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John Galliano x Zara: A Couture Mindset Rewrites the High-Street Archive

Sarah Mitchell
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John Galliano x Zara: A Couture Mindset Rewrites the High-Street Archive

John Galliano x Zara: A Couture Mindset Rewrites the High-Street Archive

Courtesy/Szilveszter Mako

In a move that signals a shifting fashion hierarchy, John Galliano is joining Zara for a two-year creative collaboration that will see the designer reinterpret the brand’s archives through a couture lens.

Described as a “creative partnership,” the project centers on transformation. Galliano will work directly with past Zara garments—deconstructing, reshaping, and reimagining them into new seasonal collections. The first release is slated for September 2026, with subsequent drops following a couture-inspired rhythm.

The premise is as radical as it is timely: applying authorship, craft, and narrative to a fast-fashion archive. Known for his mastery of cut, theatricality, and bias draping, Galliano brings a design language rarely associated with mass retail. Expect new silhouettes, experimental textures, and a heightened sense of construction—hallmarks of a career that has consistently blurred the line between fashion and performance.

Courtesy/Szilveszter Mako

The collaboration also marks Galliano’s return to the spotlight following his decade-defining tenure at Maison Margiela, where he revitalized the brand both creatively and commercially. His final Artisanal collections reaffirmed his status as one of fashion’s most technically gifted designers, capable of turning fabric manipulation into storytelling.

At Zara, the challenge—and opportunity—lies in translation. Rather than imposing couture onto the high street, Galliano appears poised to extract meaning from what already exists. The archive becomes raw material; the process, the product.

For Zara, the partnership reflects a broader evolution. Under the leadership of Marta Ortega Pérez, the brand has steadily aligned itself with high-fashion credibility, inviting designers and image-makers to redefine its cultural position. Recent collaborations across fashion, fragrance, and retail environments point to a strategy that favors creative depth over speed alone.

Galliano joins a growing list of established designers engaging with global retail platforms, challenging outdated distinctions between luxury and accessibility. In this context, his appointment feels less surprising than inevitable.

The 5 Best-Dressed Stars at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Sarah Mitchell
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The 5 Best-Dressed Stars at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

The 5 Best-Dressed Stars at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

The final—and often most daring—red carpet of awards season unfolded at the annual Vanity Fair Oscar Party, held Sunday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. As always, Hollywood saved its most memorable fashion moments for the night’s unofficial after-party, where the mood shifts from ceremony to spectacle.

This year’s standouts balanced classic Hollywood glamour with a modern edge. From sculptural couture to sleek minimalism, the five best-dressed stars delivered looks that defined the evening’s style narrative.

Kylie Jenner in Alexander McQueen

Courtesy Of Dia Dipasupil

Jenner embraced high drama in a sharply tailored McQueen design that combined sculptural structure with a sleek silhouette. The look felt quintessentially McQueen: bold, precise, and unapologetically glamorous—an ideal statement for fashion’s most photographed after-party.

Kendall Jenner in Chanel

Courtesy Of Neilson Barnard

Minimalism met Parisian elegance in Kendall Jenner’s Chanel gown. The clean lines and subtle embellishment gave the look an understated sophistication, proving that restraint can be just as powerful as spectacle on a red carpet known for excess.

Bella Hadid in Prada

Courtesy Of Dia Dipasupil

Hadid delivered one of the evening’s most modern moments in Prada. The design balanced sharp tailoring with sensual ease, a reminder of the house’s ability to make intellectual fashion feel effortlessly seductive.

Dua Lipa in Schiaparelli

Courtesy Of Neilson Barnard

Dua Lipa leaned into surreal glamour in Schiaparelli. The couture creation—rich in sculptural detail and signature gold accents—captured the house’s theatrical spirit while amplifying the singer’s bold red-carpet presence.

Kaia Gerber in Givenchy by Sarah Burton

Courtesy Of Jean Baptiste Lacroix / Getty Images

Gerber closed the night’s style conversation with one of its most striking looks: a draped red velvet gown that balanced old-Hollywood sensuality with modern precision. Burton’s design highlighted Gerber’s statuesque elegance while delivering one of the evening’s most memorable silhouettes.

