Intimacy in Public

If SS26 has a mood, it is one of paradox: public display colliding with private ritual. For her latest delivery, Paula Cánovas del Vas didn't just release a collection—she staged a performance of intimacy in public. Her set was a tiled bathroom (a dropside truck converted into one), parked outside Café de la Mairie in the Upper Marais. Models performed moments usually kept behind doors—brushing teeth, resting on a closed toilet, preparing for the day—before stepping into the external glare. It's a potent metaphor about exposing what is normally unseen, and making vulnerability something of a spectacle.

The SS26 collection plays heavily with texture contrast and sensory detail. Distorted florals and deconstructed knits rub elbows with denim pieces that are washed, lasered, and embroidered. Among the playful one-offs are oversized pompom creations: hand-cut jersey strips built into puffball forms—laborious, individual, tactile. These larger sculptural pieces give way to more monochrome ones (such as a black ruffle-shouldered top with matching trousers), giving moments of calm amidst the visual intensity.

The designer also reworked footwear (Converse Chuck styles with 3D floral embellishments or herringbone motifs) and introduced new styles in her pronged—“Diablo" line—offering sneakers and sandals. These accessories don't feel like added afterthoughts but necessary punctuation to the collection's narrative of contrast: hard/soft, private/public, ornamented/plain.

Colour in this line is both vivid and scattered: pops of colour, distorted florals, then moments of restraint in monochrome—all mixed with denim's familiar tones. The silhouettes are similarly varied. There are sculptural maximal forms (pom-pom puff shapes, ornate knits), contrasted with more wearable separates: striped skirts and trousers, ruffle details that don't overwhelm. The mix allows the collection to swing between fantasy and utility.

What feels emotionally strong is the shifting of context: from behind-doors intimacy into the public arena, from statement art pieces into items one could pull into real wardrobes. The path through the show feels intentional—build up the expressive noise, then offer moments of wearability so the voice isn't lost in volume.

Turning the mundane and private (bathroom rituals, moments of getting ready) into runway statements pulls emotion in. It gives clothes soul beyond cut or colour. The pom-pom pieces, the textile experiments, denim detailing, and even decoratively treated footwear enrich the collection. They show technical skill and imagination. The quieter pieces (monochromes, stripes, simpler silhouettes) ground the more extreme dresses and voluminous items. This balance gives the collection coherence and allows the "loud" moments to have more impact.

Some of the more sculptural pieces may be difficult to translate for most people—photographic, editorial, or art piece rather than everyday wear. Their scale or ornament might limit appeal beyond fashion circles. In such conceptual shows, the risk is that the narrative overshadows the garment. If someone sees only one look, will they remember the concept or feel the clothes? Wearability is partly the safeguard to making the concept matter. Heavily embellished footwear, delicate knits, extensive ornament might perform less well in real life. Also, cost of production and care (washing, storage) may affect how many people can or will want to wear these pieces vs simply admire them.

Paula Cánovas del Vas SS26 is one of the more interesting voices this season: she's not speaking loudly, but in layered texture and symbolic gesture. Her work asks: what's the border between what we show and what we hide? It suggests that vulnerability can be powerful, that ritual-however private-has place in public fashion.

There's something brave in making the act of "prepping" into part of the collection. It renders fashion both more intimate and more performative. The collection doesn't cleanly settle into one mode—sometimes art, sometimes ready-to-wear—but that ambiguity is its strength.