For spring 2026, Chloé creative director Chemena Kamali traded bohemian neutrals for a collection of bright, sunny, colorful florals. Models appeared on the minimal catwalk on October 5 wearing one ruched concoction after another. Thin spaghetti straps, bows, puff sleeves…Looking at the first half of the collection, it seemed Kamali had put down her signature vibe—the designer’s past two collections for the French house practically kicked off the aughts boho revival—in favor of retro maximalism.
“When I looked at the very early years of when Gaby Aghion founded the house, it was in the late 1950s,” Kamali said backstage after the show. “It was the couture years. But she sort of rejected couture. She didn’t want the stiffness, she didn’t want the formality. She wanted things to be light. This was the positioning of Chloé in those early years. It sort of got forgotten.”
Kamali focused on draped cotton, which gave the flower-fantasy tops and frocks their undiluted structure. Sculpted, twisted, pinned, and wrapped, the clothing certainly had that couture-like sensibility. “I wanted to explore this moment in time by bringing it into today, and [exploring] how women would wear it,” she added.
The other half of the collection brought back the boho. Sculptural neo bohemian pieces like frilly ruffled dresses came with serious heft, in shades of lilac and pale pink. Shoulder-padded tops with big buttons were styled with skinny pants and wide leather belts. Chunky little apron tops were cropped or reworked with lace paneling. Outerwear was a statement, too: either floor-length, bubble-hemmed or done in luscious leathers.
Each Kamali show is a lesson in new ways of styling closet staples. Here, the takeaways came in the form of new outfit formulations. Take, for instance, floor-length, swooping babydoll coats with draped midi skirts; billowing jackets buttoned and belted at the waist; and big-shoulder crop tops with skirts and those sturdy belts. Models wore massive, old-school earrings in shapes of huge white flowers or oversize buttons. It was all a clear nod to the vintage resurgence we’re seeing on this seasons runways. The accessories in the back of grandma’s closet have never looked more tempting than they do now.
Source: W Magazine