The Kurator’s round-up: Paris Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2025/26 collections

Couture has always been the ultimate canvas for imagination. This season in Paris, designers dared to slow time -  sculpting emotion, memory, and legacy into wearable art. From resplendent embroidery to rebellious tailoring, the Autumn/Winter 2025/26 collections reminded us that fashion, at its highest form, speaks to both the past and the pulse of now. 

Schiaparelli – Back to the future

Daniel Roseberry refracted the past through a futuristic lens, presenting his most directional Schiaparelli collection yet. Stripped of colour but rich in drama, Back to the Future was a high-shine confrontation with the surreal and the sublime. Gleaming bustiers, razor-edged tailoring and sculpted metallics collided with anatomical jewellery and fetish-leaning silhouettes. Rhinestone thongs glinted beneath fishtail gowns; mechanical heart pendants pulsed under corseted satins. Inspired by the interwar era that birthed the house’s surrealist codes, Roseberry spun chaos into clarity. Couture, in his hands, becomes both armour and artefact.

Roger Vivier – La Rose Vivier Pièce unique 

Roger Vivier’s rose blooms again -  this time with eight jewel-like bags and two sculptural gilets that transcend accessories and become art. In a rare haute conversation, the Maison collaborated with the legendary embroidery house Lesage, rekindling a relationship that dates back to the 1980s. Rather than recreating the past, Creative Director Gherardo Felloni used Lesage’s archives as provocation - conjuring forgotten grandeur into contemporary poetry. These one-of-a-kind pieces echo the fragility and power of a rose: embroidered, imagined, and immortalised. 

Rahul Mishra – Becoming love

 With romantic mysticism, Rahul Mishra journeyed through the seven Sufi stages of love — from attraction to ego death. Each silhouette was a verse; each embroidery, a devotional hymn. Drawing inspiration from Gustav Klimt and crafted in rural Indian ateliers, Mishra fused ancient techniques like zardozi and naqshi with sculptural tailoring and diaphanous fabrics. The result: a quiet, powerful dreamscape, intensified by veils and headpieces by the legendary Stephen Jones. Mishra doesn’t just show couture - he spiritualises it.

Giorgio Armani Privé – Noir Séduisant

 Armani’s black is never just black. It’s a spectrum, a symphony, a manifesto. In Noir Séduisant, tuxedos melt into bow-adorned gowns, while masculine tailoring meets the softness of sheer silks and pavé crystals. The collection played with contrasts - gold linings flickered beneath velvet lapels, jacket cuts flirted with bare skin, and the codes of nightwear and power dressing collapsed into one harmonious silhouette. It was a masterclass in sensual restraint - the kind only Armani can deliver.

Stéphane Rolland and collaborationg with Henry Jacques

At Théâtre des Champs‑Élysées, Stéphane Rolland returned to his sculptural roots with a collection grounded in celestial grandeur. A shimmering palette of ivory, black, and crimson was punctuated by giant spangles that glistened like cosmic scales. Mermaid gowns, exaggerated shoulders, and vast tulle trains moved to the rhythm of live string music—an orchestrated performance in every stitch. What does couture smell like? Stéphane Rolland answered this not with tulle but with scent - unveiling an exclusive perfume in collaboration with French fragrance house Henry Jacques. Available in Les Essences and Les Brumes, the fragrance is a chypre-oriental blend that captures Rolland’s signature spirit: unapologetic, magnetic, and undeniably couture. It’s not just a perfume -  it’s a memory, a signature, a second skin.

Chanel – The Spirit of Cambon

 Chanel’s couture homecoming felt both intimate and transformative. Inside a reimagined Grand Palais, guests entered a recreation of the original Rue Cambon salon - all mirrored panels and quiet grandeur. But Matthieu Blazy’s vision stepped far beyond nostalgia. Drawing from Gabrielle Chanel’s Scottish ties, tweeds were reborn as textured marvels: thick, gold-flecked, and wildly feminine. Fishtail skirts rippled like water, feathered jackets hinted at flight, and the silhouettes whispered of power with restraint. A new chapter at Chanel may be beginning - but it’s doing so with reverence and fire.

Balenciaga – Demna’s Last Dance

Demna’s final show at Balenciaga was no tearful goodbye - it was a tightly stitched paradox. Archival silhouettes from Cristóbal’s era stood alongside bodybuilder-tailored suits, Monroe sequin gowns and sheer organza creations that floated like ghosts. A 1967 suit worn by Balenciaga muse Danielle Slavik returned to the runway, as did Kim Kardashian, in earrings once belonging to Elizabeth Taylor. But the show wasn’t nostalgic. It was defiant. As he exits, he leaves behind a legacy that is as provocative as it is poetic.