The quotes below, which fall into a few main groupings, come from the 350-plus reviews posted by Vogue Runway during the spring 2026 shows in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Like the rest of us, designers are preoccupied with the unsettled state of the world. Many looked for light in the darkness, others advocated for tenacity and the power of resistance. How to depict women’s strength was another preoccupation of the season, with some finding toughness in softness, and others sending up traditional viewpoints. A number of millennial designers stressed that they were designing for their cohorts and locales. These being spring collections we’re talking about, escape from the city or from everyday-life in favor of the sun, sand, and surf was a hot topic, too.
“Everything is so hardcore in the world right now.”—Raf Simons, Prada
“In this very dark moment we have to not turn off the light. It’s the time to push more and more, to make people dream, to try to escape, not just from reality, but from the idea that you can do nothing.”—Alessandro Michele, Valentino
“In the world that we live in now, I wanted to create something of pure beauty as a base, mixed with the tension that we live in every day. I wanted you guys to feel like you were in a cocoon for 10 minutes—this thing of an absolute dream—but still with tension. I wanted clothes that cry.”—Pieter Mulier, Alaïa
“The point of it was to say we’re not going to be sad about this shit: We’re going to fight.”—Ashish Gupta
“[It’s] time for a love revolution. Beauty is more important than ever; it’s one of the most powerful forms of peaceful protest.”—Johnson Hartig, Libertine
“I’m simply just not allowing myself to be affected by the changes of the world. I’m doubling-down on making fantastic, beautiful pieces for women who want to stand out.”—LaQuan Smith
“The clothes are delicate and pretty, but there’s a steeliness to the prettiness…. During uncomfortable times in history, tenacity is paramount.”—Rick Owens
“I’m not in the mood for excess or loudness. It’s a time of melancholic creativity.”—Alessandro Dell’Acqua, No. 21
“If we had to reflect what’s happening in the world, it would be just like a sad, dark collection. I think as a reaction to that, we kind of create a reality that isn’t necessarily too real. It’s not that we’re saving the world, but at least we’re trying to tell people that there can be a better one.”—Alejandro Gómez Palomo, Palomo Spain
“The shadows represent the policies, histories, and systems that trail behind. Invisible to some and glaringly obvious to others. It’s about recognizing what has been in the past and how we can move forward with light.”—Hillary Taymour, Collina Strada
“Life isn’t all happy and poppy and swinging now, so we wanted to keep a little bit of hope. The world is going mental. If we lose hope, we lose it all.”—MM6 Maison Margiela
“It’s really about the joy that we find through resilience, and bringing each other together.”—Raul Lopez, Luar
“I hope that honest fashion can bring energy, and a bit of light. There’s too much gray in the world—and I’m not just talking about the weather.”—Massimo Giorgetti, MSGM
“I mean, with everything that’s happening in the world, do we really need another gray collection on the runway? We’re living in a time when it’s a lot about reducing, but we wanted to blow up and expand in a way.”—Danial Aitouganov and Imruh Asha, Zomer
“The only way out is through.”—Conner Ives
“I wanted the collection to speak of a courageous woman. Women are born courageous, I know that, but now the world needs them to be more fearless than ever.”—Elie Saab
“Instead of going to all the male archetypes to empower a woman, I thought, ‘How do you empower a woman through feminine archetypes?’”—Sarah Burton, Givenchy
“[Cristóbal Balenciaga] freed women to live in their own space. His method was body, fabric, and air. I want to put the human at the center of everything.”—Pierpaolo Piccioli, Balenciaga
“There’s a feeling of femininity that is speaking to me right now. Even though it seems that what we need is armor, this femininity—with its laces, crochets, and dance shoes just felt right.”—Maria McManus
“I always feel that society has invisible rules, and so I try to break them gently.”—Caroline Hu
“I wanted to propose a playful perspective on femininity, with all its twists and turns.”—Simone Rocha
“I was looking at carnival in the Caribbean and the diaspora as this moment of resistance against repressive forces. It’s a moment of resistance that’s rooted in exuberance, joy, and sensuality, and is against any form of domination.”—Rachel Scott, Diotima
“My collection is called Cage of Innocence. It’s about giving freedom to my ancestors and anyone who never had freedom. I feel like women have been kept in cages of innocence and purity, being told they have to be clean and represent virginity, all this kind of stuff, but we come out of this cage today.”—Dilara Findikoglu
