Season of change: The designers shaking up the world's biggest brands at Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2026

Every fashion season claims to be earth-shattering, but in many ways, the spring/summer 2026 shows truly were.

With a host of new designers stepping into major houses – Jonathan Anderson making his debut at Dior womenswear, Michael Rider at Celine and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga – the Paris collections carried a fever-pitch sense of anticipation.

New designers mean new beginnings, yet with so many fresh eras launching at once, there were fears the season might devolve into a bloodbath, with every trace of the past wiped clean. We needn’t have worried. Each designer approached their debut with subtlety, offering gentle nods to house heritage before setting out a new vision.

The result was a softer, more seamless evolution – one that felt like building on the past rather than tearing it down. In a world that sometimes puts a premium on total reinvention, it was a relief to see that there’s still another way to start over - one that speaks to both fashion devotees and label loyalists alike.

Chanel

Hermès

A model presents a creation by Hermes for the Women Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on October 4, 2025. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

Never one to chase trends, women's wear creative director Nadège Vanhée looked within the house for this season's direction, settling on an antique Hermes saddle. Leaning into the quiet perfection it is so famous for, this was realised as a nonchalant skirt that took its cues from a saddle blanket, and horse bridles transformed into strappy harnesses. Buttery leather became straight cut skirts, and quilted leather was remade as smart belted coats, and shorter sporty jackets.

Balenciaga

Pierpaolo Piccioli marked his debut at Balenciaga with the spring/summer 2026 collection in Paris. Photo: Balenciaga

Pierpaolo Piccioli unveiled his first collection for the storied couture house of Balenciaga, following a remarkable 25-year tenure at Valentino.

A natural couturier, his arrival felt like a fitting match – an Italian master of volume, colour and refined edge taking the reins of a house most recently associated with exaggerated streetwear.

Drawing inspiration from Balenciaga’s 1957 “sack dress” – a voluminous silhouette once deemed scandalous for its rejection of the body’s contours – Piccioli reinterpreted it through puff-ball skirts, floor-grazing shirt trains, cocoon-shaped coats and shaggy, sculptural skirts.

Such was the anticipation that the front row drew a cinematic crowd: Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, sat alongside Kristin Scott Thomas and Isabelle Huppert, bearing witness to a new chapter in Balenciaga’s evolution.

Celine

Michael Rider's collection for Celine featured nods to Phoebe Philo and Hedi Slimane, but also featured his own touch. Getty

At Celine, Michael Rider’s debut collection reimagined the house’s signature codes through a sharp, modern lens.

The effortless cool of Phoebe Philo’s era resurfaced in fluid, neck-tied dresses and asymmetrical skirts, while Hedi Slimane’s sleek, skinny silhouettes appeared across both men’s and women’s looks – layered under logoed jumpers and oversized blazers.

Between these two poles, Rider introduced playful flashes of colour and nostalgia – mini-dresses in bold 1960s prints, silk scarf skirts that floated with movement, vibrant boots, and sweeping overcoats.

Familiar yet forward-looking, his debut balanced reverence with renewal and offered a vision of a vision full of cool.

Dior

The reimagined Bar Jacket at Jonathan Anderson's ready-to-wear debut for Dior. AFP

One of the most eagerly awaited shows of the season was Dior, where Irish designer Jonathan Anderson made his much-anticipated womenswear debut.

Beneath an electronic banner reading “Dare you enter the house of Dior?” – a witty nod to any pre-show nerves – Anderson presented a collection that built upon, rather than erased, the house’s illustrious past.

Referencing his predecessors – John Galliano, Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Bohan among them – he reimagined Christian Dior’s famed nipped-waist Bar jacket in slubby tweed and a more compact silhouette. The full-skirted New Look of 1947 was recast as a sculpted white strapless gown, bridging classicism with modern minimalism.

Many ensembles were crowned with exquisite Stephen Jones headpieces, adding a touch of couture theatre to a collection that spanned an impressive 74 looks. With this ambitious debut, Anderson made it clear: a bold new era at Dior has begun.

Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney's designs featured fevvers – a plant-based, cruelty-free alternative to feathers. EPA

Stella McCartney opened her spring/summer 2026 show in Paris with a moment of pure theatre – Dame Helen Mirren taking to the runway to recite The Beatles’ 1969 classic Come Together.

The show closed on an equally striking note, with a series of ethereal evening looks adorned in what appeared to be delicate feathers. But, true to McCartney’s lifelong commitment to vegetarianism and animal rights, not a single plume came from a bird. Instead, the designs featured fevvers – a plant-based, cruelty-free alternative that captured all the lightness and movement of the real thing, without the harm.

Saint Laurent

Lightweight, ruffled nylon gowns at Saint Laurent. Getty

At Saint Laurent, designer Anthony Vaccarello explored the idea of newness through a procession of voluminous, ruffled evening looks.

Drawing inspiration from the house’s 1980s archives, Vaccarello reinterpreted the drama of that era with a modern touch – crafting semi-sheer gowns from ultra-light nylon so weightless they could be scrunched up and slipped (almost) into a pocket.

The result was an audacious blend of glamour and practicality, perhaps the ultimate day-to-night proposition from a designer who continues to balance sensuality with surprise.