Zara by John Galliano Collection Just Released

Re{form} Zara by John Galliano: Vol. 1 Collection. Re{form} is an act of revolution, reconstruction and renewal: a creative partnership between John Galliano and Zara. Unveiled in September 2026, the collection’s first instalment – Vol. 1 09/2026 – opens the couturier’s exchange with the archives of the fashion purveyor. Authored by John Galliano and built from the memories of Zara, the genderless proposal is conceived from archetypal garments and accessories, re{form}ed using techniques native to haute couture, and reproduced in new materials.

Re{form} Zara by John Galliano: Vol. 1 collection takes form through dialogues between John Galliano and the staples of the Zara wardrobe. Perceiving archival pieces as prototypes, the dressmaker spontaneously cuts, dismantles and reassembles existing expressions into new ones. By instinct, characters from the formative chapter of his canon come to life: Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses – the defiant dandies and divas of post-Revolutionary France – evoked in contemporary guises through subversive and illusory compositions. In the process, they appear through alternate lenses: the bourgeois spirit of the gardening wardrobe, the cinematic glamour of film noir.

The characters are conjured through savoir-faire techniques developed by John Galliano for Re{form}, as well as practices central to the couturier’s authorship. The image of outerwear is evoked through trompe l’oeil layering. Dresses, tailoring and knitwear are re{form}ed with illustrative lines that augment the body language. Multiple garments splice into single, singular shapes. Staples are intuitively re-appropriated and worn in new ways, while dresses cut on the bias crystallise the expression of John Galliano.

Techniques of Zara by John Galliano: Vol. 1 Collection, Re{form}ing is the technical premise of the collection. Every proposal is based on an archival Zara garment or accessory transformed into something new by the hand of John Galliano and produced in a new material. The dressmaker employs the techniques of cutting-edge couture – physical hacking, digital hacking, shrinking, magnifying, filtering, swatching, splicing – to evoke new expressions imbued with the silhouettes and attitudes of Les Incroyables and Les Merveilleuses for modern-day posturing. The Flix takes its name from flick books, which turn still frames into moving images. The technique is used to layer a series of garments in order to generate the image of a coat. The Flix effect is created by an outer layer conceived from an archival Zara coat re{form}ed into a near-invisible net dress with a faux fur collar, cuffs and hem panel. The garment allows the wearer to compose different ‘coats’ by replacing the layers underneath. The Flix also appears in sheer gowns layered over one another to create a final image.

The Shi/ft covers techniques that re{form} one type of garment into another. Expressed throughout the collection, it is exemplified in an archival Zara shirt graded up three times its own size and foil printed to resemble a leather coat while keeping the lightness of a shirt. It also appears in an archival Zara lace shift dress fashioned into a ruffled jabot neckpiece, an archival Zara jumper worn back-to-front as a stole with its sleeves tied into a bow at the back, and two pairs of archival Zara trousers and shorts spliced and recut into sans-culotte breeches. Deep Pockets is a cutting technique used to imbue tailoring with body language. John Galliano re{form}s archival Zara jackets by changing the structure of the pockets, pulling them back, forward or up in order to change the attitude of the garment. The process creates gestures within the jacket, evoking a lived-in feeling of character. The gestural cuts capture the spirited expressions of Les Incroyables as depicted in drawings from post-Revolutionary France.

Further techniques include: In-Cut-Yable, a way of hacking into outerwear and re{form}ing it into frock coats; Wrapture, a combination of archival Zara skirts, slips and linings inverted and spliced into wrap skirts; Pinch-to-Zoom, a method through which coats are magnified, morphed, boiled and shrunken to fit; the Split Fit, re{form}ed cardigans shrunken to create loopholes when buttoned; the Floating Bra, archival Zara slip dresses cut into empire-line bras with flowing strands at the back; Plume Zoom, fabric treated to look like feathers from afar; La Mouche Volant, an 18th century fly-like embroidery adapted into three-dimensional strands of ‘flying flies’ on dresses and caps; and bias cutting, fabric cut diagonally for fluidity.

Materials of the collection, The dresses of Les Merveilleuses are draped in chiffon voilant, georgette, point d’esprit, charmeuse, tulle and net; some appear in foil-printed lace; and some with vinyl sleeve trims. The overcoats, naval coats, frock coats, suits and breeches of Les Incroyables are tailored in the wools of the gentleman’s wardrobe; some with gingham pocket lining. The net dresses employed in compositions created with the Flix are adorned with faux fur, and Plume Zoom fabric feathers are crafted from georgette. Shirting is made in poplin, while shirts re{form}ed into coats appear in lightweight, foil-printed poplin piqué or satin. Trench coats are cut in blown-up and shrunken wool, in cotton and in vinyl. Blousons and pencil skirts are structured in leather.

Palette, The collection is founded in the classic colours of the gentleman’s heritage wardrobe: black, navy, dark green, brown, burgundy, beige and white; with dramatic bursts of red. Gradually, the horticultural neutrals of gardening introduce olive green, khaki, mint, pale blue, golden brown, ochre and orange, before the cinematic colours of film noir electrify the palette with orchid pink, purple, turquoise and acid green.

Accessories, The Tri-Chic is a reversible sack bag, which subverts bin-liners into the glamorous language of handbags. Named with a nod to tri sélectif – French waste sorting – the bag is constructed with straps and a metal chain fastening, allowing it to be worn in three different ways: as a handheld bag, a shoulder bag and a rucksack. Imbued with gestural grammar, it is conceived to invite and amplify the poses and attitudes of the wearer. The Tri-Chic is proposed in large in black-and-yellow and black-and-khaki nylon combinations, and black leather and suede as well as khaki leather and tweed-printed suede combinations. A mini Tri-Chic appears in metallised colours in leather.

Archival Zara shoes are re{form}ed into new expressions. Leather winklepickers are elongated in shape and adorned with brogue elements; some set on elevated heels. Leather naval boots are stretched in form and imbued with timeworn creasing. Leather T-strap platform heels with sculpted toes draw on the language of the boudoir. Re{form}ed from several archival Zara evening shoes, interlaced kitten-heeled sling-backs appear in metallised and classic leather colour combinations. The Shirtology of Les Incroyables is celebrated in detached knitted nylon turtlenecks, detached poplin shirt collars and silk stocks mixed and matched throughout the collection. Conjuring the sketched lines of illustrations, opera gloves in tulle and leather are layered as an expression of the Flix alongside knee-high nylon socks as well as ribbed cotton socks; the latter irreverently pulled down over the heels of shoes.

Hats created in a creative dialogue between John Galliano and the milliner Stephen Jones re{form} archival Zara headwear into new manifestations. Caps morph into the bonnets of Les Merveilleuses with beak-shaped visors and lace. Fisherman’s hats in wool and straw hats are crumpled up to evoke the spirit of Napoleonic bicornes. Waxed cotton bucket hats emblemise the gardening wardrobe, and unravelling knitted beanies are interwoven with memories.