“Where is the beauty?” Marie Claire’s fashion director Lily Russo-Bah asked me last week as we sat through shows of muted colour palettes, strobe lights and screeching soundtracks. The answer, it seems, lies with Jonathan Anderson, as Dior kicks off the start of Paris Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 26.
Set in the Jardin des Tuileries—originally commissioned by Queen Catherine de Medici in 1564, later redesigned by Louis XIV, and famed for its habit décent dress code (clothing deemed appropriate to one’s social rank)—the setting offered a telling glimpse of what was to come. Add to that Louis XIV’s well-documented interest in being seen, as noted in the show notes, and it’s little surprise that a combination of Baroque beauty, extravagance and femininity swept down the catwalk.
