Inside the SS27 Collections

SAINT LAURENT SS27 

Anthony Vaccarello’s final collection for Saint Laurent placed gold at the centre of the house’s visual language, tracing its presence from Byzantine ornament and Renaissance opulence to the severity of modernism. Sahariennes, trench coats, wrap skirts and strong-shouldered jackets appeared in lamé, organza, guipure lace, mousseline, brocade and metallic cotton, with each fabric catching the colour differently. Gilded chain shoes, monumental earrings and intricate embroidery sharpened the collection’s sensuality before the palette gave way to black velvet tailoring and fluid evening dresses. Vaccarello’s departure brought a particular weight to the gold, a recurring house signature recast here as an expression of authority, seduction and glamour. 

DIOR SS27 

At Dior, the relationship between nature and the constructed image runs through a collection concerned with perception, surface and transformation. Printed jacquard, silk mousseline, lace and embroidery alternate between transparency and opacity, exposing parts of the garment before concealing them again. Asymmetry unsettles familiar proportions and contrasts between delicate fabrics and more substantial materials give the clothes a sense of movement and instability. Words and phrases arranged in circular formations introduce another layer of imagery, recalling branches, organic growth and interconnected forms. Dedicated to Mathilde, the collection brings together natural references, material experimentation and the possibility of renewal, presenting fashion as an evolving conversation between the visible world and the meanings we project onto it. 

FENDI SS27 

At FENDI, Maria Grazia Chiuri examines the relationship between the body and the clothes that frame it, bringing questions of intimacy, gender and self-definition into the collection. Lingerie provides the starting point, with lace, embroidery and sheer fabrics appearing alongside shared tailoring, sculptural shoes and garments that shift between exposure and concealment. The irreverent spirit of Italian pop icon Raffaella Carrà informs the show’s approach to dressing as performance, with animal print, silk, velvet, parchment and knitwear arranged in combinations that resist a single reading. Mirrors, dance and reflected bodies recur as ideas throughout the collection, placing identity in a constant exchange between the individual and the gaze of others. 

DIESEL SS27 

Glenn Martens closed his six-year chapter at Diesel with a collection that returned to the instincts at the heart of his tenure: disintegration, hybridisation, pop references, taut tailoring and the freedom of clothes that refuse to hold their shape. Waxed leather, knitwear, sportswear and tailored jackets collided in hybrid constructions, with denim repeatedly transformed through trompe-l’oeil treatments that mimicked leather, layered garments and altered surfaces. Raw cutaways, extremely low waistlines, orchid embroidery and twisted seams gave familiar pieces an almost unfinished quality, exposing the tension between construction and collapse. The D-ONE bag appeared in multiple iterations, novelty objects were recast in leather and the Double D motif travelled across footwear, jewelry and hardware, closing Martens’s Diesel story on its own deliberately unruly terms. 

ANN DEMEULEMEESTER SS27 

An open road through the California desert sets the scene for Ann Demeulemeester’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, shaped by teenage memories, old uniforms and the lingering atmosphere of places left behind. Sun-bleached denim, distressed workwear and striped cotton appear in a palette of white, black and blue-grey, with garments that seem to carry the marks of years of use. Jackets are turned inside out, linings hang loose and familiar silhouettes are taken apart and reconstructed, drawing on abandoned aircraft hangars, the fading glamour of Hollywood and the mythology surrounding musicians and performers. The collection reads like a personal archive translated into clothing; the past remains visible in unfinished edges, altered proportions and the traces left by wear. 

DSQUARED2 SS27 

Religious iconography, the romantic intensity of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and the excess of 1980s pop culture inform DSQUARED2’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection. Dean and Dan Caten bring exposed lace, visible bras, plunging necklines and cropped tailoring into a wardrobe that also features slinky dresses and distressed denim, disrupting the conventions of power dressing. Acid lime, hot pink and tropical florals meet sacred hearts, tattoo-inspired imagery, crosses, rosaries and medallions, drawing on Italian devotion with a provocative edge. Oversized buckles, low-rise denim and the returning Roxy bag carry the collection into after-dark territory, where romanticism, religious symbolism and rebellious sensuality coexist. 

DOLCE & GABBANA SS27 

With Stravaganza Siciliana, Dolce&Gabbana returns to the domestic world of Sicily, drawing on family palazzi, inherited garments and the objects that accumulate across generations. Antique jewellery, embroidered linens and upholstery fabrics find their way into a wardrobe of pastel lace, leopard print, brocade and lingerie worn beneath sharp tailoring. Pearls, crosses, cameos, coral, brooches and talismans are layered across the body, lending the looks the appearance of personal collections assembled over time. Leopard print runs through the show as a recurring symbol of power and spectacle, its associations with Italian glamour carried into a wardrobe that treats heritage as something to be worn, altered and claimed anew. 

EMPORIO ARMANI SS27 

Traces of Time, the final Emporio Armani collection overseen by Silvana Armani and Leo Dell’Orco before Dario Vitale takes on the role, considered how wear and memory alter the appearance of clothing. Salt crystals, acid washes, cold dyes, distressed linen, crumpled seersucker and mottled velvet gave the fabrics a patina shaped by imagined years of use. Fluid trousers, softened jackets and sheer layers defined the shared menswear and womenswear wardrobe, punctuated by subtle lurex details, oversized bags, rope slippers and small headpieces. The palette moved through irregular neutrals into black, bringing the collection’s study of time to a measured close at the end of an era for the house.

MAX MARA SS27 

Max Mara looks to the women who travelled, explored and worked beyond conventional boundaries in the 1930s, drawing on figures including Freya Stark, Osa Johnson, Eva Dickson, Amelia Earhart and Beryl Markham. Their wardrobes inform a series of safari jackets in textured linen and polished gabardine, worn long, draped or knotted, alongside fluid skirts, utility shorts and fine knitwear. Cargo vests, aviator jackets with leather straps and D-rings, organza overalls and a generously cut trench coat bring a functional vocabulary to the collection, supported by convertible bags and practical accessories. The references to exploration find their place in clothes intended for contemporary routines, from professional life to the daily movement of the city 

GUCCI SS27 

Demna’s first collection articulating his vision for Gucci, The Store Show, unfolds in a retail-inspired setting that hints at the direction of the house’s future stores. The wardrobe is organised around three social charactersthe rebellious aristocrat, the snob and the eccentric, with cropped trousers, sockless loafers, sculptural tailoring, relaxed denim, equestrian references and sharply pleated tartan establishing their distinct codes. Rugby tops, masculine shirting, checked wool, leather and delicate lingerie interrupt the conventions of Italian bourgeois dressing, giving familiar forms a more subversive edge. The Horsebit, GG Marmont and Ophidia recur across the accessories, joined by angular loafers, elongated slippers and sculptural heels, as Demna draws on Gucci’s history to examine the roles clothes play in constructing identity.