At the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, fashion often feels freer than on the Oscars red carpet itself. This year, these five stars captured that spirit—mixing couture craftsmanship with personality and proving that the night’s real awards may well belong to style.

Valentino Fall 2026 Collection

Sarah Mitchell
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Valentino Fall 2026 Collection

Valentino Fall 2026 Collection

In his latest collection for Valentino, Alessandro Michele explored what he called Interferenze—the creative tension of designing for a house that carries someone else’s name. Yet the result felt less like disruption and more like alignment, a collection that reconnected the brand’s historic grandeur with Michele’s romantic sensibility.

Courtesy Of Valentino

Presented inside Rome’s ornate Palazzo Barberini, the Fall 2026 show signaled a symbolic return to the maison’s roots. Michele described the venue—baroque in scale yet intimate in spirit—as the ideal setting to revisit the legacy of founder Valentino Garavani while translating it for the present.

That dialogue with the house’s past surfaced in subtle yet deliberate gestures. Michele revisited Garavani’s meticulous attention to the back of a garment: tailored jackets for men and women featured sculptural knots and pleats, while a backless red gown—finished with a delicate gold chain—closed the show as a tribute to Valentino’s signature color.

Courtesy Of Valentino

Asymmetry threaded through the collection, from one-shoulder velvet gowns to dresses cinched with diagonal sashes. The palette was equally expressive: mustard paired with lavender and black, emerald layered over burgundy pleats, and flashes of orange cutting across the waistline. The color stories, along with the strong silhouettes, nodded to the confident glamour of the 1980s—a decade Michele associates with independence and bold self-expression.

Courtesy Of Valentino

Decoration, long central to Michele’s design language, appeared more controlled this season. Draping, pleating, and intricate details remained, but with a measured restraint that gave the clothes clarity. The result balanced Valentino’s tradition of opulence with a modern lightness.

The staging reinforced Michele’s theme of creative interference. The palace’s frescoed rooms were unexpectedly covered in artificial grass and scattered leaves, a surreal gesture meant to evoke nature intruding upon historical grandeur—a reflection, the designer suggested, of contemporary life shaped by layered realities.

Marco De Vincenzo Exits Etro as the Italian House Enters a New Strategic Phase

Sarah Mitchell
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Marco De Vincenzo Exits Etro as the Italian House Enters a New Strategic Phase

Marco De Vincenzo Exits Etro as the Italian House Enters a New Strategic Phase

Marco De Vincenzo is stepping down as creative director of Etro after nearly four years, the company confirmed Thursday. The decision, described as mutual, comes as the Milan-based brand enters a new strategic phase.

Courtesy of Etro

In a brief statement, Etro thanked the designer for his “dedication, professionalism and creative contribution,” wishing him success in future ventures. The house added that it now looks ahead to the next stage of its development while continuing to strengthen its lifestyle identity and creative heritage.

De Vincenzo joined Etro in 2022, overseeing women’s and men’s collections as well as the home line. His debut for Spring 2023, presented during Milan Fashion Week, introduced a renewed vision that balanced the designer’s graphic sensibility with Etro’s signature bohemian spirit and textile legacy.

During his tenure, De Vincenzo focused on reinterpreting the house’s historic codes—particularly its paisley motifs and rich fabric traditions—while expanding its accessories offering. His expertise in leather goods, sharpened during consulting work for Fendi, helped strengthen a category considered key to the brand’s growth.

The leadership change follows significant ownership shifts within Etro. Private equity firm L Catterton acquired a majority stake in the company in 2021. In late 2025, new minority investors—including Rams Global, entrepreneur Mathias Facchini, and SRI Group—purchased shares previously held by the founding family, completing the Etro family’s exit from the business.

Founded in 1968 by Gerolamo Etro, the house built its reputation on intricate textiles and travel-inspired prints before expanding into ready-to-wear, accessories, and home collections. Today it operates more than 160 boutiques across over 20 countries.

Under chief executive Fabrizio Cardinali, the brand has pursued broader lifestyle ambitions, signing licensing agreements for eyewear with Safilo, fragrance and home scents with Coty Inc., and childrenswear with Simonetta.

