Dirty martini dressing, anyone? Gestuz AW26 served up strong tailoring, femme fatales, and the kind of shaken-not-stirred olive tones that pair best with sartorial power moves
A model walks into a bar. It could be the start of a bad dad joke, but Gestuz’s autumn/winter ’26 collection was not the punchline. Yes, there were models. And yes, they did walk into a bar (specifically, a custom-built bar-turned-catwalk) but the clothes were anything but a gimmick. This was a collection created for confidence. The kind that hits after the first sip of your drink of choice. For this journalist, that means a dirty martini. Fitting, then, that the whole thing stemmed from the seductive pull of a stuffed olive, right down to the earthy green that anchored the lineup.
"The richness of the colours came to me first," creative director Sanne Sehested tells me ahead of the show. "Especially the olive colour made the entire inspiration suddenly appear." And boy did it appear. Mahogany browns, dark denim and stark black. All punctuated by that olive green.
Rooted in the mood of a New York bar, Sehested imagined “somewhere dark, smoky, and rich for all the senses.” A place where grit meets glamour, and where the clientele – like her clothes – don’t sit neatly in one category. “For me, the idea of this New York bar is a representation of my vintage inspiration, and the deep sense of storytelling fashion can give.”
That tension between polish and personality ran through the collection. It showed up in the styling: a fur coat over a T-shirt, a sheer dress under oversized suiting. But that red thread could also be found across the lineup itself. “I saw this collection as a place where many personas exist at once,” Sehested says. Just like the bar it references, Gestuz’s runway was crowded with characters: the Wall Street power dresser, the high-heeled femme fatale, the downtown musician still nursing last night’s eyeliner, the socialite pretending to be a starving artist, and many more.
Looking closer, all the Gestuz signatures were there: sculpted tailoring, heavy outerwear, vintage detailing. A fur shrug and stirrup leggings (a must-try trend for the week). Cropped leather jackets with big shoulders and devorée maxi dresses with trailing thin scarves. Standout accessories included ceramic olive shaped bag charms and oversized necklaces (very much a part of the 1980s tapestry). There was a sense of evolution too, most notably in the return of footwear. A pointed reminder that the Gestuz woman is going places. Literally.
When asked to imagine the kind of evening her muse might have, Sehested doesn’t hesitate. “I think any of the looks would enable you to choose your own adventure: drinks at the bar, a fancy dinner, hanging out with friends,” she says. “Or taking over Wall Street.” For the show, the night started with handsome bartenders serving shaken martinis to models smoking at the bar, while a remix of Donna Summer's 'I Love To Love You Baby' (a collaboration between Sehested and Jonas Worup) served as a backing track, culminating to 'I’m Every Woman' by the finale.
It seems the yuppies of yore are more current than ever. And we’re still at the bar. Waiting for another round of whatever Gestuz is serving.
See the full Gestuz AW26 collection below.
