This season, Julian Klausner took us back to school. Literally. For Autumn/Winter 2026, he staged the Dries Van Noten show in a high school in the 17th arrondissement. ‘When we visited the Lycée Carnot at the end of summer, we were all thrown back into the emotions of being a teenager in high-school — a work in progress, in permanent becoming,’ he wrote in a letter to show attendees. ‘This AW26 collection starts in this conjunction; the transient moment that leads from youth to adulthood.’ A secondary inspiration was found in two 17th century Flemish still-life paintings — ‘Two Peaches and a Butterfly on a Stone Plinth’ and ‘Flowers and Insects’ — which provided the starting points for the prints he used in the collection.
The show opened with models walking to the beat of a metronome, a soundtrack of Gala Dragot performing the consciousness of a teenage mind, wearing school uniforms like we’ve never seen before. Duffles in navy or terracotta wool and a bronze-tinged green brocade were layered over pleated kilts and shirts and ties, decadently embroidered cuffs peeking out of the coat sleeves. That same embroidery was used to create crests for blazers, paired with slim fit joggers, woolley paisley socks and pumps. Elsewhere, fabrics and prints — florals, checks, pixilated paintings — were richly opulent, clashing hues and fabrics harmoniously styled together. ‘Is this what I think? Are you sure?,’ Dragot’s voice reverberated around the room. ‘I hope I stay curious forever.’