If this Fall/Winter 2026 season has proven anything, it’s that fashion can be divisive. And yet there is one designer who has consistently united the industry throughout his career: Pieter Mulier. The Belgian designer presented his emotional final chapter at Alaïa during Paris Fashion Week, once again underlining his status as everyone’s favorite designer.
On Wednesday he said goodbye to the French fashion house after five years – under the proud eyes of his mentor Raf Simons and his former partner, long-time supporter and Chanel creative director Mathieu Blazy.
Before Mulier takes Italian fashion house Versace into a new era in July, his final collection for Alaïa reaffirmed the central principle of his five-year tenure. An uncompromising commitment to Azzedine Alaïa’s sophisticated legacy of the form, combined with a consistent focus on clothes that are actually meant to be worn, rather than merely posted online.
It was a closing statement that encapsulated his design philosophy, firmly rooted in the integrity of the garment and the clear primacy of the woman who wears the garment.
“Nothing but love”
While virality was never the focus of Mulier’s work, social media was flooded with videos of show guests unpacking their latest Alaïa invitation: a custom-made briefcase containing a leather puzzle that, when assembled, formed a brown, metal-studded bodice.
Mulier himself posted a picture of the finished piece with the caption “Swan song… only love” [Zu Deutsch: Das letzte Werk…nicht als Liebe]. And love was a theme that ran through his final collection, not just his designs, but the craftsmanship that went into every single garment in his studio over five years.
But his dedication to materials and craftsmanship had grown long before his time at Alaïa. The fashion world watched as Mulier found his own voice while working as Simons’ right-hand man at Dior. There he led the studio and design teams for couture, ready-to-wear and women’s accessories. A phase that was captured in the film ‘Dior and I’ (2014). The documentary also showcases Mulier’s own awakening to the artistry of couture and the dedication of the ateliers.
When Alaïa finally appointed him after the founder’s death – after three years in which the house initially reissued archive bestsellers while searching for the right creative successor – Mulier became almost inextricably linked to the white studio coat of his team. In 2023, in keeping with his deeply personal approach to fashion, he literally opened his world to the industry. He invited people to Antwerp and to his own home as a show location. A gesture that reflected his belief that fashion is not a spectacle to be consumed, but rather an intimate conversation between creators and wearers.
This reverence was also evident in his final appearance for Alaïa. At the Fondation Cartier, one half of the ground floor housed the catwalk, while the other contained a monumental canvas with portraits of all Alaïa employees, photographed by Keizo Kitajima. In the show notes, Mulier underscored this gesture by once again paying tribute to his studio.
“This is my final collection for Maison Alaïa, a house full of heart and soul to which I have given my own,” the designer wrote. “This collection is not about me. It is about the Alaïa team – our family – and is an expression of everything we have learned, felt and loved over the past five years.”
What sets Mulier apart, however, is not just gratitude and love, but an approach to fashion that remains deeply personal and intimate: visually complex in his most celebrated moments, yet grounded in simplicity, architectural precision, reverence for his predecessor – and, above all, respect for the women who wear his designs.
A pure farewell
Anyone who expected Mulier to say goodbye with great fanfare was wrong. His last collection was spectacular in its simplicity. Instead of grand gestures, there was a quiet, almost determined elegance. Farewell collections often become a stage on which designers demonstrate their brilliance one last time, showcase themselves or leave a quiet message to the industry. None of that happened with Alaïa.
Mulier’s farewell was marked by restraint and formulated a final statement that was entirely anchored in the idea of wearability. This is exactly where his legacy for the house lies – in a generous, clear purity that remains regardless of who follows him.
“Minimal, pure, essential. Reduced to the essentials of Alaïa,” wrote the designer. “It is both a reflection on and of Azzedine’s work, shaped by traces of myself. The expression of my time here.”
This attitude was evident from the start. The collection opened with reduced, skin-tight slip dresses that were reminiscent of the minimalism of the nineties. Each silhouette seemed understated and precise, as if to serve as a reminder that the true measure lies not in the spectacle, but in the integrity of what a woman actually wears. This idea ran through the entire collection.
However, unexpected moments kept appearing within this clear formal language. Sixties-style swing coats provided a counterpoint to the slim evening silhouettes, as did leather jackets paired with cascading, pleated tutus. Columnar maxi dresses sat alongside high-slit, ruffled silhouettes.
Draped evening gowns received graphic crocodile leather inserts, while precisely tailored double-breasted coats were paired with gloves and fur-trimmed costumes appeared. Each of these pieces seemed like a subtle departure from his otherwise reduced vocabulary and showed that restraint and invention do not have to be mutually exclusive.
The archive was also noticeably present in many moments. Particularly in the hooded dresses, a final conversation emerged between the past and the present.
Mulier had already started such a dialogue five years ago. At his debut show, there were letters at every seat addressed to the late Azzedine Alaïa. In it he wrote that he had tried to penetrate his mind, but knew that it was impossible. They met, but he never really had the opportunity to get to know him. At least now he has the opportunity to thank him.
His last collection made this gratitude tangible. And the industry reciprocated.
