Glass. Carbon fibre. Bark cloth. And an Edwardian dress taken apart to make a new one.
Couture has always been defined by its materials — silk, satin, wool, the sacred trinity of the atelier.
This season, nine houses tore that up in three directions. What emerged wasn’t one material story but three arguments, and they disagree with each other completely. Which is exactly what makes them worth reading.
Trend 1: The engineered future — couture leaves the loom
The most radical camp abandoned natural fibres altogether.
Schiaparelli. Roseberry’s stated aim was to push back on house codes: “Instead of the traditional silks, satins, and wools, we used latex, silicone, and pools of paint baked into sheets and sculpted into silhouettes.” Menacing black protrusions in kinetic latex; a skirt’s floral motif made from hundreds of flowers rendered from hosiery stretched on metal wires and pearls.
Iris van Herpen. Laser-cut carbon fibre boning. Hand-pleated chiffons suspended in moon-curved structures. A one-shoulder tulle dress carrying thousands of hand-blown glass spheres — and, per one report, fabric charged and cryogenically preserved. Not embellishment.
Robert Wun. Balloon-adorned dresses, paint-splattered gowns — the material as prank, and as proof.
Top: Schiaparelli; Bottom left: Iris Van Harpen; Bottom right: Robert Wun (Courtesy: Elitetravel)
— THE ONE TO WEAR —
Styling note:Note the date on that one. Hermès made its plastic Kelly decades ago. Couture’s synthetic future has already happened once, and it’s sitting in the archive — which is where this article is going next.
Hermès Clear Vintage Kelly Vinyl
Vinyl interpretation of the Hermès Kelly, produced as a promotional piece rather than a mainline bag. Transparent body printed in white with the line UN VOYAGE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES and a smaller Hermès exhibition credit. Trapezoidal Kelly silhouette with a single rolled top handle and a turn-lock flap. Gold-tone clasp and handle anchors.
Trend 2: The natural world — bark, bloom, hand
The counter-argument came from the ground.
Imane Ayissi. Wrapped volumes, extended panels and deliberate folds, built from African textiles and traditional dress construction — the Cameroonian house that has spent years arguing that raffia and bark cloth belong on the couture calendar.
Rahul Mishra. Extensive Indian embroidery worked into floral and anatomical forms — nature rebuilt by hand, thread by thread, in the workshop.
ArdAzAei. Naturally dyed Persian-inspired textiles, mathematical pleating, metallic fil coupé. The stated intention: “the feeling of sitting in the shade of a paradise garden.”
Top left: Imane Ayissi; Top right: Rahul Mishra; Bottom: ArdAzAei (Courtesy: Vanity Teen, Whitewall)
— THE ONE TO WEAR —
Styling note: Velvet is a pile, so it shifts with the light exactly the way a petal does — nature rebuilt by hand, then over-decorated on purpose.
Build the garden around it in brown, olive, camel and raffia; never black, which flattens velvet into a dark patch.
Miu Miu Yellow Velutto Matelassé Chain Micro Bag
From Miu Miu’s Bijou Velor collection (c. 2019–2020), this vibrant yellow matelassé velvet chain mini bag showcases Miuccia Prada’s signature jewelled opulence. Crafted from quilted canary-yellow velvet with a leather backing, the bag’s centrepiece is an oversized circular crystal brooch closure studded with ruby, aqua-blue, peridot-green and clear rhinestones on a Gold-tone frame.
Trend 3: The salvaged past — old material, new object
And then the trend that should interest you most.
Maison Margiela. Upcycled Edwardian garments. Threadbare tapestries re-embellished with paillettes. Eight layers of organza, beeswax coating, ghost impressions lifted from torn vintage dresses. The most expensive line in the building, made from things that were already worn out.
RVDK Ronald van der Kemp. Existing textiles, vintage fabric and recovered embellishment, tailored into couture.
Standing Ground. Michael Stewart’s wedding dress in abstract handmade Carrickmacross lace: 26 pairs of hands, 4,000 hours. Old Irish craft, no shortcut available.
Top: Maison Margiela; Bottom left: RVDK Ronald van der Kemp; Bottom right: Standing Ground (Courtesy: Elite Travel, Vanity Teen, Whitewalls)
— THE ONE TO WEAR —
Styling note: A printed silk panel from the house’s own archive, mounted in a Barenia frame chosen because it patinas — old material, new object, made by Hermès itself. Pair it only with things that have already lived — worn denim, softened linen, a vintage scarf that argues with the print — and carry it alone as a clutch, not inside a bag.
Hermès Pink Fourbi 25 Pouch
Soft case from the Hermès Fourbi line, constructed to sit within a larger bag and lift out as a clutch. Combines a printed silk panel in flamingo pink with Barenia leather trim, the untreated saddle calfskin that darkens and patinates with handling. Flat unstructured silhouette with an open top. Palladium hardware.
Conclusion
Three materials, three arguments about time.
Glass and carbon fibre are a bet on the future. Bark and bloom are a bet on the seasons. And salvage — vintage, deadstock, discarded, already old when it arrived at the atelier — is a bet on the past.
Now count again. Two houses argued for the future. Three argued for nature. Four built their collections out of what already existed.
Read that twice. On the official couture calendar — the most protected, most expensive, most gatekept schedule in fashion — the largest camp this season was the one shopping second-hand.
That’s the tell. When couture wants to make something irreplaceable, it doesn’t reach for a new material. Newness can be reproduced. A 1905 dress cannot.
The archive isn’t fashion’s poor relation. It’s where fashion goes when it wants to be taken seriously.
The bag is the statement. Everything else follows.
Sources
- Elite Traveler — Paris Haute Couture Week AW26/27 Review — https://elitetraveler.com/style/fashion/womens-style/paris-haute-couture-week-aw26-27-review
- Whitewall — Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026–27: Inspired by Nature, Technology — https://whitewall.art/fashion/haute-couture-fall-winter-2026-27-nature-technology/
- Vanity Teen — Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2026: Essential Guide, Days 1–3 — https://www.vanityteen.com/paris-haute-couture-week-fall-winter-2026/
