Floating Skirts, Mohair Feathers & Pure Emotion: Pauline Dujancourt’s Unforgettable SS26 Collection

Pauline Dujancourt Brings Poetry to the Runway: Spring Summer 2026 at London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week has always been a stage for boundary-pushing creativity, but Pauline Dujancourt’s Spring Summer 2026 collection, Free as a Bird, brought something deeper: a heartfelt exploration of grief, memory, and transcendence.

Presented on September 20, 2025, this show wasn’t just about clothing—it was about storytelling, emotion, and the ability of fashion to heal.

A Collection with a Soul

Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull and dedicated to the memory of a close friend, Dujancourt’s SS26 collection unfolded like a quiet meditation. From the very first look, the audience was pulled into an atmosphere that balanced fragility with resilience.

Sheer lace clung softly to the skin, while ghostly tulle drifted behind the models like echoes of memory. Diaphanous knits teased between concealment and revelation, embodying the tension between holding on and letting go.

What made this collection feel so profound was its honesty. It wasn’t just clothes on a runway—it was Pauline’s inner world translated into fabric, stitching, and movement.

From Darkness to Light

Dujancourt’s background in theatre was evident in the show’s structure. The garments moved through a narrative progression, echoing Nina’s famous monologue from The Seagull about finding purpose in passion. The first looks felt somber and muted, wrapped in pale gray and ivory, almost like a sigh.

But as the collection unfolded, the palette shifted to sky blues and soft tones that suggested renewal and release. Each step carried emotional weight, with garments that seemed to breathe with the models, moving like sighs of freedom.

Innovation in Craft

Technically, SS26 might be Dujancourt’s most daring work yet. Instead of traditional corsetry, voluminous bell skirts were built with hand-woven mesh strips, giving them the airiness of floating cages. The knits were next-level—mohair feathers pinned and stitched to mimic the fragile power of wings in flight. Tops transformed into poetic sculptures, hovering between fashion and art.

This balance of fragility and strength defined the collection. Pieces appeared impossibly delicate, yet their craftsmanship was undeniable. Each look blurred the line between runway fashion and performance art, reminding us that clothing can carry as much emotion as theatre, music, or poetry.

A Palette of Emotions

Color played a subtle but significant role. The show leaned heavily on muted tones—ivory, pale gray, and whispery blues—to reflect its ethereal, almost spiritual mood. Yet, in certain moments, deeper hues grounded the narrative with gravitas, suggesting the weight of mourning alongside the promise of renewal.

It was less about color-blocking or trends, and more about emotion. Every shade felt intentional, like brushstrokes on a canvas painting the stages of grief and healing.

Pauline’s Moment

In a season filled with bold experiments and eccentric theatrics, Pauline Dujancourt stood out by being unapologetically sincere. Her SS26 collection wasn’t about shock value—it was about feeling. About using lace, tulle, mesh, and feathers to weave together a story of grief, mourning, strength, and ultimately, renewal.

London Fashion Week often celebrates the avant-garde, but Dujancourt showed that softness can be radical, too. With Free as a Bird, she cemented herself as one of the most thoughtful voices of her generation, proving that fashion can lift us, heal us, and maybe, just maybe, set us free.