Capes, Bows & Jeans: The Biggest Couture Front-Row Trends
By now, you’ve digested the accessory trends and the major jewellery moments, gawped over yet another high-impact Rihanna entrance at a Dior show. But wait, was that someone wearing jeans? To a couture show? Among all the fantastical runway fashion and front-row peacocking, there were times when the spring/summer 2026 shows were grounded in, dare we say it, reality. Here, five celebrity trends to take from the most OTT week in the fashion calendar.
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Not all heroes wear capes…
… couture show-goers do! From Alexa Chung and Anya Taylor-Joy at Dior to Dakota Johnson on the Valentino front row, the couture contingent not only put cape-like confections back on the map as a viable daywear proposition, but used them to show their sartorial dexterity too. Paired with a pussy-bow blouse and straight-leg denim, à la Chung, the cape skewed bourgeois, as opposed to kids entertainer-adjacent. On Johnson, it leaned into boudoir chic – a natural extension of Dakota’s SNL skit look with friend Lily Allen, who she cosied up to again on the front row. Capes not only bring a sense of occasion to proceedings (very couture), they look wonderfully off-kilter on the right person.
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Bow down
Wearing a power-shouldered, polka-dotted, pussy-bow blouse and a velvet pencil skirt, a bee-hived Lily Allen looked utterly fab as an ’80s-leaning boss bitch at Valentino. “Rich divorcée” was one Vogue staffer’s remark. “From ‘Pussy Palace’ to pussy-bow blouse” was another. (We promise watercooler conversation isn’t normally quite so crass.) The subtext? Allen is having so much fun. (See also: her performance at a De Beers party draped in jewels singing “Madeline” while nibbling madeleines.) Valentino seatmate Dakota Johnson also knotted a louche bow loosely around her neck, while Saint Laurent show-goers, including Anja Rubik and Suki Waterhouse, incorporated jaunty, structured versions of the bow into their typical YSL power dressing.
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Really good jeans
Can you really wear denim in the most rarefied fashion space? Yes, you can. Alexa chose a stiff, dark wash to smarten up proceedings (that cape certainly helped too), while Greta Lee borrowed hers from the Dior menswear department. Teamed with a lime green sequined tank, inspired by Paul Poiret’s Belle Époque style, it quickly became the only “jeans and a nice top” reference the world will ever need. Let’s hope it catches on before the paillette catastrophe known as festive season comes for us all again.
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Life-changing suits
“Three collections in, it’s still distilling,” Tilda Swinton reflected on Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel tenure so far. “But his attitude, his spirit, is clear. There’s something so inviting and so playful about the work.” Swinton’s muted bouclé suit with raffia trims that look “like someone chewed on it” was a case in point. Blazy is taking the everyday – not normally associated with couture, but very much in line with Coco’s original intentions to free up women – and elevating it to the max. Chanel’s delightful skirt suits – check out Dua Lipa’s canary and red squiggly two-piece – weren’t the only ones on the agenda. From the internet boyfriends who tucked their ties into their shirts at Saint Laurent to the prim and proper Armani Privé contingent, tailoring has never looked better.
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All glimpses of normal dressing (like Allen and Dakota wearing tights to help ward off the freezing January temperatures) faded from memory when A$AP Rocky took his seat at Chanel laden with, well, rocks. Couture is the place for peacocking and the rapper happily obliged with ringed treasures boasting 3D figurines and a minaudière to accessorise his already major double C-stamped croc tote. Giving him a run for his money was Teyana Taylor, who wore a Schiaparelli replica of the suite of jewels stolen from the Louvre last year, including a tiara, a crown and a bow-embellished necklace that nodded to the Schiap thong she wore on the Golden Globes red carpet. Diamonds deserve drama!
