Left: Backstage at Matières Fécales. Right: Backstage at Rick Owens.
Brutalism, classism, oppression and body modifications were among the beauty commentary at Paris Fashion Week. We find ourselves in yet another year in the absurd pursuit of beauty and fashion while the world is on the brink of a World War. Amidst the ICE raids, genocide and rise of the alt-right, the uber wealthy take their seats front row at fashion shows and at the Met Gala.
How was this reflected in the beauty we saw at Paris Fashion Week F/W 26? We share a cross-section of notable shows and their approach to current times, along with our favourite reads of this PFW season.
SFX beauty by Alexis Stone for Matière Fécales.
Matières Fécales' show titled ‘The One Percent’ presented the many faces of wealth in various degrees of post-surgical healing. The show’s SFX beauty was by Alexis Stone, who recently accepted Jim Carrey’s lifetime award by impersonating him and sending the internet into a frenzy. Although grotesque and nightmarish, it feels less like a caricature and more like an accurate representation, “When Trump became president again, a term called “Mar-a-Lago Face” was applied to the wealthy acolytes who surrounded him — individuals who, male or female, seemed to take pride in clownish makeup, poorly executed hair plugs and the kind of rubbery filler everyone left of the extreme right spends considerable energy trying to avoid.” Ruby Feneley writes for Elle. Accessorised perfectly with dollar bill eye mask and pearl ball gags, this show did not shy away from political commentary and rejecting these conservative times.
Casting was another notable element of the show, which included Bryan Johnson, who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of immortality. He is a devotee of Altos Labs, not unlike his billionaire peers Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel, who, like all evil, don’t intend to die. Ashley Ogawa Clarke traces this back to the Elena Velez show at NYFW, where she cast looksmaxxing poster boy Braden Peters, aka ‘Clavicular’ to close her show. “Peters, 20, who claims he’s used “bonesmashing” (aka hitting one’s face with a hammer) to improve facial structure and has taken crystal meth to stay lean...” he writes for Vogue Business. Demna’s Gucci has also heralded the hyper-masculine descent, and all for what? “Through his (Bryan Johnson’s) project Blueprint, he tracks organ age, biomarkers, sleep cycles and the velocity of his boners in an effort to reverse the biological clock, after which he occasionally decamps to Paris to parade the results on the runway,” says Amy Francombe.
Recommended reading:
On The Matières Fécales Runway Botched Surgery Became A Status Symbol by Ruby Feneley for Elle Australia.
From Tech Bros to Looksmaxxers: Why Did Hypermasculinity Rule at Fashion Week? By Ashley Ogawa Clarke for Vogue Business.
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man by Amy Francombe for her Substack, Amy_coded.
Tech Billionaires Are the New Kardashians by Amy Odell for her Substack, Back Row.
Shiny French roll at Chanel.
Some heritage houses maintain the white lie of minimalism, when the beauty reality of the elite is visibly botched. A carefully moderated neutrality comes as no surprise when these houses have hosted the one percent front row during the SS26 shows- Mark Zuckerberg at Prada, Lauren Sanchez at Schiaparelli and Dior. They know their clientele and the white lies they must tell to keep them, a different kind of fantasy.
We saw grown up glitter on a French roll at Chanel and a full face at Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood. Bohemian hair with lived in texture and a single braid a la Woodstock was seen at Isabel Marant, Acne Studios, Gabriela Hearst and Nina Ricci. If a cheat sheet of wearable runway beauty trends is what you’re after, this is the article for you!
Recommended reading:
"Beauty has never been better than at Paris Fashion Week AW26": 10 unmissable shows you need to see by Katie Whitington for Harpers Bazaar UK.
Neon, cat-like sclera contacts and feathery lashes at Rick Owens.
Rick Owens was one of the few designers to acknowledge the state of war and ICE enforcement in interviews, “I was thinking of police enforcement. It’s something that we just cannot avoid in the world around us right now. So I thought, ‘What does one do with fear or concerns like that?’ You make fun of it. You mock your oppressors,” he told WWD. His F/W 26 collection ‘TOWER’ included using Kevlar to make his signature armour like silhouettes. “Typically reserved for body armour, the Kevlar fabric was woven in Como, Italy, by a third-generation mill specializing in performance textiles,” writes Andrea Sacal for Hypebeast. Daniel Sällström interpreted the brief of modern-day warrior women perfectly, using surprising pops of neon, coloured sclera contact lenses and feather-like oversized lashes that had an otherworldly effect.
Recommended reading:
Rick Owens FW26 Is Tougher Than Steel by Andrea Sacal for Hypebeast.
Rick Owens Men’s Fall 2026: Fog, and Fierceness by Miles Socha.
Hovering headbands at CDG.
In other brands that have always been true to themselves- a refreshing change in a flurry of Creative Director musical chairs, Comme Des Garçons came dressed in black, “In the end, there is black. Ultimately Black. I have come to realise that, after all, black is the colour for me. It’s just the strongest, the best for creation, and the colour that embodies the rebellious spirit. And has the biggest meaning: The Universe and the Black Hole.” There were moments of hope in the Black Hole through bursts of bubblegum pink. Matted clumps of hair echoed the shapes of the garments and made the perfect base for black feathers and conjoined headbands suspended between the model’s head and the thin air.
Bonus reading for the true fashion nerds (not PFW related but in the same timeline):
‘You Have to Give Them a Middle Finger’: Takahiro Miyashita on His Return to Fashion by Ashley Ogawa Clarke.
Alex Consani photographed by Phil Oh for Vogue.
A Fashion Week report is never complete without a street style round up and fashion insiders’ hectic accounts of attending shows! Here are some of our favourites to sign things off.
Recommended reading:
The Price of Serving Cunt at Fashion Week by Gabriela Karefa-Johnson for her Substack, Brain Matter.
The Best Street Style Photos From the Fall 2026 Shows in Paris, photographed by Phil Oh for Vogue.
