Simon Porte Jacquemus returned to the Picasso Museum on 25 January 2026 to present Le Palmier, his Autumn/Winter 2026 collection. Within the layered salons and intimate courtyards of the 17th-century mansion, each outfit became a study in disciplined invention, where line, movement and memory coalesced into a language at once rigorous and mischievously intelligent.
Drawing on the House’s archive and a personal muse – his daughter’s palm-tree ponytail – Jacquemus revisits mid-century couture forms with a contemporary twist. Tulip-waisted jackets, mid-length skirts punctuated with slotted panels, and bias-cut dresses are calibrated to sculpt and animate the body. The skirts’ subtle openings convert movement into a choreographed display, transforming the act of walking into a visual rhythm of precision and sensuality.
Surface and ornament are equally considered. Polka dots, a recurring hallmark, are liberated from pattern as mere decoration: they curve, collide and intertwine with confetti-like grosgrain strips, while feather embellishments, trompe-l’œil embroidery and calisson-shaped tailoring operate as integral elements of each silhouette. Each motif contributes to a dynamic architecture of form, where embellishment and structure are inseparable.
Accessories assert themselves with authority. Oversized hats dominate, recalibrating proportion and commanding poise, while shoes occasionally appear in contrasting shades on opposite feet, a small but sharp disruption that amplifies the collection’s intellectual playfulness. Bags – from the reimagined Le Valérie to East-West evening clutches – reference La Bomba (2017) while asserting new utility and compositional logic.
Colour, line and surface converge in a language that is crisp, animated and demanding. The collection gestures towards the precision of 1950s couture, the languid sensuality of 1990s fashion, and the chromatic audacity of 1980s French cinema, yet these influences are transmuted rather than imitated. Every detail – the curvature of a collar, the articulation of a sleeve tab, the cut of a tulip waist – is measured to produce garments that think as acutely as they move. Rewatch the show
