AW26

Palette Cleanser. Alaïa AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

Before moving to Milan to join Versace for good, Pieter Mulier delivered one last outing at Alaïa – a collection that felt less like a grand finale and more like a palate cleanser, even a kind of foundation laid out for his successor.

During his five years at the brand, Mulier pushed Azzedine Alaïa’s codes in unexpected directions – sometimes achieving remarkable finesse, at other times proposing busy, hectic ideas that risked overdressing the woman. His epilogue, however, is pleasing precisely because it returns to the core of what the house represents at its essence: body-enhancing clothes that appear simple, yet are in fact the result of meticulous construction and extraordinary precision.

That was Monsieur Alaïa’s intention behind every haute couture and ready-to-wear collection; Mulier seems to have taken it fully to heart here – better late than never. “To reduce, reduce,” he concluded backstage. No bags, no jewelry. “Only beauty and clothes and a naked shoe.”

And indeed, that understated beauty was visible in the clean lines of flared coats, scoop-neck engineered jersey dresses, and a perfectly tailored leather blazer.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Disarm The Status Quo. Matières Fécales AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

The devastatingly beautiful drama of Matières Fécales is exactly what the hyper–high-gloss Paris Fashion Week needs. Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj’s vision of the world is one of sinister, post-post-capitalist dystopia: blood-red-palmed opera gloves, dollar-bill masks, post-op bandages, and Mr. Monopoly eveningwear evoke a band of supervillains poised to take over the world. Or perhaps these were undercover agents sent to disturb and disarm the status quo?

Whatever the underlying concept, Matières Fécales is a brand that certainly shakes up the model-casting landscape in Paris. Models, artists and aristocrats of different ages and body shapes – many with striking, vivid faces that show signs of a lived life – walked the show, dressed to the nines in corseted jackets, full skirts, and torn ball gowns. Some looked visibly uncomfortable, but in a pleasure-sparking, fetishistic kind of way, and a few ankles seemed nearly sprained; but beauty is pain, after all.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Strategic. Saint Laurent AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

I found Anthony Vaccarello’s latest collection for Saint Laurent a tad underwhelming – though I understand precisely what he was aiming for. In recent seasons, Vaccarello has leaned into a form of statement dressing sublimated from the archives of Yves Saint Laurent: think of the ruffled, hyper–maxi dresses that now dominate editorials, sweeping, theatrical, and unapologetically grand.

This latest offering, however, feels like a strategic retreat. It delivers a highly predictable vision of the contemporary Saint Laurent woman: razor-sharp black tailoring in the vein of Helmut Newton’s power-charged imagery; diaphanous, ultra-sheer lace dresses; oversized fur coats thrown over. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:


SAINT LAURENT Grain De Poudre Wool And Silk-satin Blazer



SAINT LAURENT Leather Gloves



SAINT LAURENT Knitted Maxi Dress



SAINT LAURENT Gold-tone Agate Ring



SAINT LAURENT EYEWEAR Sl 902 Howl D-frame Acetate Sunglasses

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Emotional Restoration. Dior AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

Just after World War II, Christian Dior introduced the Bar jacket as part of his Corolle line. It was sharply criticized for its extravagant use of fabric at a time of postwar austerity. Yet that “unreasonable whim” was not mere indulgence; it was an attempt to submerge collective grief beneath beauty and fantasy. It was, in its own way, an act of emotional restoration – no less valid for being escapist. After all, drowning out pain through aesthetic excess is a coping mechanism many of us recognize.

I found Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore womenswear ready-to-wear collection for Dior a poignant continuation of that impulse. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Fashion! Fun! F*ck! Vaquera AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

Fun! F*ck! Fashion!

Vaquera’s Bryn Taubensee and Patric DiCaprio’s autumn-winter 2026 collection is a reckless, badass love letter to fashion history. The opening looks echoed Rudi Gernreich and his eternally scandalous 1964 monokini. From there, the designers turned their scruffy lens toward Balenciaga’s 2006 collection by Nicolas Ghesquiere, in which he reinterpreted the great Cristobal Balenciaga’s radical experiments with shape. (Interestingly, about a year ago another Paris-based designer, De Pino, referenced the same collection – proof of just how seismic Ghesquière’s work once was.)

Amid this wild clash of worlds and styles, the Vaquera duo slipped in 1950s-inspired satin sack dresses—cut with risqué slits, so not quite so prim after all – alongside baby-doll peplum tops. “Interview“’s Dara Allen was obsessed; expect to see the looks on Addison Rae soon.

I’m on the fence about whether this already idea-saturated collection really needed the leather squares and triangles that covered the models’ bodies near the finale. Taubensee and DiCaprio excel at tweaking what’s stereotypically “pretty” or “classic,” and these avant-garde, Pierre Cardin-esque experiments felt somewhat disconnected from the rest. Still, they bring a welcome sense of humor to Paris, which can at times feel overly petulant.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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