Caroline Hu called herself a renegade backstage at her spring 2026 show, which was about subverting expectations about beauty through optical illusions.
People around her in China are subjected to social norms, while she dreams of being a rule breaker. On the surface, the collection was just as romantic and voluminous as usual, but if one looked closer, things were arranged in a rather unorthodox manner.
Take the white dress with watercolor brushstroke-like embroidery, for example – the designer commissioned a Chinese artisan to work on a floral embroidery for over a month. Yet she flipped it inside out in the end. “He was not happy, but I think the back is more beautiful and comes with an edgier energy,” Hu said.
Another new element this season was the cinched waistline. The designer said an hourglass silhouette was better at showcasing details that would have otherwise been covered up by layers of smocking.
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She developed a new type of square patchwork that is made up of layers of tulle, which was then exposed and teased to create a 3D texture. The designer also cut floral print fabric into small squares and appliqued them to give the appearance of a pixelated geometric pattern.
The show featured her latest collaboration with Adidas Originals for the CLOT Taekwondo, a martial arts training shoe and ballet flat hybrid.