If there's one thing to know about us, it's that we love a good hair accessory. Paris Fashion Week's Fall 2026 Haute Couture shows delivered plenty for us to froth over. From mythology, science, and fractured fairytales, art and futurism, the inspiration behind these collections was varied, yet produced work that was equally affecting. Here’s our round up of the very best of headwear from the latest shows.

For Rahul Mishra’s collection, ‘Devi,’ the designer collaborated with sculptor Sumant Kumar, who sculpted the faces in clay before moulding and hand painting them. The inspiration for the headpieces came from the Statue of Garuda in the Chennakeshava Temple in Belur. “The three faces represent the past, present and future, coming together as one for DEVI,” he explains.

Robert Wun’s collection drew from the darkness that mars childlike wonder in the form of fairytales from the Brothers Grimm to tragic figures like Bambi’s mother, whom Wun calls “The saddest character in all fairytales.” He wanted this collection to keep wonder alive, which he communicated expertly through headpieces that were sculptural, playful and dark at the same time.

Duran Latnik’s controversial appointment at Jean Paul Gaultier has had a polarising response. For his couture collection, he imagines Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette interacting with futurism, which in many ways reflects the challenges of his peers over at LVMH. He presents the idea through an all too familiar bow accessory with exaggerated proportions, simple and effective.

This show marked Pierpaolo Piccioli’s first couture show at Balenciaga, which concluded with him bringing out the atelier workers for the final bow, acknowledging the team that makes couture possible at all thanks to their immense skill set, knowledge and a finger bleeding amount of labour. This romantic floral accented veil keeps our hope that romantic (in couture) isn’t dead.

Jonathan Anderson has an impressive ability to retain his visual language while also adapting to the heritage house he now leads. A key ingredient to his success is his frequent collaborations with artists, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Maria Grazia Chiuri. This time, he continued his relationship with multi-disciplinary artist Lynda Benglis. Benglis’ material manipulation inspired world renowned milliner Stephen Jones to make abstract shapes to create the pleated, metallic bonnets for the show.

Inspired by post-humanism and the metaverse, Iris Van Herpen continued her trajectory into cutting-edge technology, including sustainable materials, 3D printing and applying it to the garments and headwear as an extension.