No successor has been announced. The next creative appointment will arrive at a pivotal moment as Etro continues its global expansion while redefining its identity beyond fashion into a broader luxury lifestyle brand.

Bella Hadid Becomes Prada Beauty’s First Global Ambassador

Sarah Mitchell
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Bella Hadid Becomes Prada Beauty’s First Global Ambassador

Bella Hadid Becomes Prada Beauty’s First Global Ambassador

Bella Hadid has been named the first global beauty ambassador for Prada, marking a new milestone for the brand’s expanding cosmetics division. The model will front the campaign for Prada’s newest makeup launch, Prada Touch, a blush designed for cheeks and lips that debuts this month.

Courtesy Of Prada Beauty

The product introduces a new chapter for Prada Beauty. Featuring a cream-to-powder texture, Prada Touch is housed in a compact inspired by the brand’s signature triangular logo and designed to stack easily in a handbag. The formula blends smoothly onto the skin, delivering a soft matte finish that the brand says lasts up to 12 hours without touch-ups.

Hadid described the partnership as a natural fit. A longtime admirer of Miuccia Prada, she called the collaboration a “dream job” and praised the designer’s creative influence.

“For anyone who works in fashion, this is a dream,” Hadid said. “I’ve been a fan of Miuccia for years. Being able to exist in her creative world is incredible.”

The model also highlighted how closely Prada’s creative leadership—Prada and co-creative director Raf Simons—approach the brand’s beauty line, treating makeup with the same attention as fashion. For Hadid, the result reflects the house’s balance of heritage and modernity.

Courtesy Of Prada Beauty

Prada Touch launches in eight shades ranging from nude to deep mauve, with names including Cherry, Tulip, and Waterlily. Hadid cites B32 Caffè as her favorite, praising its versatility as a multi-use product for cheeks, lips, and eyes.

The model’s own approach to beauty has evolved over time. After entering the fashion industry at 19, she learned professional techniques from leading makeup artists, eventually embracing a more minimal philosophy. “Simplicity is key for me,” she said, favoring products that enhance natural features rather than mask them.

According to Rosa Carriço, Hadid embodies the brand’s vision: “Bella balances a strong sense of authenticity with a bold creative spirit.”

Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 Collection

Sarah Mitchell
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Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 Collection

Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 Collection

For Fall 2026, Nicolas Ghesquière approached fashion as a form of cultural study. His latest women’s collection for Louis Vuitton explored the clothing traditions of mountain communities around the world—reimagined through the designer’s distinctly futuristic lens.

Rather than referencing a single geography, Ghesquière focused on what these garments share: resilience, protection, and mobility. “Nature is the best designer,” he explained backstage, framing the collection as a kind of “anthropology of fashion.” The goal was to examine how clothing protects the body against the elements while expressing cultural identity.

Courtesy Of Louis Vuitton

The runway told that story through texture and silhouette. Plush layers, felted hats, shearling pieces, and bell-like accessories evoked the practical wardrobes of high-altitude life. Yet the results were unmistakably Ghesquière: architectural shapes, unexpected proportions, and hybrid garments that blurred past and future.

The set, designed by Jeremy Hindle, amplified that tension. Futuristic green prisms and pyramid-like peaks framed the show, creating a landscape that felt both alpine and otherworldly.

Courtesy Of Louis Vuitton

Clothes ranged from patchwork jumpsuits and short leather jackets to sweeping waterproof capes with sculptural volume. Conical hats and rigid capes with open shoulders pushed silhouettes into unfamiliar territory. Texture played a central role throughout the collection: shaggy surfaces, layered fabrics, and experimental tailoring.

Even classic tailoring carried the theme. Black suits appeared with tuxedo trousers trimmed in fuzzy strips along the outer seams, replacing traditional satin stripes with a tactile twist.

Courtesy Of Louis Vuitton

Accessories anchored the collection in Vuitton’s heritage. Handbags appeared sleeker and more sculptural, some carried at the end of walking sticks. Multiple versions of the iconic Mini Malle—introduced in Ghesquière’s first collection for the house—returned in softened forms, some polished like smooth mountain stone, others strapped with belts reminiscent of pack gear.

