Gate C42 - Style in Transit

With her Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt invites us through the airport terminal of self-expression - a runway that replicates passport control queues, oversized luggage, and boarding-pass anxiety turned fashion statement. Her theme of

"identity in motion" comes alive in the way garments are functional yet whimsical, tailored yet travel-ready.

Adam-Leenaerdt frames SS26 around the ritual of travel: joggers, oversized carry-alls, strollers, baggage claim, layering for time zones. The runway setting echoed the familiar discomfort and meet-cute of departure lounges. The dreaded passport-control maze became a runway for her spring collection.

This narrative continues in the show's details: models hauled enormous bags, strap lines and compartments bursting. The designer describes clothing as "ornament" and accessories taking on "the authority of garments". In other words: what you carry piled up beside you is as much part of your outfit as what you wear.

The collection plays on dichotomy: utility versus glamour, daywear versus red-carpet surprise. We see tailored coats that unzip into skirts, slip dresses with inverted floral prints stitched together at the back, and pin-over-tunic trousers that seem about to escape the silhouette.

Materials ranged from velvet bust-forms topped with sequined aprons, to slick fishnet textures under shimmering knits. Outerwear cuts held structure; eveningwear floated. Yet even the most dramatic pieces retained a sense of "wearable possibility" - luggage-centric silhouettes, travel-coded pockets, bags doubling as bodies.

The palette ranged from jet-black velvet and corporate navy to sun-washed orange blazers and pale neutrals. A bright orange jacket gave one of the sharpest statements: oversized, slightly boxy, tailored for transit but vivid enough for evening. Other looks brought contrast: dark floral dresses, bold primary-secondary oppositions, monochromes disrupted by colour shots.

There's humour in the staging - a model collapsing under high platforms, ironically exposing the human fragility of this travel metaphor. The mood blends ironic humour, practicality, and a sly wink at our collective exhaustion with "look perfect" codes.

The concept is strong and cohesive. By rooting the collection in the spatial logic of travel, Adam-Leenaerdt gives shape to clothes that might otherwise appear disconnected. Utility redesigns: oversized bags, convertible coats, layering with logic. These aren't gimmicks - they feel functional yet styled. Slip dresses turned mirror-prints, coats that split into skirts, pin-on trousers. These refresh the definition of dress codes while keeping wearability intact.

With many pivot pieces and dramatic layers, the danger is that wearability may slip - the more theatrical the garment, the higher the barrier to everyday adoption. The heavy accessories and oversized bags, while conceptually strong, might overshadow the clothes themselves in still-imagery or retail context. Because several silhouettes hinge on transformation (coat to skirt, bag to body), execution and fit will matter enormously - any compromise may tip the balance from clever to gimmick.

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt SS26 is refreshing in its refusal to choose between fashion as fantasy and fashion as utility. By staging the runway as a travel lounge, she challenges the notion of "what we wear" to include "what we carry," "how we layer," and "how we move." The result is playful, surprising, and rooted in real life: a wardrobe for transience and presence.

In a season full of spectacle, this feels like a collection grounded in life's limbo zones: the airport, the waiting room, the suitcase half-packed and the jacket over the arm. It doesn't shout; it carries itself. And in that carrying, it says something intelligent about the way we dress now.