Blumarine Spring/Summer 2026 / SS26 at Milan Fashion Week
Dark romanticism is the twilight of the mind: a beguiling tension between grace and gloom. The Blumarine SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026 Collection portrays the seductive chemistry of the bright and the brooding. In a fantasy-pop narrative inspired by Gothic literature and love stories, Creative Director David Koma introduces the genre’s nocturnal allure to the romantic charm of Blumarine. The opposing energies are represented in the symbolic values of the House’s emblematic butterfly alongside the season motif of the dragonfly, interpreted across techniques throughout the collection. The splicing of exuberance and melancholy is articulated in intricate plays on contrasts and impressions: making the sombre look sweet and the sweet look sombre. The premise of many a fairy-tale, the love-affair between lightness and darkness shapes a multifaceted character echoed in the donna fatale who continuously inspires David Koma at Blumarine.
Details of Blumarine SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026, The notion of dark romanticism is expressed in a study of how to control the softness of flou. Through expert cutting, the tiered and bowed volumes of romantic georgette dresses are imbued with dramatic movement. The charm of satin dresses with butterfly embroideries – some with rebrodé lace – is twisted by de- and reconstruction executed with raw, frayed edges. When the fabric contracts, tops, twin sets and skirts constructed in butterfly-embroidered elastic tulle evoke the sensibility of spiderwebs. Fluid blouses drape into strands of fabric like the wings of butterflies or bats. Poet blouses and dresses in crinkled georgette are adorned with a butterfly print that morphs into the dots of leopards. The motif evolves in a camouflage-like graphic employed on long, tiered ruffle dresses in georgette and plumetis tulle embroidered with macramé butterfly appliqué across the bust.
Drama intensifies in tiered taffeta and lace skirts underlaid with plissé soleil and overlaid with butterfly formations, which move like clouds of smoke. A matching top features punto-smocked sleeves and three-dimensional butterfly appliqué with sequins. The farfalla is also portrayed through glass cuvette paillettes on georgette dresses and miniskirts. The embroideries likewise appear in multicolour form on long tulle dresses and skirts. Here, the georgette-and-lace top of a black floor-length evening gown is embroidered with beads in the image of an insect’s spine while its tulle skirt is adorned with butterfly, dragonfly and spider embroideries. Flou infiltrates tailored jackets morphed asymmetrically with wing-like ruffled georgette panels. Butterfly lace reveals itself under the waistbands of skinny trousers. Rendered in blush and sage, canvas cargo trousers, skirts and jackets with colour-accented shearling collars reflect the collection’s swapping of codes.
Characteristic to the expression of David Koma, hardware contrasts the fluidity of the collection and plays with tropes of Gothicism. Set with large rhinestones, crosses appear on body charms worn across the torso, on earrings and on voluminous chokers that also feature dragonfly adornments. Two big multi-chain necklaces are likewise festooned with crystal crosses, dragonflies and spiders, which also appear as earrings and bag charms. Metal outline-bras are suspended from metal straps, some ornamented with dragonfly breastplates. A sense of metal as second skin materialises in hammered wrist cuffs and armlets. Sunglasses with butterfly-shaped lenses are adorned with either studs or cross pendants on the bridge.
The Blumarine messenger bag with its derrière outline appears in canvas embellished with piercings along the edges as well as bug charms. Canvas butterfly bags are trimmed with colour-highlighted shearling, while butterfly-shaped backpacks are constructed in leather. The crescent ‘hat bag’ debuted in the Resort 2026 collection re-emerges in leather with butterfly cut-outs or in canvas with shearling trims. Sling-back pointed stiletto pumps and circular-toed stiletto sandals crafted in slick satin are bejewelled with crystal metal charms in the likenesses of spiders, scarabs and butterflies. The stitching featured on knee-high pointed stiletto boots in slick satin recall the silhouette of pumps. The detail is echoed on kittenheeled pointed tubular boots with shearling trims.
All images Blumarine SS26 / Spring/Summer 2026 by the brand. PR Agency Purple PR. Credit to: CREATIVE DIRECTION David Koma, STYLING Marc Goehring, SET DESIGN Tom Schneider, HAIR Claire Grech for L’Oréal Professionel Paris, MAKE UP Patrick Glatthaar, MOVEMENT DIRECTION Ryan Chappell, SOUNDTRACK Mode-F, PRODUCTION Without Production