Fendi Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026–2027: Maria Grazia Chiuri’s First Couture, a Study in Desire

On July 9, Italian luxury house Fendi presented its Fall/Winter 2026–2027 haute couture collection at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome.

The collection marks Chief Creative Officer Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first couture offering for the Roman maison.

At its core lies the idea of “desire” as something intrinsic to the human body. Rather than focusing solely on the construction or decoration of garments, Chiuri turned her attention to the emotions, intentions, gestures, and attitudes expressed through the body, seeking to uncover new meaning and value within them. This perspective formed the foundation of the season’s design approach.

Courtesy of Fendi

“Desire” as a Starting Point, and “Histoire d’Eau”

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first haute couture collection for Fendi, presented July 9 at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome
Built on the desire that lives in the human body, layering sensuality, eroticism, freedom and joy
Inspired by “Histoire d’Eau,” Jacques de Bascher’s 1977 film made for Karl Lagerfeld’s first Fendi ready-to-wear collection
Corsetry is abandoned in favour of drape, which sculpts the body; kimono-like silhouettes are rendered in velvet and grain de poudre
A subtractive aesthetic: fur as light as feathers, black-and-white stripes supported by tulle, and arabesques that morph into leaves, feathers and flowers

Fashion, Chiuri suggests, reminds us that we are creatures of endless desire. Desire is never exhausted; new possibilities are always emerging, to be discovered or invented. Onto the word “desire” she layers sensuality, eroticism, freedom and joy.

Her point of departure was “Histoire d’Eau,” a film by Jacques de Bascher commissioned in 1977 for the first ready-to-wear collection Karl Lagerfeld presented at Fendi. An ironic nod to Pauline Réage’s “Histoire d’O,” the film is set in late-1970s Rome and depicts a freedom at once innocent and sensual — a mood Chiuri carries directly into the collection.

Clothes That Follow the Body Rather Than Constrict It

The collection never tightens around the body; it moves with it. The clothes do not constrain but sway with movement — sometimes boldly, sometimes discreetly — sliding over the body and gently enveloping it. Chiffon with black-and-white striped inlay embodied that lightness, floating rather than holding.

The kimono-like outlines seen in the jackets and in the women’s and men’s overcoats are translated, through velvet and grain de poudre, into a new kind of flowing dress. In gowns that sculpt the body through drape alone, without a corset, the very logic of construction is rewritten — from restriction toward release.

A Dialogue of Craft, and the Beauty of Subtraction

Chiuri pursues new possibilities for couture by fusing the knowledge and exceptional technique held within each of the ateliers. As different forms of craftsmanship enter into dialogue, couture as an expression keeps evolving. Several pieces were constructed through an aesthetic of subtraction.

Fur takes on the lightness of feathers, and the black-and-white stripes are supported by tulle; from this emerges a fur-clad Venus, advancing sensually and full of play. Tulle is used in the structure of mantles and capes, while arabesque motifs turn into leaves, feathers and flowers in leather, fur and fabric. In the men’s looks, these wrap the shoulders like blankets, shelters or huts. The rich texture of the fur takes on an almost butterfly-like lightness, and the leather lines drawn across a double-face cashmere coat trace a labyrinth over a white ground.

Couture as a Laboratory

For Chiuri, couture is not merely clothing. It is a cutting-edge laboratory that stays close to the wearer’s mind and body while exploring new possibilities of tailoring. In this space — where distinct techniques and knowledge intersect, materials are released into lightness, and the body is freed from constraint — she gives form to the boundless vision she calls desire.

For her first couture at Fendi, Chiuri chose not a loud reinvention but a quiet attention to the body itself: finding value in the human elements beneath the clothes — emotion, will, posture. It is also an attempt to re-tie the house’s history to its present with a single thread: desire.