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All Is Full Of Love. Dior SS26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

This haute couture season isn’t legendary only because of two debut collections at two major maisons. It will be remembered as the fashion week when couture finally leaped into a new era. It is relevant again.

Jonathan Anderson’s Dior collection had been in the making for over six months, and it shows in every single detail. Everything is imbued with passionate love for craft, art, and… FASHION. John Galliano not only blessed the project, but in a way initiated its birth with a cyclamen bouquet he gifted Anderson at the very beginning of his tenure at the house. The fragile purple flowers – symbols of lasting feelings, sincere affection, and tender love – were not only present in the show’s scenography, but were eternalized by Jean-Pierre Ollier’s atelier, which created thousands of handmade, hand-painted silk flowers. These blooms adorned the collection’s hero accessories: oversized brooches, bomb-shaped earrings, and more.

Above all, this was a couture show that exercised surrealism in the most extraordinary way, turning to the beauty of Mother Nature for inspiration. Dresses were airy like dandelions; skirts could easily be mistaken for hydrangea bushes; 18th-century-inspired portrait brooches were framed with orchids. One silk skirt in a subtle chinoiserie print appeared to explode with tiny green cones. The opening look’s bag referenced a couture hanger, yet it was entirely covered in hand-dyed, extra-long grass.

In the hands of another designer with the same haute couture possibilities, such effects might have veered into saccharine sweetness, or worse, princess-y costume. In Anderson’s, however, the collection struck with delightful eccentricity – and, above all, modernity. This was conveyed effortlessly through cool pink bangs (Sandy Hullett’s work), cocoon-like coats, and astonishing knitted dresses that quite literally flowed down the body. Jonathan Anderson has insisted that, for him, haute couture is something you collect. This enchanting, breathtaking collection could easily stand as the sole subject of a Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Yet it also feels confident enough for a beautiful, bold life beyond the museum walls.

Yes – this is exactly what haute couture should be in 2026.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Pragmatic. Lemaire AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

On the stage of the Opéra Bastille, the Lemaire troupe emerged in small configurations, each representing different themes and attitudes across the collection. One model moved a chair; another wandered into the audience; and then there was dancer Julie Anne Stanzak, who gleefully leapt and twirled in a floaty yellow dress while clutching her pumps. Theatrics aside, this was a quintessentially Lemaire collection, defined by “a very pragmatic approach to clothes,” as Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran stated. It is grounded in the everyday – somewhere between the utilitarian and the functional – yet at the same time unmistakably chic. Whether a quilted skirt that converts into a cape, a sculpted bag shaped like buttocks, or the dramatic insertion of impressionistic colour layered into earthy tones, Lemaire’s pieces are designed to be worn, loved, and lived in.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Debonair. Wales Bonner SS26

| Design & Culture by Ed

As Grace Wales Bonner gradually prepares for her new, high-profile role at Hermès (her debut will arrive exactly a year from now), the autumn–winter 2026 collection under her namesake label serves as a reminder of why she is so perfectly suited to one of Paris’s most prestigious menswear positions. It is a serene meditation on debonair elegance, informed by modernist architecture. Her thinking this season revolves around Indian modernism and modernist architecture more broadly, approaching modernism as a means of renegotiating and creating new identities, while also exploring something graphic, almost uniform-like in its clarity and restraint.

There is no shortage of such propositions, whether in the tailcoat and tuxedo trousers – tailored in indigo linen and paired with a linen wingtip-collar shirt, softened through washing – or in a Madras-checked jacket with a leather collar. This season, Wales Bonner also added John Smedley, the Derbyshire knitwear manufacturer founded in 1784, to her select circle of suppliers, delighting in its archive and fine British craftsmanship. She has long favored collaboration with highly specialized makers, valuing depth of knowledge and precision above all else.

One can only imagine what awaits in January 2027 – after all, great things take time.

ED’s SELECTION:

adidas Originals x Wales Bonner Karintha Sequined Satin Sneakers


Wales Bonner Anthem Embroidered Mesh-trimmed Jersey Track Jacket


Wales Bonner Presence Studded Organza Blouse


Wales Bonner Echo Leather-trimmed Organic Denim Jacket


Wales Bonner Java Macrame Fringe Midi Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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A Moment Of Respite. JW Anderson AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

Jonathan Anderson’s rebranding of his London-based label is a unanimous success. It has brought clarity and ease to JW Anderson, which is now more focused than ever on IRL retail spaces that mingle impeccably crafted flannel shirts and denim with objects sourced across Britain. No fashion shows – just simple lookbooks starring Anderson’s friends, who wear the brand and embody its witty (and unobtrusively sexy) character.

There’s Ashley Heath in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Porn” and pink satin shorts; Kylie Minogue in a crochet dress with a yellow car motif; Tim Blanks in a short-sleeved shirt in a cocky print, digging in with a garden fork; Alice Temple looking absolutely badass in a classic leather jacket. Then come the home accessories – organically dyed cushions, stripey hand brushes – all so British and so desirable, even if you might not actually need them in your life.

It seems that JW Anderson has become the designer’s outlet for slowing down, a moment of respite from his other, far more intense role in Paris. His second Dior menswear show is just around the corner.

ED’s SELECTION:

JW Anderson Fringed Appliquéd Checked Wool-blend Scarf


JW Anderson Anchor Leather-trimmed Canvas Tote


JW Anderson x Nicholas Mosse Painted Ceramic Plate


JW Anderson Cauliflower Crocheted Cotton Bag Charm


JW Anderson Neilly Set Of Three Striped Linen Napkins


JW Anderson Rugby Cotton-jersey Polo Shirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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EXCLUSIVE: Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Resort 2026

| Design & Culture by Ed

Even though Chanel presented its resort 2026 collection last spring at a fashion show staged on the shores of Lake Como, the brand has now released an updated, tightly edited lookbook—one clearly marked by Matthieu Blazy’s very visible touch. It is a far cry from the post–Virginie Viard studio work: no more dorky-looking dresses that dominated the brand over the past few years. What emerges instead is a vision of a truly contemporary woman wearing Chanel.

Relaxed styles, conceived from morning to evening, revolve around the eternal little black jacket, worn either with a matching tweed mini-skirt or with flared jeans – naturally, with flats. Although the look is instantly familiar, the jacket’s lines feel sharper and cooler. A creased velvet slip dress, finished with a camellia brooch, appears easy and chic when paired with mid-heeled two-toned pumps. The super-soft cardigan-jacket in the creamiest shade of ecru? It recalls the best of Karl Lagerfeld’s finest collections, like the spring 1999 couture line-up where he did similar fitted styles with plunging necklines.

This lookbook, arriving under Blazy’s creative direction, reads as a smooth foretaste of his debut runway collection, soon to hit stores. The pajama shirt hints at the forthcoming Charvet collaboration, while the boxy grey suit feels like a simpler, more day-appropriate version of the show’s opening look. It is refreshing to see Matthieu Blazy’s vision of the Chanel woman outside the context of runway spectacle – just highly-aspirational ideas for how to wear the brand in 2026.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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