Paris: creativity takes center stage with Niccolò Pasqualetti, Chloé and McQueen

As Paris Fashion Week, dedicated to women’s fashion, enters the home stretch, it still offers some pleasant surprises. On Sunday, he highlighted three designers with visions as inventive as they are different, who revealed particularly attractive Spring/Summer 2026 collections marked by unbridled creativity: Niccolò Pasqualetti, Chloé and McQueen.

Niccolò Pasqualetti once again dazzled with his mastery of cutting and his ability to make the most sophisticated constructions look effortless. The collection, elegant in its rigor and full of precious details, achieves a measured balance between tailoring and fluidity, absence and abundance, substance and transparency, sharp and softer lines, neutral tones and brightness.

Like modern vestals, the models, dressed in head-to-toe white, moved gracefully in tunics, baggy pants and long ensembles with austere but intriguingly original cuts. Panels of raw cotton were placed directly on the body, exposing the shoulders. Simple squares, joined with just a few stitches, form blouses, dresses and cropped skirts.

Liquid-looking sarong-style skirts, covered in sequins, sat on the hips of an asymmetrical swimsuit (two pieces in one). A t-shirt with a bodysuit cut, made of white cotton or black leather, that reads on the back like an inverted jacket, leaving a deep neckline between its two lapels, into which a striking chain necklace sinks.

Leather appeared in thick jackets with interchangeable and removable sleeves, as well as dresses and skirts, and was also worked into fine braids edged with charms on certain elegant dresses and jackets. Metallic details made their presence felt, like a huge safety pin that acts as a back belt on a trench coat or a bag handle, and a shamrock-print chainmail bralette.

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At Chloé, the mood was elegant and spring-like, with an explosion of floral prints in every color and motif imaginable. Designer Chemena Kamali unrolled meters of poplin and immersed herself in an extraordinary collection of varied fabrics to drape with abandon. Nothing was off-limits: cocktail dresses with oversized bows, ruffled and basque skirts, peasant dresses with ruffles, shirring or shirring, flowy little blouses, puffed sleeves, and more.

The effect was surprising. After her first collections of diaphanous delicacy, the creative director seemed to turn this season in the opposite direction. The extravagance was reminiscent of the 1980s, an impression enhanced by looks such as a series of tapered trousers paired with brightly colored thick-knit boat-neck sweaters, draped leather skirts and collarless, buttoned, high-shouldered jackets cinched at the waist with a thick leather ribbon tied with a large bow.

The wardrobe was completed with roomy, airy raincoats in monochrome camel, gray or pastel colors, sometimes gathered just above the knee to create puffy volumes.

“I wanted to explore what the idea of ​​haute couture means in the context of Chloé. A paradox for a house founded on the principles of democratic freedom and tranquility; something that is not part of the core of its DNA,” the German designer explained in her statement of intent, adding that she wanted to take the brand “into new and unexplored territory, asking why and how Gaby Aghion founded Chloé.”

At McQueen, François-Henri Pinault has handed over his front row seat to new Kering boss Luca de Meo. Times are changing, as illustrated by the passing of the baton in recent seasons between Sarah Burton, who left for Givenchy, and the young Irish designer Seán McGirr, who succeeded her in September 2023. McGirr drew on the provocative, tormented heritage of Alexander McQueen and the refined technicality of Sarah Burton in a collection that spans all registers, from a military streak to a decadent aristocracy and a hyper-sexy boudoir sensibility.

The designer wielded scissors like a saber, marking garments with cutter cuts. Particularly on the lower back, it exposed her upper buttocks and a jeweled gold thong sticking out prominently.

The knitwear also opened at the back, as did the pants, which were divided with large vertical zippers on each leg. The waist was dropped, like skirts, exposing the upper part of the buttocks.

Beyond the classic dolman jacket, hussar-style details appeared on navy jackets with gold fringed epaulettes and were traced diagonally across the shirts. Gold trim was also placed on tapestry fabric miniskirts and jackets.

The corset was everywhere, encircling the torso in a figure-hugging bodice paired with voluminous shorts or as a slip-effect dress. It was also merged with a cotton dress. For the evening, women can choose between floaty parachute dresses, sparkling looks with garlands or ensembles with fringes and leather straps.