“Today there’s a pervasive static quality, in politics, fashion, art, music, where everything feels like repetition, without surprise. My aim instead is to portray a figure that embraces change.”—Francesco Murano
“We’re living through such a unique moment in fashion history. There are all these huge changes, but also a possibility to kind of reinvent things.”—Chemena Kamali, Chloé
“Looking at the Great Depression as an atmospheric parallel to the times we’re in right now, thinking about spiritual dust bowls and a search for some sort of truth or personal meaning.”—Elena Velez
“This season everybody’s talking about a new era, and new beginnings. But I believe that you can build your new era, and you make your new beginning, by being yourself in the same house and challenging yourself.”—Olivier Rousteing, Balmain
“Extraordinary art born from the everyday. By treating readymade items—objects originally intended for specific purposes—as one of the materials, I recontextualized them and explored forms that could never be achieved through conventional methods.”—Junya Watanabe
“The inspiration for this season has been just the idea of spending time in another type of tempo. And to again go into handicraft and things that take time to learn, and really be in that.”—Ellen Hodakova Larsson, Hodakova
“It’s not as neat as it could be. I’m embracing the rough edges. I don’t like it to be too finished. Because everything in the fashion world is very finished.”—Iniye Tokyo James, Tokyo James
“It’s a world where things are not perfect, but it doesn’t matter. Because what’s really important is the vibe and the energy and the fact that everybody’s having a great time.”—Jawara Alleyne
“I believe in the positiveness and the value that can be born from the damaging of perfect things.”—Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons
“It’s important to be a mess sometimes.”—Natasha Zinko
“I would say that a certain rigor, discretion, is something we’ve been talking a lot about. Something about Celine is that it’s not a place you’re going to come to find the most outrageous, most insane fashion and be the most fabulous person in the room. But hopefully you have the best coat on.”—Michael Rider, Celine
“Choosing privacy over overexposure is the ultimate form of romanticism.”—Lorenzo Serafini, Alberta Ferretti
“Nuance is very important for life, and also for fashion.”—Silvia Venturini Fendi, Fendi
“We make it a little more real. I have a lot of friends who would die to wear an embroidered leather vest, but to go to the disco club, not to go to the Met.”—Dario Vitale, Versace
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how the most fun part of going out at night is the getting ready chat—that feeling of ‘anything can happen tonight.’ And it would be great if you could make people feel that way about getting ready in the morning.”—Nicholas Aburn, Area
“There’s something to say about fashion in London right now. I think the reality of [this collection] cuts through the bullshit, repetitive, Instagram, Paris Fashion Week, see-it-and-forget-about-it-next-week thing. This is a real wardrobe worn by real people, inspired by the kids who are out there with music that’s loud.”—Aaron Esh
“I started to think about fashion’s love affair with music, and how to celebrate that. Really, I think musicians have always been the best in terms of style.” —Daniel Lee, Burberry
“I was connecting everything to how my friends and I feel in London; that there’s this sexual energy in the air in the city, especially in the summer—touching the grass, and rolling around with someone you’re obsessed with.”—Seán McGirr, McQueen
“If garments become autonomous. If the body becomes an object.”—Satoshi Kondo, Issey Miyake
“We tried to give life into the clothing, like the clothes are a creature, moving and breathing.”—Kunihiko Morinaga, Anrealage
“There is the idea of garments that protect, but we wanted to develop it into a feeling. So we made garments that care.”—Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, Coperni
“In a time that’s really complicated, you can’t avoid the tension. But at the same time, you just really want to have that floating, sunny feeling around.”—Julien Dossena, Rabanne
“Being around surfers is always a good time.”—Julian Klausner, Dries Van Noten
“Boudoir symbolizes for me a space where you feel closest to yourself. Of course this can be in the bedroom, but this space can also be anywhere. Even the beach can be a boudoir.”—Andreas Kronthaler, Vivienne Westwood
“I said it right at the beginning, and I say it now: I want to be the sunshine of fashion.”—Simon Porte Jacquemus, Jacquemus
“It’s all about a midnight swim. In the summer I like to take a dive in the ocean at midnight. I think that’s the most dangerous and sexy thing in the world.”—Haider Ackermann, Tom Ford
