For spring/summer 2026, Hodakova expands its repertoire of upcycled materials, drawing on the artistic Assemblage movement to turn trash into treasure
We have long since been enamoured with turning rubbish into art; Marcel Duchamp’s readymades in the 1910s, the assemblage movement of the 1960s up to our contemporary obsession with repurposing found objects. So too does Hodakova, under the creative direction of Ellen Hodakova Larsson, take that which has been discarded and turn it into something covetable. For spring/summer 2026, the buzzy Swedish artist expands her lexicon, adding umbrella boning and old books to her repertoire repurposed belts and leather goods, trousers and shirts, pillows and sheets.
There’s something else new in the mix this season: shoes. Crafted from overstock leather (no surprise there), the confidently clunky footwear features wooden heels in a Renaissance-inspired sturdy silhouette. The Hodakova woman, it seems, does not tread lightly. Amusingly, the bags, in turn, are crafted from upcycled riding boots, decorated with sweet floral appliqués.
In the hands of Hodakova, these unconventional materials become the sort of pieces that dominate the cooler corners of fashion Instagram. Thousands of those aforementioned umbrella bones become armour-like angular frocks (a dropped-waist flapper-like number is particularly alluring). Speaking of dropped waists, belts are slung extra low on simple black dresses, creating the illusion of an endless torso. Elsewhere, folkloric details – a simple wool cardigan, thrown over the shoulders – adds a more delicate touch; a reminder that these unwieldily objects must be bent and commanded by the designer’s hand. Those books, meanwhile, are affixed to the hem and shoulders of show-stopping shift dresses, as if it weren’t already evident that Hodakova is the sort of brand to pen its own narrative.
But perhaps the biggest takeaway from yesterday’s show, which took place in the expansive Portzamparc Wing at Musee Bourdelle, was its sheer size. In just a few seasons, Hodakova Larsson, who claimed the LVMH Prize in 2024, has made her humble, rather artsy brand appointment viewing; a favourite among celebrities (one can envision that sculptural zipper dress, with its exaggerated curves, on a forthcoming red carpet worn by a forward-thinking fan) and the industry’s most discerning of high-brow fashion folk. Petition to add a Hodakova bin to Sweden’s recycling programme.
