Haute Couture Week is the dizzying pinnacle of Parisian fashion, where a rareified handful of houses and designers – each one meticulously vetted by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode – are allowed to show on schedule, abiding by a strict set of rules. At heart, these centre around haute couture’s raison d’être: that each garment is made-to-measure to a client’s proportions, using labour-intensive processes which can see a single gown take hundreds of hours to complete.
The rules state that to retain a haute couture designation, a house must keep a Parisian atelier – the workshop at the centre of a couture house – employ at least 15 full-time staff, and present a collection of at least 25 designs each fashion season. It means an equally exclusive client base – there are an estimated 4,000 couture active buyers in the world, a minuscule number compared to those purchasing ready-to-wear.
That said, the haute couture shows have become marketing opportunities for the world’s biggest houses, a fantastical circus of elaborate show sets, imaginative design, and celebrity-filled front rows (A-list only). As such, as much as the garments on show are for a select few, the week nonetheless influences the style zeitgeist: some of fashion’s most memorable moments have taken place on the haute couture stage.
This season is particularly interesting. Though a number of houses are sitting A/W 2025 out – like Valentino, where Alessandro Michele has chosen to show couture just once a year, Jean Paul Gaultier, where new creative director Duran Lantink is still settling in, and Dior, where Jonathan Anderson will host his first couture show in January – there is still plenty to look out for. These include Chanel’s final outing by the in-house ‘Creation Studio’ prior to Matthieu Blazy’s debut in September, Demna’s last haute couture show at Balenciaga before he moves to Gucci, and Glenn Martens’ anticipated debut at Maison Margiela.
Alongside our daily report on the shows, to bring Haute Couture Week to life this season, the Wallpaper* editors on the ground will be offering a real-time look at the weekend’s happenings – from behind-the-scenes glimpses to access to the shows, presentations and parties. Stay tuned. JM
Jack Moss is Wallpaper’s fashion features editor, reporting for the magazine’s digital and print editions – from international runway shows to profiling the style world’s leading figures.
Jason Hughes is Wallpaper’s fashion and creative director, overseeing all style content – from fashion and beauty to watches and jewellery – as well as leading the visual direction of the magazine.
Jonathan Anderson reveals his new ‘curated’ vision for JW Anderson
‘[The] things I like and I would like to have around me. And everything has a story,’ is how Jonathan Anderson describes his newly refreshed vision for JW Anderson, the London-based label which propelled him to international fame (he now juggles it alongside an expansive new role as creative director of Dior’s men’s, women’s and haute couture collections). Doing away with a runway show format, his new vision comprises ‘an ever-evolving, seasonally-updated, selection of twisted classics’, with each one related in some way to local craft. He revealed Act One in Paris today with a Spring 2026 Resort collection, ushered in by a new logo and lookbook starring Joe Alwyn, Luca Guadagnino, Anthea Hamilton and Bella Freud, among others.
Fans will recognise several of the pieces – Anderson describes it as a ‘best of’ and a ’prelude to new evolutions’ – like knitted jumpers featuring intarsia houses, versions of the ‘Loafer’ bag, and twisted cargo pants, though newness arrives in silk jacquard boxer shorts, bug prints and slogans like ‘Anonymous Lovers’, taken from Berlin-based artist Dean Sameshima, whose work often evokes vintage queer ephemera. Presented at Paris’ Galerie Joseph, the collection sat alongside what will be a new offering of homeware, art and curiosities, curated by the artist in a changing roster – from jars of Houghton Hall Estate honey to Jason Mosseri’s Hope Spring Chairs, Charles Rennie Mackintosh re-issues and Murano glassware.
The ‘radically reprogrammed’ JW Anderson will centre around a new store design by architects Sanchez Benton, which was previewed today in the space: ‘an ambience that is enveloping and familiar; a grammar of warm materials and colours that embodies a feeling of the handmade and beautifully-crafted.’
At Schiaparelli, Daniel Roseberry looks back to look forward
Schiaparelli’s Monday morning slot has come to mark the start of Haute Couture Week, seeing the steps of Paris’ Petit Palais taken over by a coterie of Daniel Roseberry’s high-profile devotees – today, they included musicians Dua Lipa and Cardi B, the latter (somewhat inexplicably) brandishing a real-life pet crow. The show itself was a typical dramatic exploration of form, though among Roseberry’s sculpted, contouring silhouettes – including a gown which evoked the saddle of a horse, here crafted from satin – there was new ease in the line of gowns inspired by the liberated, corset-less cuts of the 1920s.
The latter was in part inspired by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, a contemporary of house founder Elsa Schiaparelli, who Roseberry said ‘liberated women from the corset’ and would create an iconography of design which would redefine haute couture forever (the house she founded, Chanel, will show its latest couture outing at midday tomorrow). Meanwhile, Elsa Schiaparelli’s own radical spirit – shaped by her relationship with the Surrealists – emerged in flourishes of trompe l’oeil, a bejewelled version of her ‘Apollo’ cape, and gowns that appeared like the body had been twisted back to front. ‘This collection reminds you that looking backwards is nothing if we can’t find something meaningful to bring into our future,’ he said. JM
A closer look at Michael Rider’s Celine debut
Michael Rider’s Celine debut gets even better the more you look at it – particularly up close, as we did this afternoon at a re-see of the collection. There are some particularly brilliant accessories which capture the sense of play that the American designer said he wants to bring to the Parisian house, from handbags with smile-shaped zips to touristy charm bracelets and boots with blown-up horsebit fastenings. ‘I would never want to be perceived as cynical, having a sense of humour in the luxury space is a beautiful thing,’ he said post-show. JM
The invitation for Glenn Martens’ Maison Margiela debut is a spoon
There has been surprisingly little revealed about former Y/Project creative director – and current Diesel creative director – Glenn Martens’ debut collection for Maison Margiela, which will be revealed on Wednesday evening. A teaser this morning on the Maison Margiela Instagram featured a spoon – painted to resemble a wallpaper backdrop – being scratched away by a disembodied hand, while the invitation, which arrived this morning, comprises another spoon encased in a typically Margiela-white box. What does this mean? Who knows – but a quick Google shows that a bracelet made from a repurposed spoon featured in Martin Margiela’s A/W 2025 artisanal collection, which may or may not be a clue. JM
‘There was a foundation to build on’: Michael Rider makes his debut at Celine
Celine’s S/S 2026 collection, which marked Michael Rider’s debut
Taking place yesterday on the eve of haute couture week in Paris, Michael Rider presented his debut collection for Celine – an astute opening act which balanced the house’s recent legacy with a fresh, contemporary vision which nodded to his American roots. ‘I did not want there to be a sense of erasure. There was a foundation to build on. That to me felt modern, it felt ethical, it felt strong,' he said after the show, with moments which nodded to the tenures of Hedi Slimane and Phoebe Philo (he worked under the latter at the house from 2008-2017). But this was no rehash – read our full review of the show below. JM
READ: Michael Rider’s joyful Celine debut: ‘I’ve always loved the idea of clothing that lives on’
What to look out for this week
Chanel’s S/S 2025 haute couture show, staged earlier this year in Paris’ Grand Palais
We’ve compiled five moments to look out for this Haute Couture Week as proceedings begin this morning in Paris. These include Glenn Martens’ debut at Maison Margiela (he replaces John Galliano after a 10-year tenure), Demna’s swansong at Balenciaga (the Georgian designer will head to Gucci this summer), shows from the couture heavyweights (with a few notable absences), and a new vision for Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson’s eponymous London-based label JW Anderson, which will be revealed later today.