardware, sculptural bodices, and surreal details grounded by soft fabrics and elongated lines. “Roseberry’s women still inhabit a fantasy, but one that moves,” wrote WWD, capturing the essence of a collection that was both theatrical and newly intimate.
One of the most anticipated moments was Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut at Balenciaga. The house, known in recent years for its armor of irony, breathed a new language of generosity and space under Piccioli’s direction. The runway was filled with coats that enveloped, trousers that drifted, and silks that shimmered—heralding what WWD called “a deep exhale, a house rediscovering the human form beneath the silhouette.”
Hermès, true to its reputation, showcased mastery in mineral tones—clay, saddle brown, ivory—with leather that moved like fabric and tailoring curved like sculpture. The collection was a quiet reminder that refinement comes from knowing when to stop, not from shouting for attention. Meanwhile, Elie Saab’s gowns glowed with lighter, more deliberate romance, layers of chiffon and metallic embroidery radiating serenity instead of extravagance.
Celine, under Michael Rider, embraced liberation in looseness. Billowing coats, silk shirts slipping from shoulders, and tailoring blurred into nonchalance. It was Parisian polish undone, sophistication born of motion rather than perfection. As WWD noted, “Celine’s woman this season wasn’t posed; she was in transit.”
Beyond the runways, the city’s streets and front rows were alive with celebrity moments and personal style statements. Pamela Anderson, an icon of the ’90s and beyond, turned heads with a fresh strawberry blonde hair color, first seen at Vogue’s party and then on the Tom Ford runway. According to CNN, Anderson’s new look—styled into a quiff with Wayfarer sunglasses on Wednesday, and a voluminous shag with a black ensemble on Thursday—became the talk of Paris Fashion Week. The color change, inspired by French cinema and Marlène Jobert, is also linked to her upcoming film, Love Is Not the Answer, directed by Michael Cera. Anderson told CNN that experimenting with color allows her to “play with her look, and every day it can look different.”
Another standout moment came courtesy of Lana Del Rey, who attended the Valentino Spring 2026 show on Sunday in a look that echoed the house’s softened romanticism. As reported by WWD, Del Rey wore Valentino’s new Bowow slingback pumps in soft ivory, featuring an oversized bow, antique brass-effect VLogo, and a custom floral insole. She paired the shoes with a draped lilac gown, a tweed coat trimmed in faux fur, a linen beaded clutch, and a Cartier Baignoire watch. The ensemble reflected the new direction outlined by designer Alessandro Michele: a return to light, beauty, and restraint, with less maximalism and more focus on purity of form. Slingbacks with bow details were a recurring theme among celebrities, with Willow Smith and Jessica Alba also favoring the style at other high-profile events.
Duchess Meghan, making her Paris Fashion Week debut, embraced one of the season’s most significant trends: the cape silhouette. According to Vogue, she attended the Balenciaga show and dinner wearing two variations—a monochrome white ensemble with a dramatic cape-scarf for the show, and an all-black sleeveless maxi dress with a cape-like scarf for the dinner. Meghan’s stylist Jamie Mizrahi gave the trend an elevated, timeless feel, while her minimal makeup and slicked-back hair let her natural glow shine. The cape’s resurgence, rooted in indigenous ponchos, 1960s hippie culture, and early 2000s fashion, was seen across runways and celebrity wardrobes alike.
Of course, the week’s highlights extended far beyond the most famous houses and faces. Courrèges presented a First Look collection that set the tone on September 30, while Stella McCartney’s show the same day championed eco-conscious design. Issey Miyake and Yamamoto, both showcased on October 3, delivered their signature blend of innovation and artistry. The Associated Press published a series of striking photos capturing these moments: Dior’s sculptural tailoring, Issey Miyake’s flowing forms, and Louis Vuitton’s bold statements all contributed to a season that felt both fresh and grounded in tradition.
Throughout Paris, the mood was one of clarity, craft, and composure. The city’s great houses and rising stars alike demonstrated that modern elegance doesn’t have to shout—it can whisper, confident in its own artistry. As the final models left the runway and the last after-party lights dimmed, Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026 left a lasting impression: fashion’s future is bright, but it’s also beautifully restrained.
