Dries Van Noten Women Fall/Winter 2026 at Paris Fashion Week

Dries Van Noten Women Fall/Winter 2026 / FW26 at Paris Fashion Week

When we visited the Lycée Carnot at the end of summer, we were all thrown back into the emotions of being a teenager in high-school-a work in progress, in permanent becoming. How familiar and cross-cultural this feeling is: vulnerability and confidence, confusion and clarity. A customised school uniform, a worn out sweater. Clothes that shape you, clothes one feels good in. The embrace of a drape, the protection of a padded jacket, the confidence of a favourite pair of jeans. Shortly after, I came across two Flemish still-lifes from the 1680s “Two Peaches and a Butterfly on a Stone Plinth” and “Flowers and Insects”. Simple elements, sublimated into the image of the fleeting nature of beauty and life. We used these as the starting point of the prints, as detailed as they are symbolic. This Dries Van Noten Women FW26 collection starts in this conjunction; the transient moment that leads from youth to adulthood. When identity forms and what we wear defines how we are perceived, and how we perceive ourselves. The fragile time of change, before identity sets in, lasts for a little moment before it is gone. Just like a pixelated picture, the more one gets far from that time of endless questioning, the clearer it becomes.

Words by Julian

“Is this what I think? Are you sure? Look around. I hope I stay curious forever. I am wrapped in gardens, wrapped in words. She is of all colours. My pockets are full of words” Words by gala dragot fill the room with the interrogations and observations of a teenage mind.

An exploration of identity, and how it is shaped by the garments one wears, borrows, collects, clashes, matches. Spontaneity has no plan, that’s what makes it so special and fleeting. Is that mine or yours? From here or from there? A vertical silhouette, grounded on chunky-heeled boots, agitated by pattern, will and intention. School uniforms, tailored and strict, and neckties; a duffel coat, a blazer with a crest, a bomber. Embroidery is embellishment and patchwork: pieces of history and wandering stitched together to create a garment full of life. Denim, tailored into jackets, and shirts looks proper, with a rebellious tingle. Distant things come together through personal expression: the opulence of jacquard, playful tassels and jewelry, checks. Knit as texture, as a cozy feeling and the embrace of the familiar, as detail-chunky sleeves on a slender coat or a blazer. The gesture of draping oneself. Prints are either pixilated or sharp, undecipherable or evident; hidden and sliced by pleats, they get in movement as they change with motion. An invitation to get close, and look twice to discover: what seems like print is in fact embroidery, or viceversa, jewels are clusters of worldly objets trouvés. An intuitive impasto of materials wool, duchesse silk, flannels in a muted palette of blues, black and muddy neutrals lit up with luminous red, rust, tangerine, neon yellow. Sturdy shoes, embellished bags like jewels on the shoulders. Everything is possible: self expression is in the conjunction of things, volumes, objects.