Gabriele Colangelo found in a specific species of cowrie his lucky charm for the resort 2026 collection.

Recalling a snake’s head, the Cypraea caputserpentis type of the seashell and its dotted pattern were reworked into the only print Colangelo introduced in his sleek lineup. While cowrie-shaped jewelry and pendants swinging from leather straps doubling as belts punctuated some looks, the black-and-white animal print splashed over sheer turtlenecks and cotton trenchcoats injected a refreshing, edgy spin into his clean fashions in solid colors.

Overall, Colangelo’s quest this season was to offer a more relaxed take on his sharply tailored world. Hence he looked into more lightweight fabrications and turned sartorial tropes into hybrids. For example, a blazer jacket morphed into a shirt construction in its sleeves and paired wool on the front with a viscose panel on the back for a looser fit, while a crisp shirt took a cape-like silhouette via strategic openings under its batwing sleeves.

The utility inflections that are recurrent in Colangelo’s work also popped up in snap buttons dotting outerwear and functional tweaks, such as detachable parts conceived to hand customization power to his women and make his pieces even more versatile.

Elsewhere, the designer continued to experiment with fabrics in laced inserts mixing cotton, nylon and viscose threads to create a subtle chromatic interplay, as well as in a jacquard vest weaving cotton and raffia threads in the upper part and ending in a swishing raffia fringing that is sure to grab attention. 

Not everything clicked perfectly. Colangelo’s most daring introduction was an asymmetric skirt — half long, half short or half pleated, half not — to be layered over pants, but that felt a tad too gimmicky. A spaghetti-strap dress incorporating such a partition into its minimal shape was a more convincing way to deliver the concept.