Ashi Studio Blends Art and Fashion at Paris Haute Couture Week
DUBAI/PARIS — Saudi label Ashi Studio celebrated two decades in fashion with a Fall 2026 Couture collection that explored themes of identity, concealment and transformation, presented on Tuesday night as part of Paris Haute Couture Week.
The show concluded with the line, “Behind every mask is another mask,” with inspiration drawn from elaborate celebrations spanning Renaissance Florence to Carlos de Beistegui’s legendary 1951 masked ball at Venice’s Palazzo Labia.
A Collection of Armor and Dreams
For the new season, designer Mohammed Ashi examined the human body as something that can be reshaped and protected, presenting garments that suggested armor while balancing strength with fragility. Feathers, sculptural corsets, shell-like structures, veils, fringe and glossy finishes transformed models into almost otherworldly figures. Narrow waists and exaggerated forms blurred the boundaries between human, bird and insect, lending the collection a dreamlike quality.
The collection featured a rich palette of deep reds, blacks, and metallic golds, with intricate detailing that included hand-embroidered motifs and layered textures. Ashi’s signature sculptural silhouettes were on full display, with structured shoulders and dramatic volumes that referenced both historical armour and organic forms.
Ashi Studio, founded in 2016, has become one of the most prominent Saudi fashion houses on the international stage, regularly showing during Paris Haute Couture Week and dressing celebrities including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Penélope Cruz. The label is known for its architectural approach to design, blending Middle Eastern heritage with contemporary couture techniques.
Chanel’s Fairy Tale Garden
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Chanel’s starry salon was transformed into a garden gone wrong, with giant beanstalks climbing to the ceiling and huge flowers blooming a little too brightly. Designer Matthieu Blazy reached for the storybook, drawing inspiration from a small leather-bound book of fairy tales found in Gabrielle Chanel’s old apartment.
The opening look featured a sheer Chanel suit with embroidery shaped like tiny bean shoots, with vines creeping up dresses and curling around heels. Little evening bags took the shape of sleeping bears and fat chickens, with heels sculpted into butterflies and golden eggs. Jackets concealed painted linings and mock to-do lists stitched in sheer silk.
Edges were left deliberately frayed, nodding to Coco Chanel’s habit of attacking her own clothes with pins as she fitted them. “Haute Couture at Chanel is not just a fairy tale; in essence it is for women, their realities and their adventures of the everyday,” Blazy said. Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh and Catherine Deneuve were among the front-row guests.
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