Franck Sorbier Fall/Winter 2026–27 Haute Couture: Dressing in the Memories of Travel with “Le Parfum des Globe-trotteuses”

Parisian haute couture house Franck Sorbier unveiled its Fall/Winter 2026–27 Haute Couture collection, titled “Le Parfum des Globe-trotteuses” — “The Scent of the Globe-Trotters.”

This season, Franck Sorbier imagines a group of free-spirited, audacious women journeying across the world at the dawn of the 20th century. The cultures, fragrances, fabrics, jewelry and memories encountered along the way are layered into each garment, transforming an insatiable longing for distant lands and the liberation of women into an evocative couture narrative.

Courtesy of Franck Sorbier

Summary

Franck Sorbier unveiled its Fall/Winter 2026–27 Haute Couture collection, “Le Parfum des Globe-trotteuses”
The journey begins with the 1900 Paris Exposition and the newly inaugurated Hôtel Regina
The collection pays tribute to fearless women travelers, from rebellious aristocrats and writers to poets, dancers and double agents
Antique kimono embroidery, Uzbek ikat and palmette motifs inspired by Qajar Persia and Mughal art appear throughout the collection
Trousers symbolize women’s emancipation and freedom of movement, while red, black, white, gold and silver define the color palette

A Journey Back to the Dawn of the 20th Century

The collection’s time machine arrives in Paris at the dawn of the 20th century.

At the 1900 Paris Exposition, national pavilions gathered around the Eiffel Tower, each competing in beauty, creativity and ingenuity as they presented their respective cultures to the world. That same year, the Hôtel Regina opened its doors on Rue de Rivoli.

Emerging from the hotel are Sorbier’s imagined globe-trotters: rebellious aristocrats, passionate writers, dazzling revue stars, inspired poets, tragic double agents and visionary dancers. Unbound by the conventions of their time, these women travel in pursuit of unfamiliar cultures, experiences and sensations.

Their lives recall Marco Polo’s “The Book of Wonders” and the adventure novels of Jules Verne. They cross the Atlantic aboard luxurious ocean liners, travel from Western Europe to Istanbul on the Orient Express and follow the Silk Road across Central Asia. They cross oceans, take to the skies and ride through distant landscapes on camelback, driven by a desire to discover what lies beyond the familiar.

Cultures and Memories Gathered Abroad

The travelers pass through Almaty, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, spending time with women in the monasteries of Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. In India, they reside in ashrams, while in Vietnam they admire the landscapes of Ha Long Bay from the deck of a junk boat.

They move between rickshaws, palanquins and tuk-tuks, embracing a life that is at times luxurious and at others daring, but always filled with the exhilaration of encountering the unknown.

They are collectors as much as they are travelers. Aboriginal and Papuan art, paintings from Cusco, Navajo and Hopi jewelry, and masks from Benin and Inuit communities become fragments of the worlds they have visited. These objects are not merely souvenirs, but tangible records of places, encounters and experiences.

The Hôtel Regina also carries a significant history of its own. In 1919, it became the founding location of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This idea of universality — of connections that transcend national borders — runs quietly through a collection rooted in curiosity and respect for cultures beyond one’s own.

Trousers as a Symbol of Liberation

Trousers appear throughout the collection, carrying a meaning that extends beyond silhouette.

Here, they represent the conquest of a new social status, women’s emancipation and the freedom to move through the world on their own terms.

They are paired with generous, enveloping coats inspired by Ottoman and Japanese garments, as well as dressing gowns and robes. Their cocooning forms evoke clothing discovered and collected over the course of distant journeys.

Structured jackets, cigarette trousers, jodhpurs and zouave pants introduce further references to different regions and historical periods. Rather than reproducing them as costume, Sorbier reconfigures these forms into a wardrobe for the contemporary woman.

Fabrics Carried Home from Around the World

The textiles speak most vividly of the collection’s journeys.

Antique embroidery from a Japanese tomesode kimono gives new life to a little black dress, while a border inspired by Uzbek ikat introduces an exotic rhythm to a long coat in deep red velvet.

Embossed jacquards recalling marbled paper and traditional bookbinding lend depth and sophistication to restrained silhouettes. Palmette motifs, enlarged to dramatic proportions or reduced to intricate miniature patterns, evoke the decorative arts of Qajar-era Persia and the refinement of Indian Mughal miniatures.

Patchworked silk jacquards informed by Japonisme, mineral-like weaves in blue and gold, black raffia flowers, and embroideries depicting birds and botanical forms further expand the collection’s visual geography. Sorbier brings these diverse references together not as isolated quotations, but as a single, cohesive language.

Animal Motifs and the Power of Contrast

Memories of photographic safaris are translated into tiger-striped jacquards, ivory velvet with an astrakhan effect, and feather-like embellishments crafted from black and white silk organza.

Red anchors the collection’s palette. Himalayan red, brick, scarlet and burgundy bring heat, richness and intensity to the silhouettes.

Gold and silver introduce flashes of light, while black heightens the contrast between fabrics and finishes. Natural white and black sometimes merge and sometimes oppose one another like yin and yang, creating a sharp interplay of light, shadow and texture.

“All aboard! And best wishes from around the world,” Sorbier writes.

The words serve as both an invitation to depart and a call to wear the memories of distant places like a fragrance — intangible, lingering and deeply personal.