My Spring Summer 26 Fashion Month Trends

Spring/Summer Fashion Month has just ended so I’m sharing the trends I’ve identified so you can get excited for warmer weather next year or try them now!

I haven’t been sponsored to write this. Shout out to Vogue, WhoWhatWear and Fashion United for providing the catwalk pictures and some of the trend ideas!

This blog is also a Youtube video! If you’d like to see me explain these with extra pics and expressive hands, you can watch that here 🙂

Moving on from colour to pattern, there weren’t any surprises. Granny florals for Spring, groundbreaking. Stripes as you would want and polka-dots. An absolute main-stay. 

So what’s different this year? The granny florals are in line with a few moods. They felt maximalist, romantic, at times intricate and modern and all mixed up together which I do enjoy.

There’s a kind of Edwardian/Victorian feeling that a soft palette dainty ditsy floral matches. Of course these historic feelings are nods and what we see with these fabrics are shapes and styles that feel fresh, current and now. Definitely not frumpy. Granny in name but done in a way that feels cool.

The other way we see the florals in a kind of 80’s way. The 80’s had these pastel florals in everything from chintzy homes to cute clothing some might find garish. And in the 80’s it was that same Edwardian/Victorian vibe where it probably came from.

Now stripes are a summer staple. They feel nautical and holiday. What we saw this season was vibrant clashy and fun stripes and I enjoyed how they were paired in an eclectic way. There were also more classic preppy stripes. In those classic shirts of course and rugby tops too, all very varsity.

Polka-dots gained a lot of traction in the past seasons and are sticking around. Again big in the 80’s and I can tell you the 80’s are big next summer as well. The polka-dots were mainly black and white and big and small take your pick. I’d recommend smaller dots for smaller people, bigger for bigger as I always say, harmony is good.

Printed motifs ranged from fun statement transfers, slogans, and designs on the classic tee and dress to artsier abstracts and painted vibes.

Going into texture, there was plenty of it. 3D crafted tactile and textural surfaces appearing in many collections. Something that can get lost and forgotten at fashion weeks is creativity and exploration and we definitely were able to experience more beauty and interest as well as classics.

There was fluff, feathers and fringing and sequin sparkles that have again been dominating runways recently. As well as romantic lace.

Feathers of course having that luxury feeling. These tended to be almost a like a print or pattern when close together as well as some sparse ones splattered. Simple shaped items that let the texture shine and we saw many coloured pieces covered in them. As well as designers leaning into the flamboyance of them as funky trims in any place on an outfit you can imagine.

Fringing was very similar. Used on a simple item to show it off or as a dramatic hem. Fringed bags were in many collections and I think could be a hot accessory item next year. A nice pop of drama in your arm, just be careful putting that down at a restaurant.

Lace leans into romance, sexiness that you could want in the summer and great for a hot day. The see-through always fun for layering. Lace was classic, it was classy and it was experimented in colours and shape. I saw many lace pieces as under pieces like turtle neck tops and pedal pushers under skirts.

Also seeing sequins giving that feeling of opulence, sparkle and glamor feeding into both the feeling of showmanship in collections even if they weren’t screaming broadway. And not just sequins, bejewelled dresses shone and felt party girl.

Shapes of clothing could be quite big, loose, draped and puffed up on a whole to me. I literally made a folder called balloon bottoms.

Now what era did big bold shapes? 80’s again mate. Big oversized suits of course and not forgetting a big sleeve. There were many sleeves that puffed and frilled out both short and long as well as large shoulders carrying them and a general sculptural round feeling almost like a barrel leg trouser – barrel leg sleeve.

This isn’t always the easiest to pull off. You may not want to add volume to your top half. If you do still love it, try balancing with an equally large silhouette.

Big sleeves of course are great if you’re a pear-shaped body and want to draw more attention upwards to balance out a larger bottom half.

So balloon bottoms is a vague catch-all I made for an abundance of balloon. Ranging from puffy bloomer shorts. Again bloomers – historic underwear. But now made cute and current and certainly not to hide away.

Balloony trousers that puffed and even by tucking them into a high boot, you get that rounded off edge.

Puffy mini skirts and hems too. This isn’t a new trend, it’s very much happening now which is nice if you’ve already been rocking this and want to enjoy it just as much next year. Feels cute, cartoony and fun.

There were also longer skirts and dresses that tucked under in a balloony duvet way. They felt draped, throw on yet you could imagine a designer on a mannequin draping them and that’s nice I think when you’re watching a runway. You want to imagine that.

In general, there were many drapey shapes. Shapes where you can see someone moving a handful of fabric on a mannequin and pinning it. Unplanned and creative, in the moment or at least you hope so. Pre-medidated drape where someone has sat down with a drawing of a figure and imagined how it can highlight a curve is nice also.

Going back back again to 80’s, there was these pleat front trousers that kept poking up. Big and wide but pulled in at the waist. Very Miami vice and I’m not mad at it, I love a pleat.

