Courrèges SS26

Threads

Oct 3

Courreges’ SS26 show arrived as a solid expression of legacy and lived experience. Under Nicolas Di Felice’s steady hand, the house reframed its iconic space-age minimalism into a new context of heat and light. Living up to its name Blinded by The Sun, the collection’s staging invited guests — and the consumer — to immerse themselves in the heat, rather than simply observe from safe behind the sunglasses used in lieu of the show’s invitations. The classic Courreges square runway became a giant circular arena from the minds of French set designer Remy Briere and design studio Matiere Noire, rising in temperature from 21°C to 30°C; the architecture, lighting and soundtrack all orchestrated to translate the heat-wave metaphor into the crowd’s physical reality.

From a frosty teal opening to the molten peach, sand and dune tones that followed, the collection played out like a thermal gradient. At the outset, sheer tops, icy jackets and veiled caps suggested protective detachment ascending into an inferno of plant-based vinyl, sun-bleached dresses and reflective surfaces designed to respond to overload and glare. The accessories stayed on theme: face-covering visors, mutated bags, glove-like boots and transparencies that painted the picture of a future tinged by global warming.

The brand’s earlier twin tensions — between minimalism and maximalism, futurism and wearability — were managed here with greater composure. For instance, the signature Courreges mini dress silhouette was still intact, now scaled with modular belts, cut-outs and adaptive elements. Beneath the environmental commentary, Di Felice’s unique blend of utilitarian details and tailoring were refracted through Parisian elegance: sportswear was reshaped into refined forms with trench details, repurposed as collar elements on blousons or under-stated latex second skin.

Backstage, the air was energetic but precise; the perfect balance of movement and restraint that mirrored Nicolas Di Felice’s vision on the runway. The beauty direction, led by Cecile Paravina, stayed true to Courrèges’ modernist DNA: skin was fresh and luminous but matte, as if kissed by sunlight, while lips were kept neutral with brows brushed upward into quiet assertion. Hair, sleek and dampened, evoked a deliberate ambiguity between post-swim sensuality and post-apocalyptic utility that underscored the season’s eco-conscious subtext. Next season, the Courreges woman will be stepping into the climate glare already knowing how to survive it with the barest of essentials.

Courreges SS26 doesn’t simply repackage the brand’s futuristic heritage; it curdles it with the realities of climate change. With this stunning choreography of material and metaphor, Di Felice presents a compelling argument for fashion’s dalliance with the future to reconcile with the very real, very present consequences of its own carbon footprint with ecological urgency, without sacrificing an inch of style.