A Proposition for Real Life: Maison Margiela Unveils Spring Summer 2026

Maison Margiela Spring Summer Co-Ed 2026 Show PFW

In the hushed anticipation before the first model appears, the air is not filled with a traditional score, but with the earnest, unfolding sound of a youth orchestra. Sixty-one musicians, aged seven to fifteen, some with only weeks of training, gather from Romilly-sur-Seine. This is the sound of a new generation learning its craft, a fitting overture for a collection that serves as a series of concepts and proposals for real life in the spring and summer of 2026. This is not a dictation of trends, but a presentation of new design suggestions, re-introductions, and evolutions of archival ideas from us all at Maison Margiela.

The show opens with a foundational proposition: tailoring, deconstructed and redefined. A tuxedo is cut away to its waistcoat front, revealing the architecture beneath. The shoulder is sharply rounded with a precise dart, the armhole tracing the natural line of the socket like a cartographer mapping the body. This new silhouette is fastened with ties, an echo of the blouse blanche worn by our staff, grounding high craft in utilitarian gesture. Trousers, with an extreme low crotch, emphasise a long, languid silhouette that moves with a singular grace.

This sartorial language proves its adaptability, translated into denim—a fabric intrinsic to the Maison’s history. The same rigorous construction applied to wool and leather is now bestowed upon humble jean, elevating it while acknowledging its foundational role in the modern wardrobe.

The "tuxedo waistcoat" cutline becomes a recurring motif, integrated into staple garments. Leather jackets and trench coats adopt the draped lapel, which can be folded away and hidden inside the garment itself—a secret of construction, a choice of presentation left to the wearer.

Throughout the collection, the concept of the slip dress is re-contextualised. Long, vintage-inspired slips are transformed into outer layers, affixed over the top of tailored jackets, blurring the lines between intimate and public, structure and drape. In another proposition, shirts and trousers crafted from lining fabric completely envelop tailored suits, a ghostly second skin. Oversized slips are gathered and fitted in rough, improvisational ways with tape, celebrating the beauty of the provisional.

The memory of interiors manifests in knitwear, where the effect of peeling 16th-century floral wallpaper is recreated through printed paper embossed onto the surface—an evolution of an Artisanal concept. Elsewhere, florals—some scanned from real flowers—are printed onto draped and wrapped silk dresses. The printing is placed according to the drape, with creases defined like a negative of the print, a permanent record of the garment’s form.

Permanent eveningwear emerges as a new concept, where silk scarves are fused onto tailored jackets, coats, and tuxedo shirts. The scarf appears as if always worn around the neck, yet is cut away to ensure the garment’s full function, freezing a moment of elegant nonchalance.

Continuing from the Artisanal 2025 show, the technique of plasticisation is applied to new forms. A top is created from clustered upcycled jewellery, solidified into a new whole. Silk jackets are entirely plasticised, their luxury transformed into pragmatic rainwear. Voluminous silk floral dresses, expansive and dramatic, are held in place by a bodice of taping, a visible structure against the fluidity of the silk.

Anonymity remains a central tenet of our exploration. The models’ expressions are unified by the Four Stitch mouthpiece, a continuation of the Maison’s dialogue with the individual and the collective.

Footwear presents both a re-introduction and an evolution. The archival heel-less shoe returns, its support cunningly concealed within, and now extends to a family that includes pumps, western boots, and long boots. The Tabi Claw, first seen in Artisanal, makes its ready-to-wear debut, set with a plexi heel. Summer sandals feature heels moulded from the same transparent material. The Future sneaker evolves, its high-top form now dominated by wide straps that wrap around the foot.

Bags and accessories complete the propositions. The Box Bag, crafted from soft leather with reinforced edges via a Thermoforming technique, is often embellished with metal trim. Its straps can be tucked inside, transforming it into a clutch. Cluster jewellery continues its narrative from Artisanal, appearing as a gathering of jewels, as if dropped down the side of an opera seat on opening night.

As the final model exits, the orchestra of young musicians from the Orchestre à l’École association plays on. Their collective, learning voice is the perfect coda to a collection built not on finality, but on possibility—a series of thoughtful, poetic, and precise propositions for the life that is to come.

See full runway:

Maison Margiela Spring Summer Co-Ed 2026 Show PFW