Opposite end of that saw skinny jeans, trousers, leggings and pedal pushers which I did warn have been rearing their heads or rather legs. Not feeling stale though or even that retro. Maybe it’s the pairings, maybe it’s the trouseryness or the slight flare out at the feet that many had or no obvious low waists. I don’t think teenagers or fashion people will mind these. Pedal pushers are a personal dislike. Dunno if it’s the awkwardness of the cut-off or it’s just a part of my childhood I’m over but it really is a current cool girl thing. And again I think to the 80’s of it under a skirt or even 00’s of it.

Taking thoughts back to Edwardian Victorian again, the big hip was big. In a structural way like boned and 3D. Modernised with contrasting understatedness and grunge. A high neck perhaps. Sporty feeling maybe. Part of a suit that juts out. A grunginess to it. Drama in shape and real I’m here feeling.

Leading from this, the peplum is another waist attention draw. Nice way to balance a body at the middle and add more curve to a figure and silhouette.

On the feeling of drama and big bold silhouettes, I saw quite a few ballgowns or at least that’s what I’m calling them. For me this is a dress that comes in and really out. Classic feminine drama. But not all of these were the classic floral party gown. There were more simple ones that had the shape but understated also.

But I do feel in general this season that fashion felt more. It felt like the catwalk shows from designers that you’d pay to see, be wowed by. A designer collection. Luxury. Hand-made by those who know their stuff.

There were of course everyday ready to wear pieces that are covetable and I’d love to see the high street versions I can wear which you do need.

But for fashion week, there were collections that felt made to wow. And that’s’ what I’m here for. Years of looking through many collections you can feel fatigued and I did a little bit but I enjoyed more than previous seasons I felt this time and that’s I think because there was a feeling of playfulness and theatrics.

Going back going back to historic underwear. Corsetry was a big trend. In particular many had these see-through bones or very clear boning and structure. And like the bloomers, they weren’t too sweet. Modernised just a classic shape. Denims, bold shades.

Bodices were also cut into, little side cut outs to show a peak-through of skin. Stream-lining and slicing into the body.

Scarves were seen not just long and skinny and thrown on outfits but little ones tied under shirt collars, around necks like chokers and around necks as per. We also saw the scarf as a print.

Worn as scarves, many stylists I think were slinging jumpers and shirts on shoulders and tiying them on the sides and front.

Tie fronting was also on hips for shirts and knits and built into the shape of bottoms like a sarong beach skirt. Tiying into the feeling of gathering and draping fabric. Quite a summer thing to take off and tie it around yourself. Preppy as well, especially around the shoulders but I don’t think in a bad uppercuts way on these runways. Especially when slung over something contrasting.

Big belts and layered belts adding to the maximalism as oversized does. Adding to the fun and quirks in collections by supersizing a simple accessory. If you like this just be careful it doesn’t overwhelm. But totally a great way of perking up an outfit with personality and drawing the eye to your waist.

Long necklaces and beads draped over necklines like clothing themselves. In particular little coin purses and pendants I believe keyring like items. I think this could be really big. Useable and totally feeling a current accessory mood. Many people and brands getting into the phone cross body, a little coin purse to hook on is totally doable. I now go to the shops hooking mine on and honestly it’s great when you don’t need a massive bag to buy one bag of spinach.

So summarising how I felt about fashion week this season. There were a lot of debut collections of new designers at different brands. I wasn’t that excited about the musical chairs to be honest but actually I loved many of the debuts. I tried to make a few shorts to show them but I’ll say here if you haven’t already, check out Jonathan Anderson for Dior, and Dario Vitale for Verscace. Those were my two big surprised that I really think mixed their styles with the brand’s DNA perfectly and both hit many of the trends I talked about today so their pictures have been scattered around this

On trends, I was a little disappointed not to note anything that new from previous seasons though of course, I most likely missed things.

Even though it felt like these were trends I’ve been seeing before, that’s really not a bad thing as a consumer. It means if you love a trend and are scared it might go, you can still find and stock up on it and keep wearing things from previous seasons which of course we totally want to do.

And one thing this fashion week I noted was more of the models were older and they look absolutely stunning on these runways.  A few seasons ago, I spotted older faces, then it stopped and in spring summer 26 older models were back in many more collections across the countries. Even Italy and Paris who I feel don’t change up models much apart from the odd celebrity, but had many more this season.

I think this is great to have a longer window to work in for the models and mainly to show that beauty and style is ageless.

Many of my clients come to me saying they’ve reached an age, whatever that might be and they don’t know how to style themselves for it. Asking if it’s ok to wear this and shop here and I really do believe that right now there are no rules and age doesn’t have to look a certain way any more. They are just clothes. If you love the piece, you put it on and you feel good in it, that’s your answer.

On dressing younger, I’m picking up items from the kids section aged 11 years old and they fit me and make me feel good and honestly I think I’ll continue to do that even if more petite clothing becomes available which honestly I’m skeptical about.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my take on fashion week for spring summer 2026. I really enjoyed the research this month, many collections appealed to me and I’ve probably taken up way too much computer space with pictures.