A repertoire is an evolving body of work. In dance, classical and contemporary pieces are repeatedly reinterpreted on living physiques and given new life.
The process is echoed in the human wardrobe where the same clothes are continually revived and re-evaluated through history. Staged in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the ALAINPAUL Fall-Winter 2026 Collection finds its premise in this parallel. Studying the museum’s archives from the 18th century until today, the designer mirrors the historical wardrobe in the repertoire of dance. The proposal explores the tensions of the body through the changing clothing proportions of history in dialogue with the image- and comfort-driven culture of dressing that defines the present day.
In a study of tension, tailoring is approached with proportional experimentation. Coats and jackets are simultaneously pulled forward and backward, with button closures deliberately over-crossed or elastic button systems at the back of waist, creating counter-tension. The silhouette appears caught between opposing forces, manifesting in a sharply defined waist evoked in coats, jackets, dresses and shirts. 18th-century pannier structures are reinterpreted in fluid viscose crêpe dresses and skirts with architectural volumes integrated into the silhouette. Here, meticulous draping gives way to lateral expansions, while invisible structures support fluid movement in translations of historical architecture into contemporary flow.
Alainpaul
Applying the concept of time to garments, dresses and skirts in satin are treated as material memory, compressed and pleated in controlled imbalance. Permanent folds hint at archival wear. Relief and texture bear witness to the passage of time. Strict linear silhouettes are contrasted with feminine bows and ribbons, and traditional feminine codes are displaced with structure in dresses, skirts and tops crafted from coating wool with exaggerated ruffles. Exploring the notion of living conservation, silhouettes suspended between archival preservation and present-day use are wrapped in silk organza as if protected in garment bags, their transparency revealing the garment underneath.
In dialogues between the formal and casual, tailoring intersects with sportswear and fragments of the urban wardrobe in refined fabrics applied to everyday archetypes. A silk and cupro parka translates fluid material into outerwear. The archetypal study evolves in a jacquard cardigan and wool-cashmere trucker sweater imbued with the ALAINPAUL bolero sleeve code, and an M65 jacket in lambskin, the cinched waist and three-dimensional pockets of which serve as the memory of panniers. Nodding at the passage of time, “falling flower” motifs are interpreted in print, embroidery and three-dimensional applications in different proportions and colours on structured forms and shapes that compress the body.
In a collaboration with Les Teintures de France, an 18th-century tapestry motif is conveyed in relief and printed on a denim jacket and trouser using 3D-printing on a Stratasys machine in multiple volumes. A picot technique is applied to the tapestry interpretation. Using the same technique, a dress and top are printed with a cut-up and mismatched floral, imitating embroideries from 18th-century dress. The collaboration also includes a shearling jacket in tonal patchwork, which combines smooth and curly textures, with external seams that reveal the construction.
In a collaboration with Cécile Feilchenfeldt, “Le Corps a Baleine” – the ancestor of the corset – is reinterpreted in technical, engineered knitwear with contemporary boning that enables flexibility and motion. The creative dialogue with Cécile Feilchenfeldt expands into a jewellery collaboration inspired by trompe-l’oeil stage ornaments from the Opéra Garnier. Here, the exaggerated jewellery of dance costumes – designed for theatrical visibility – inspires pieces constructed in technical three-dimensional knit with integrated metallic elements. In a fusion of stage illusion and textile engineering, the jewellery appears trapped within the knitted structure.
MAKE UP
INGE GROGNARD
WITH L’ORÉAL
HAIR
LOUIS GHEWY
WITH BEAUTICK
CASTING
AnD CASTING
ANDREA PRATO & DANIEL VON DER GRAF
CHOREOGRAPHER
ERIC CHRISTISON
AT PARENT
SOUND DESIGN
SENJAN JANSEN
MUSIC COMPOSER & PERFORMER
JUN MIYAKE
“LILIES OF THE VALLEY”
METISSE MUSIC, A BUDDE MUSIC FRANCE CATALOG
MANICURIST
FANNY WONYU
COUVERTURE OLFACTIVE
LE LABO VIOLETTE 30
PRODUCTION
EXPERIENTIAL/H
