Di Petsa Spring / Summer 2026 / SS26 at London Fashion Week entitled The Archaeology of Self.
EXCAVATING THE INNER WORLD: ARCHAEOLOGY IS POETRY. The workings of our psyche are unearthed the way ancient temples are. Our memories, myths, and forgotten selves are buried like fragments of marble beneath layers of time and the biases of our memory. This is the vision behind the concept of the Archaeology of Self. Just as archaeologists carefully brush away centuries of earth to reveal sculptures, ruins, and artifacts, the Archaeology of Self invites us to patiently and erotically excavate our subconscious. It asks us to treat memory and identity as sites of discovery. To be an archeologist of self is to dig deeper, to recognise the heightened sense of reality, the mythical status of our experience.
Just like historians inevitably colour the archeological artifacts by their own ideas and perceptions of antiquity. Just so we narrate our life. Poetically we look into our past to see why we love the way we do, why we hurt the way we do. We are ancient. So we dig, the excavation site is our experiences, the soil is our unconscious and the tools are our imagination.
Di Petsa SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026 collection is composed of these fragments. A group of archeologists set out to find the sculpture of a Moon Goddess, and the more they look for her the more they become her. This season the Ancient Moon bag is unearthed from the DI PETSA subconscious. The metal bag with embroidery appears to be washed out by the sea under the moon light. Different variations of the bag in metallic knit, organza and rattan are carried by goddesses and archeologists.
The Wetlook codes are deconstructed into new techniques of layering of silk and jersey ribbons loosely draped across the body.
Childhood memories, like shards of pottery, are often reconstructed with the biases of who we are today. Our personal myths, like cultural myths, shift each time they are retold. The Archaeology of Self draws on psychology, philosophy, and mythology. It recognizes that: Memory is not fixed — it is constructed and reconstructed, like history itself. Personal mythology gives life meaning — each of us carries symbolic stories that guide who we become. Excavation is transformation — the act of unearthing forgotten truths changes both the digger and the thing unearthed. In this way, the Archaeology of Self reimagines inner life as a living excavation site. The soil is our unconscious; the fragments are our forgotten selves; the tools are reflection, imagination, and art.
The project connects this concept with the myth of Selene, the moon goddess who loved the mortal shepherd Endymion. Selene becomes a metaphor for memory itself — luminous, elusive, always glimpsed in fragments. To search for her is to search for the hidden temple within ourselves. Through writing, art, and performance, the Archaeology of Self explores questions that resonate today: What parts of us have been buried? How does culture shape the way we remember? What do we find when we dare to dig beneath the surface? Like history, the self is never a single, unbroken statue. It is mosaic — incomplete, but no less beautiful for its fractures.
All images Di Petsa SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026 by the brand. Show Team Credits: Creative Director Dimitra Petsa / Lead Stylist and Consultancy Flora Huddart @Concrete / Styling Assistant Brigitte Kovats / Lead Hair Artist Efi Davies @Toni & Guy / Lead Make-up Artist Crystabel Efemena Riley at Julian Watson Agency using the brand formerly known as Haeckels / Wet Look Make-up using Adored By Lottie Tomlinson collection / Lead Nail Artist Tyler Phoenix using Nails by Mii Range / Set Design Ellie Koslowsky / Movement Direction by Leonardo D’Aquino / Casting Sophie Rix / Music composed by Violet Wilson / Runway Photographer Jason Lloyd Evans / Runway Videographer Petros Ioannisis / Backstage Photographer Charlie Pike / Shoes partner Charles & Keith / Sunglasses provided by Maustein / Show production by Blonstein / PR by PURPLE / With Special thanks to Town Hall for sponsoring the show Venue this season.