Fashion reflects the longings and challenges of society – and when times become darker, we are increasingly looking for light. An urgent restart becomes essential in an era that is characterized by fake news, endless doomscrolling and ubiquitous negativity distortion.
The Zeitgeist analysis presented by the German Fashion Institute for the coming spring/summer season starts here. Trend researchers and DMI managing director Carl Tillessen pleads for a “detox society” at the online fashion day and thus for the urgent desire for detoxification-social, digital and aesthetic.
The fashion seems to have heard the trend researcher’s plea, because after years of visual stimulus overstimulation and an excess of social media-driven superficiality, this experiences a renaissance of values, intellect and mindfulness for SS26. The latest collections have already proven that designers: inside the content and substance and present an antidote to the toxic influences of digital dynamics.
Intellectualism as a remedy
The fashion of the upcoming FS26 season raises internal values to the top maxim. The first steps in the right direction were taken in the previous summer season. For example, the Italian label del Core focused on literary references and designed fashion for a fictional scientist who would not leave the house without works by authors such as Hannah Arendt and Susan. A choice that illustrates that intellect and education will dress more than ever in the future.
Books thus become essential stylistic devices, and on Sundays there are several reception in further collections. For example, Jonathan Anderson was inspired for his Loewe collection of Sunday work Against Interpretation.
The designer went one step further and integrated literary quotes into the knitting goods of his own label JW Anderson. The British label Erdem continued this idea by incorporating book covers as labels in designs – further proof that the printed word became the central motif.
This homage to literary inspiration testifies to a movement that consciously opposes the superficiality of visual media, but also turns from online media to the almost ancient -looking newspaper that rarely ranging in the age of rapid print publications. No wonder that the classic press, which in this context is considered a conscious counterpoint to the often manipulative dynamics of digital platforms, is not only present in the front row of fashion shows, but also finds its place on the catwalks.
At Miu Miu, the guests’ places were decorated with newspapers, and the location was reminiscent of a print shop in which the latest edition literally hovered through the room. Stella McCartney also took up this motif. The British designer staged newspapers as accessories worn by the models in hands or bags. The bottom line, however, does not seem to be whether as a decorative design tool in the room or as an accessory in the hands of the models – the medium of the past becomes a fashion of the future.
Saint Laurent also underlines this trend with its latest campaign, which puts books and reading models in the spotlight. Reading, and the written word, is not only celebrated as an aesthetic, but also as an intellectual act – a counter -draft to the fast -moving consumer culture.
From gigantism to intimacy
However, the type of storytelling is not only characterized by Roman hero: inside and star author: inside, but also by a decelerated nature of the productions. Where previously visual stimulus overstimulation and the striving for maximum attention have dominated, a trend of deceleration and conscious staging is now established. Above all, this change drives a growing longing for authenticity and attention to detail – significantly shaped by a rethink of the previous mechanisms of social media.
“In the past few years, the visual stimulus overstimulation on the net and the associated experience had often been raised to the only contemporary basic attitude of the world,” Tillessen said. But that is changing now, because even if the big fashion shows continued to deliver a spectacle of almost overwhelming splendor-catwalks from 1000 original suitcases at Louis Vuitton or a huge bird cage at Chanel-it was above all the small, charming details that remembered stayed.
There were best examples of this at Bottega Veneta and Loewe, where lovingly designed details such as crocheted flowers or handmade pocket trailers became secret stars. It is these small, charming accents that are remembered and the hearts of the viewers: conquer inside. The focus shifts from pompous productions to the “minorities”, which radiate deep and personality and are not only examples of art, but also symbols of a paradigm shift. Away from gigantism, towards an intimate, accessible aesthetics.
This shift is also reflected in the presentation. Wherever over -saturation through visual effects was the goal, there is now calm and concentration. Alessandro Michele’s change – from Gucci on his current work at Valentino – is an exemplary example. According to the trend researcher, his new collections invite you to pause, perceive details and to discover the silent stories behind the designs.
Fashion, once the scene for the biggest spectacle, becomes increasingly the stage for silent stories in spring/summer 2026. It is an expression of our time, because in a world that has become louder and faster, the quiet, the gentle and real meaning gains a new meaning, according to Tillessen, which interprets this development as a self -protection mechanism against the toxic side effects of social media.