Welcome to our new series: an unfiltered, stream of consciousness Paris fashion week fall 2026 diary recounting the real life moments, thoughts, and magical highlights that make the best week of fashion month so interesting.
I never try to dress for brands but for Comme day (also lovingly dubbed “Japan Day” by some industry insiders because all the Comme des Garçons family brands show on this day), I like to pay my own kind of tribute. After all, this is the best day of all of fashion month. There is nothing else like it. I wore a mashup up of Dries Van Noten, Saks Potts and Noir Kei Ninomiya, chaining multiple harnesses together, including sparkly black bows on my back, with Vivienne Westwood horns and a pair of Emmanuel Kahn purple sunglasses. I think I’m one of the few who opt not to do all black.
Junya Watanabe was the first show of the day, hidden deep in the alcove of a garage, and it was the most striking Junya Watanabe shows in a very long time. Pat Boguslawski, the same movement director that choreographed the viral Galliano Margiela couture show, took the reigns and had models including Irina Shayk (who opened the show by throwing off her jacket onto the sole chair on the runway) portray emotional, dreamy dolls in Watanabe’s version of found object couture. Incredibly mesmerizing patchworks dresses and gilded, golden gowns came to life against the black and white checkerboard floor while fake mascara teardrop streaks bled down faces, created by Isamaya Ffrench with surreal retro punk, shaken up swirled edge, buzz cut combination hairdos by Eugene Souleiman.
The show notes called it, “The Art of Assemblage Couture,” citing, “form born from pure creative instinct, free from conventional notions of dressmaking. Through the direct presentation of raw materials, this approach expresses the surrounding social environment.” The tactile textiles felt so human and raw; absolutely worthy of staring hard to see all the little details–a glove here, mirror there, faux hair everywhere. With the strong accordion and piano music, black and white checkerboard floors, and intentionally dramatized, emotional model walks, the clothing was animated and brought to life, personified. It felt like a smart yet camp take on Watanabe refracting back the artificial idea of French fashion through his own language. Super interesting.
While on the way to Junya Watanabe, I saw a couple different flea markets in the streets not too far from the venue. I had a break after my first show, which meant I had enough time to check out one of them. Found lots of very good, strange jewelry. The score of the day was a chunky Edouard Rambaud brass fish necklace. Even the worst of the worst street markets in Paris are pure perfection: I love trinket hoarding.
1PM: time for my favorite show of all of fashion month: Noir Kei Ninomiya. I got married in several of his dark glam dresses combined with Simone Rocha. The show took place inside another garage-like space, with a very narrow runway and only a front row, with the rest of the crowd standing. Incredible sculpted tulle skeleton puff dresses made my jaw drop, and I’m also excited about the new Puma collab. Each model was surrounded by an enchanting cloud of darkness via huge geometric star harnesses and floral sculpted exoskeletons. Hulking spiked appendages shaped like flowers, rib cages and other geometric wonders felt like beautiful defensive mechanisms against the world. The genius of Noir Kei Ninomiya is also the styling. Underneath all the amazing optical show-offs are things like little little tulle dresses, sculptural jackets and smaller harnesses that you can wear alone or build up for an out-of-this-world outfit.
Models were transformed into walking works of art, with cat and squirrel-shaped headpieces by Shinji Konishi and face accessories by Shoplifer.
It just so happens that one of my other favorite brands also always shows on this day; Vivienne Westwood (Andreas Kronthaler line). I genuinely love the massive proportions and stilted silhouettes, and this season also had lots of huge, cartoonish hats, plaid, gingham and some very cool takes on built-in corset asymmetrical dresses. I really love that the brand (no longer under the control of Vivienne since her passing, sadly) still puts effort into unconventional silhouettes that aren’t devised to be typically flattering. Romy Schneider was mentioned as one of the key inspirations, and interestingly enough, Saint Laurent also credited her this season.
And then: the highlight of the day, the always emotional Comme des Garçons show which took place in the same garage venue as Noir, but on a different floor. Rei Kawakubo sent out a progression of all-black looks, ornately rendered in her usual artistic ways; blooming in bulbs of fabric, wrapped in dynamic ruching and styled in excessive, opulent manifestations of fashion’s favorite hue. The show notes served as the ultimate dedication to black.
“In the end, there is black
Ultimately Black
I have come to realize that, after all, black is the colour for me.
It’s just the strongest, the best for creation, and the colour that embodies the rebellious spirit. And has the biggest meaning: The Universe and the Black Hole.”
In the middle of the collection, a parade of bubble gum pink looks came out on the runway, as if to offer a defense to the strong force field of black surrounding, absorbing, completing and competing with us. The show closed with a model wearing a mountain of tiered fringe and a feathered headpiece; with movement that cannot be compared to any other single garment you’ve ever seen. CDG is always such a powerful and moving statement, I wish I could just end the day with it.
But the next stop was Ann Demeulemeester, where quickly I realized I was sitting diagonally behind Ann herself. Stefano Gallici is now designing the collection, appointed creative director as of 2023. I overheard Ann say that she was originally sitting in the middle of the venue but she wanted more privacy, so she asked to be moved to the end and I thought that was a very Ann thing to say. The collection felt heavily vintage and antique inspired with tons of lace, shearling, and military jackets, ranging in references from the 1960s to 1990s. Billy Idol walked the show and that was incredibly iconic.
My final show of the day was Balenciaga, smack dab in the middle of Champs-Élysées on a Saturday night. Getting inside posed a challenge. (I overheard one editor say, “I’m just trying to do my job without dying!”). Nevertheless, this was newly named creative director Pierpaolo Picciol’s second collection for the house, where we got to see some really beautiful embellished gowns and outerwear, with a collection that also featured some classic Demna-isms. I think we all can’t wait to see a fully shaped, inherently new Balenciaga by Picciol. But I understand, with this economy in particular, not wanting to alienate current clients. There was also a Euphoria collab with immersive video screens and some of the cast sitting front row. The finale look–a cut-away silver sequin gown–was what left the most stunning impression on me.
All images © Sudden Chic.
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