Harris Reed Steps Down From Nina Ricci to Focus on His Own Label

Sarah Mitchell
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Harris Reed Steps Down From Nina Ricci to Focus on His Own Label

Harris Reed Steps Down From Nina Ricci to Focus on His Own Label

Harris Reed is stepping down as creative director of Nina Ricci after three and a half years, the brand confirmed Wednesday. The designer will now devote his full attention to his eponymous label as it enters what he describes as a new phase of growth.

Courtesy Of Nina Ricci

In a statement, the house thanked Reed for “his contagious energy and dedication,” acknowledging the impact of his tenure. Reed shared the news on Instagram, calling his time at the Parisian label “a deeply personal milestone.”

“I have loved Nina Ricci and this extraordinary team with all my heart,” he wrote. “Now feels like the right moment to put all my energy into my own brand.”

Reed’s final collection for the house was the Fall 2026 show presented in Paris on March 6. Inspired by the exhibition Marie Antoinette Style at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, the collection blended historical drama with contemporary ease: jacquard pantsuits, crinoline skirts, and corsets styled over T-shirts and tracksuits.

The designer joined Nina Ricci in 2022, becoming the youngest creative director in the brand’s history. During his tenure, the house—owned by Spanish beauty and fashion group Puig—embraced Reed’s theatrical, gender-fluid aesthetic while launching new projects including the fragrance Venus.

A graduate of Central Saint Martins, Reed quickly built a reputation for dramatic silhouettes, sculptural volumes, and elaborate headpieces. His work has been worn by celebrities including Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Cardi B, Emma Corrin, and Lil Nas X, and he made a notable appearance at the Met Gala in 2024 with Demi Moore.

At Nina Ricci, Reed emphasized inclusivity and exuberant glamour. Models such as Ashley Graham frequently appeared in his shows, while collaborations with stylist Carine Roitfeld over the past three seasons refined his blend of Parisian elegance and Los Angeles drama.

“Harris has written a beautiful chapter in the history of Nina Ricci,” said brand president Ana Trias in a statement.

No successor has yet been named. Founded in 1932, Nina Ricci has seen a series of creative directors in recent years, including Olivier Theyskens, Peter Copping, and the duo Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh of Botter.

Miu Miu Fall 2026 Collection

Sarah Mitchell
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Miu Miu Fall 2026 Collection

Miu Miu Fall 2026 Collection

On the final day of Paris Fashion Week, Miuccia Prada delivered a Fall 2026 collection for Miu Miu that distilled fashion to its most elemental subject: the human body.

The runway, scattered with rough twigs and earth, suggested a stripped-back landscape—an understated nod to nature that echoed similar gestures seen across the season at Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Dior. But Prada’s message was less about the environment than about scale and vulnerability.

Courtesy Of Miu Miu

“The idea was the smallness of the human body compared to the immensity of the world,” she explained after the show. “You, as a human being, are enough. You have your mind. That should be sufficient.”

The clothes reflected that philosophy with radical simplicity. Tiny slip dresses, shrunken washed-leather jackets, and wrinkled cotton blazers looked almost worn down to their essence—garments that felt lived-in, as if they were the last pieces left in someone’s wardrobe.

Lean coats cinched high at the waist appeared scuffed and polished by use, paired with flared trousers that brushed the ground. A DIY spirit ran through rugged leather coats with raw, furry hems and airy windbreakers lined in shearling.

Courtesy Of Miu Miu

Prada found tenderness in this worn-in aesthetic. Rather than armor, the clothes suggested intimacy and resilience—the body itself as the ultimate protection.

The casting reinforced that human focus. A multigenerational lineup included actors Gillian Anderson, Chloë Sevigny, and Lily Newmark, alongside younger faces such as Zola Ivy Murphy, daughter of Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell Murphy, and Sateen Besson, daughter of filmmaker Luc Besson.

