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Runway Rundown: Maria Grazia Chiuri Stays Neutral in Fendi Haute Couture F/W26 Debut

A return to her professional roots brings the designer face-to-face with the geometric lines of Bauhaus and the legacy of Karl Lagerfeld.

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While some take the Haute Couture season as permission to be creatively unrestrained, Maria Grazia Chiuri kept both feet on the ground for her Fendi Haute Couture F/W26 debut.

Home was a fitting place to do it. Back at the Roman house where her career first began, she revisited the idea that craftsmanship has defined Fendi for decades. Working with a palette of black and parchment, Chiuri let texture carry much of the collection. Leather intarsia, delicate lace, velvet, silk, and embroidery came together across kimono-inspired jackets, dresses, capes, and coats.

RELATED: The Jonathan Anderson Era of Fashion Is Blooming in Dior Haute Couture F/W26

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References to Art Deco, Bauhaus, and the Vienna Secession appeared in geometric motifs and decorative details, while touches of Karl Lagerfeld surfaced in the pieces’ graphic sensibility.

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More interesting was the way Chiuri approached couture itself. In this collection, the “character” of the fabrics influenced each look.

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As her first couture outing for the house, Maria Grazia Chiuri offers a thoughtful return to Fendi’s foundations—one that leaves plenty of room to see where she takes the house next.


Photos: FENDI

Frequently Asked Questions

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s debut Fendi Haute Couture F/W26 collection centers on a return to Roman craftsmanship. Utilizing a neutral palette of black and parchment, the collection blends graphic elements from Bauhaus, Art Deco, and the legacy of Karl Lagerfeld into wearable, structured garments.

The Fendi Haute Couture F/W26 collection highlights intricate textures over bright colors. The runway features prominent displays of leather intarsia, delicate lace, velvet, silk, and geometric embroidery across a series of kimono-inspired jackets, elegant capes, tailored dresses, and structured outerwear.

Maria Grazia Chiuri honors Karl Lagerfeld by incorporating a sharp, graphic sensibility into the Fendi Haute Couture F/W26 collection. This artistic influence manifests through precise geometric motifs and decorative details inspired by the Vienna Secession, Bauhaus, and classic Art Deco movements.

The collection was conceived at Fendi’s historic Roman fashion house, marking a significant homecoming for Maria Grazia Chiuri, who began her professional design career within the same ateliers before translating its heritage into her Fall/Winter 2026 haute couture debut.

The Fendi Fall/Winter 2026 couture line is defined by structured yet fluid silhouettes. The collection relies heavily on kimono-inspired sleeves, clean-lined jackets, sweeping capes, and floor-length coats that allow the natural weight and character of the artisanal fabrics to dictate their form.

Anya Oxyn

Anya Oxyn

Senior Fashion Writer

Formerly a stylist who immersed herself intimately within the Philippine fashion circuit for over three years, Anya has refined her transformative, hands-on experience into an insightful voice for MEGA Asia as a Senior Fashion Writer.

Her editorial pursuit possesses three facets: her time as an essayist during her education at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, her extensive experience in digital media and strategic storytelling, and her belief that fashion has a beating heart deeply intertwined with art, culture, society, and humanity itself that is worth uncovering.

Anya’s versatile pen spans a dynamic range of subjects, including emerging local designers, global luxury houses, beauty trends, film and television fashion analysis, cultural op-eds, major events, and beyond.

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