Courrèges' show invite was a pair of sunglasses. The choice, besides being much appreciated (the first few days of Paris fashion week have luckily been sunny), was a clue to the collection’s theme. For Spring/Summer 2026, Nicolas di Felice ponders the sun, not as a divine inspiration as it is routinely treated in an estival collection, but as an enemy to find cover from. And that’s just what the Belgian designer did. The opening looks hid models’ faces behind a covering that connected from their pointed caps to their miniskirts. These were not just stylistic statements; they were environmental too: in shades of blue, these veils were all functional UV blockers.
Appropriately named Blinded by the Sun, the collection was paired with an installation in the show’s habitual venue, Le Carreau Du Temple. Instead of breathing floors or flying confetti, this time around, the ploy was less fun and more worrisome. As the show went on, the lights got brighter, the temperature hotter. Luckily, di Felice proposed the ideal summer wardrobe. Denim shorts with long rectangular tails. Asymmetric draped tops that expose half the torso.
As always, the Belgian designer’s creations are as engineered as they are sensual. Ingenious dresses connect fabric draped at the lap with the neck of the dress. Tight minidresses, made entirely of what seemed like hundreds of belts, were rubberised; as the increasingly bright lights shone on them, they appeared almost wet. By the end of the show, we sure wish we had been. When the last triad of looks came out – structured minidresses that elevated the neckline past the nose – the heat was practically suffocating. But still, we all watched, sat. Di Felice made a point, and we proved it.
Words by Pedro Vasconcelos