If the clothes evoked the minimalist mood of the 1990s—a sensibility currently resurfacing in fashion—the accessories told a different story. Embellished chapkas, crystal-studded belts, sneakers, and sparkling pool slides injected flashes of personality that resonate with a younger generation eager to stand out.

Chanel Fall 2026 Collection

Sarah Mitchell
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Chanel Fall 2026 Collection

Chanel Fall 2026 Collection

At the vast Grand Palais, Matthieu Blazy delivered a Fall 2026 collection for Chanel built around transformation—an idea borrowed directly from founder Coco Chanel.

Blazy often frames his work as a dialogue with Chanel’s legacy, and this season he turned to a 1950s interview she gave to Le Figaro. In it, she compared fashion to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly: clothes for the day that “crawl,” and evening pieces that “fly.” Blazy took the metaphor literally.

Courtesy Of Chanel

The collection moved between restraint and spectacle. It began with quiet daywear—simple black knits, tweed overshirts inspired by workwear, and the house’s foundational suit. The opening look, worn by model Stephanie Cavalli, set the tone: a pared-back black knit jacket zipped at the front and punctuated by four gold buttons.

Blazy’s approach to the classic Chanel tweed felt refreshingly modern. Instead of pairing jackets with matching knee-length skirts, he styled them with jeans, creating a relaxed silhouette that speaks to a broader clientele—including a growing number of male clients.

Courtesy Of Chanel

References to the 1920s shaped the daytime wardrobe: dropped-waist silk ensembles with pleated coats, flapper-style patchwork dresses embroidered with florals, and knitwear printed with electric patterns reminiscent of the Jazz Age. One fur coat carried a vibrant geometric print recalling the work of Sonia Delaunay.

As the show progressed, the collection shifted toward the butterfly phase. Pleated red sack dresses, coats embroidered with caviar-like beading and silver constellation trims, and shimmering metallic mesh suits printed with tweed patterns brought drama without excess.

Courtesy Of Chanel

The setting mirrored Blazy’s concept of construction and transformation. A stage scattered with colorful crane-like structures—resembling oversized building toys—reinforced his idea of assembling fashion piece by piece, with the Chanel suit as the foundation.

Balenciaga Fall 2026 Collection

Sarah Mitchell
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Balenciaga Fall 2026 Collection

Balenciaga Fall 2026 Collection

For Fall 2026, Pierpaolo Piccioli continued redefining Balenciaga with a collection built around a deceptively simple idea: the collar. Enlarged, sculpted, and elevated, these portrait-like frames transformed coats and dresses into architectural compositions that drew the eye directly to the face.

The show unfolded in a darkened space along the Champs-Élysées, inside a former flagship store by Adidas. Piccioli collaborated with Sam Levinson, whose visual installation filled the venue with flickering monitors showing California landscapes, empty bars, wolves, and fragments featuring cast members from Euphoria, including Danielle Deadwyler. The imagery echoed the designer’s fascination with contemporary youth culture.

Courtesy Of Balenciaga

On the runway, 81 models emerged one by one under narrow beams of light, each look anchored by a commanding coat. Many silhouettes featured rounded, cocoon-like backs—a modern interpretation of the sculptural forms pioneered by founder Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Piccioli’s defining gesture was the collar itself. Portrait collars, chimney collars, and petal-shaped constructions rose around the neck, framing the face with quiet drama. The motif reflected Levinson’s unfiltered portrait of Generation Z: direct, vulnerable, and emotionally charged.

Courtesy Of Balenciaga

The show opened with a sequence in deep black, the color dominating the collection. A voluminous leather bomber with a bubble-shaped back set the tone, followed by a sculptural naval coat with a collar rising like a calla lily. A commanding officer’s coat appeared next, its collar and lapels lifted from softly sloped shoulders.

Between these outerwear statements, Piccioli introduced fluid jersey dresses—technical feats of draping with almost invisible seams—alongside sharply cut high-waisted denim that grounded the collection in everyday wear.

Courtesy Of Balenciaga

The result was restrained yet powerful: clothing that spoke through shape rather than spectacle. By framing the face with sculptural collars, Piccioli turned Balenciaga’s signature volume into something intimate—an architecture built not just around the body, but around identity itself.

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