The Spring/Summer 2026 season of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week opened with a powerful display of creativity and craftsmanship. From a highly anticipated debut to bold reinterpretations of house codes, day one set the tone for a week defined by artistry at its highest level. Here are the standout moments and collections that shaped the opening day of couture week in Paris.
Schiaparelli
Schiaparelli opened the shows, setting a dramatic and uncompromising tone for the week ahead. Presented on a cold Paris morning, Daniel Roseberry’s latest offering, titled The Agony and the Ecstasy, drew direct inspiration from a recent visit to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, where the enduring power of Michelangelo’s ceiling became the emotional starting point for the collection.
Rather than focusing solely on form, Roseberry shifted inward, designing from feeling rather than appearance. That instinct shaped a series of exploratory silhouettes charged with symbolism and intensity. Scorpion tails, stingers, and serpentine motifs emerged through sharp strokes and sculptural lines, transforming couture archetypes into powerful, almost mythical figures. Craft sat at the centre of the narrative, from hand-cut lace treated as a three-dimensional bas-relief to feathers painted, crystallised, and layered with neon tulle for depth and shadow. The result was a collection that felt visceral, fearless, and deeply emotional, celebrating both the imagination and technical mastery of the Schiaparelli ateliers.
Dior Couture
Jonathan Anderson made a striking entrance into the world of haute couture with his much-anticipated debut for Dior. Staged at the Musée Rodin and attended by an A-list audience including Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence, Anya Taylor-Joy, and former Dior Creative Director John Galliano, the Spring/Summer 2026 collection felt nothing short of magical. Moss and cyclamens crowded the ceiling, setting the scene for a couture fairytale rooted in nature, memory and Dior’s rich heritage.
Leaning into the house’s iconic backstory, Anderson presented twisted silk gowns, sculptural leather coats, architectural silhouettes and shimmering sequin minidresses. Accessories became storytelling devices, from orchid-shaped earrings and tasselled evening bags to jewellery crafted from meteorite shards and fossils. Cyclamen appeared as pom-pom earrings and floral embellishments, nodding to Christian Dior’s lifelong love of gardens and the natural world. Whimsical yet precise, the collection balanced fantasy with craftsmanship, marking a confident and captivating new chapter for Dior Couture.
Georges Hobeika
Lebanese designer Georges Hobeika presented a refined vision of romance shaped by emotion, elegance and craftsmanship. Designed by Hobeika alongside his son Jad, who has joined him at the helm of the Maison in recent years, the collection unfolded as a graceful meditation on love in all its complexity.
Glamorous gowns swept the runway in a soft palette of neutrals and delicate pastels, their fluid silhouettes and intricate detailing evoking a sense of effortless beauty. Lace, embroidery and subtle sparkle were used with restraint, allowing each piece to feel both timeless and quietly modern. This was a collection inspired by love as a transformative force, one that makes us vulnerable yet free and deeply connected to others and to ourselves.
Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra’s collection, Alchemy, explored the boundaries between art, nature and design. Presented as a poetic exploration of the elements, the collection moved through fire, earth, air and water in a sequence of shimmering, gravity-defying looks, both ethereal and deeply considered. Mishra translated the natural world through his signature craftsmanship, using thousands of hours of meticulous hand embroidery to build texture and movement. Threads, beads and sequins were layered with extraordinary precision, forming flames, rolling waves and subtle currents of wind across the body.
Sculptural silhouettes and accentuated lines were softened by fluid materials, creating an abstract dialogue between structure and motion. Each piece suggested nature not as something fixed, but as a living, evolving force – a common theme we are already seeing across this season’s collections.
