Dior, Chanel, And More: Here Are The Highlights From Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2026

Matthieu Blazy presented his Fall/Winter 2026 Haute Couture collection for Chanel on the second day of Couture Week. (Photo: Courtesy of Chanel)

As the saying goes amongst style insiders: it’s always Fashion Week somewhere. Yet even the most jaded amongst us can’t help but feel a tinge of awe when Haute Couture Week rolls around—at the sheer craftsmanship and creativity on display, with each house pushing their abilities to the maximum.

The Fall/Winter 2026 edition of fashion’s most exclusive showcase is in full swing, with presentations from couture heavyweights Dior and Chanel already complete. At Dior, Jonathan Anderson blanketed the Musée Rodin with lush, tropical vegetation, staging a show inspired by the textural and three-dimensional work of artist Lynda Benglis. At Chanel, Matthieu Blazy turned to the maison’s eponymous founder for inspiration, presenting a folklore-inspired collection drawing from Coco Chanel’s personal library.

Jonathan Anderson presented his Fall/Winter 2026 Haute Couture collection for Dior on the first day of Couture Week. (Photo: Courtesy of Dior)

Later in the week, we can expect to see highly anticipated debuts from both Duran Lantink and Pierpaolo Piccioli. Though neither designer is a stranger to couture, this week marks the first Haute Couture collection they will design for their respective houses—Lantink for Jean Paul Gaultier and Piccioli for Balenciaga. Notable absences from the calendar include Valentino and Giambattista Valli, while Fendi’s Maria Grazia Chiuri will present an off-calendar show in Rome on 9 July.

Ahead, get a closer look at the highlights of Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2026.

Dior

For his sophomore Haute Couture collection at Dior, Jonathan Anderson began with an artist: Lynda Benglis, famed for her unconventional, three-dimensional work blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture. He drew particular inspiration from Benglis’ mesh work from the 1980s and 1990s, which he mimicked through hand-plissé on lamé, silk satin, tulle, and denim. A series of bubble skirts in a patchwork of textural materials also recalled Benglis’ mixed-material sculptures.

Anderson also zeroed in on an unexpected aspect of Benglis’ practice: her longstanding relationship with Indian art and culture, particularly that of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. On the runway, brightly-coloured floral and beaded embellishments paid tribute to Benglis’ Peacock series, inspired by the birds spotted during her stays in Ahmedabad.

Anderson’s research also led him beyond Benglis’ work, into deeper questions about Indian craftsmanship and textiles—particularly the traditions of gemstone carving and chintz. Couture jewellery was designed in collaboration with Indian artisans in Jaipur, while mini Lady Diors and Petit Dîners were adorned with 18th-century fragments of chintz and indiennes, sourced from a specialist dealer. The result was a collection rich with historic and artistic influences, blending Anderson’s refined Dior style codes with a refreshingly global outlook.

Chanel

As the oldest operating couture house in history, Chanel is almost synonymous with haute couture—making Matthieu Blazy’s presentation one of the most highly anticipated shows of the season. This show came just months after his debut couture collection in January, and echoed much of its restraint, choosing to emphasise the maison’s savoir-faire through delicacy and translucency.

Blazy has been known to dip into Gabrielle Chanel’s personal life for sartorial inspiration, and this season’s point of departure was a discovery made in her personal library. “I started to wonder, was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairy tale?” Blazy asked in the collection notes. “I found a small book in her library, Les Fées, Contes des Contes, and asked myself if, together with the Haute Couture ateliers, we could make garments that tell stories like a book.”

In translating fairytales into the language of couture, Blazy took a whimsical approach, blending fantastical motifs with classic Chanel style codes. Guipure lace took the shape of magic beans, while curling vines and florals were embroidered onto silk mousseline. Models wore shoes with ferns twisting up the heels, and carried minaudières shaped like hens and sleeping bears. Texture was explored through straw-like embellishments—most strikingly, in a raffia-knit skirt suit inspired by the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

Touchingly, Blazy’s cast of Chanel models have also become icons in their own right. From ingenue Bhavitha Mandava to veteran Stephanie Cavalli, the designer’s favourite muses all made appearances on the couture runway.

Schiaparelli

Daniel Roseberry has never been one to shy away from the experimental, and this season, the Schiaparelli creative director leaned into his most daring instincts. As stars like Michelle Yeoh and Emma Corrin watched on from the front row, Roseberry presented a dreamlike collection designed to leave viewers with more questions than answers. The designer’s stated aim for this season was to firmly push back on house codes, redefining the accepted building blocks of couture. “We paired haute couture techniques with synthetic materials,” Roseberry wrote in the collection statement. “Instead of the traditional silks, satins, and wools, we used latex, silicone, and pools of paint baked into sheets and sculpted into silhouettes.”

What emerged was a sculptural, unusual collection that veered sharply between humanoid and alien. Some creations came with lush, pretty florals and bodices mimicking the naked form, whereas others were altogether more alien, featuring menacing black protrusions in kinetic latex. “A skirt’s floral motif is made of hundreds of flowers rendered from hosiery stretched on metal wires and pearls,” explains the collection statement. “Another dress bristles with weightless sculpted crinoline tubes, [while] a pair of leggings are encrusted with real flowers, fish scales, and ribbon flowers.” Here, the collection’s central tension is revealed: Roseberry might aim to rewrite the rules of couture, but he does so by honouring its most sacred commitment to artisanship and elevated technique.