Whoever she is, and however she dresses, the Elisabetta Franchi woman is in charge. Whether she’s wearing looks with a tailored edge, or with Gothic flair, the fall 2026 collection was the definition of power dressing.
Franchi said her woman is broad-minded, confident enough to wear corsets and short skirts, but also comfortable in oversized, mannish tailoring and trousers.
The designer certainly moves through life with that same confidence. She showed once again at Palazzo Acerbi, an opulent 17th-century Baroque building in central Milan, which she acquired last year, and whose history she loves. “The devil protected this building,” she said, and legend has it that visitors were guaranteed immortality.
On that superstitious note, she chose the Victorian era as her theme, for its mystery but also because it embodied female power in the reign of Queen Victoria. The designer said she was eager to play with themes of rigor, purity and mystery.
The looks were statement-making, and included slim ponyskin suits that came in blood red, jet black and butterscotch, which she paired with corsets or sweaters so sheer the models might as well have been topless.
The tailoring was solid and included a hefty deep blue topcoat with epaulets; a dark gray suit embedded with tiny sparkles, and curvy coatdresses with padding like soft armor on the hips and top pockets.
That tailoring gave way to softer looks, as in a sheer black nightgown of a dress layered over dark lingerie; blouses with fall ruffled collars, and a suite of demure evening gowns with turtleneck tops resembling bodysuits that blossomed at the waist into long ruffly skirts.
Queen Victoria would not have approved — except maybe for the white ruffled collar, and blue military coat — but the collection certainly channeled her can-do attitude, and inner power-broker.