Class of SS26: Meet the 16 designers debuting this season

For the past two years, one of the most talked-about topics at Vogue Runway – and in the industry at large – has been fashion’s big vibe shift. When we started talking about it, we couldn’t have guessed just how big of a shift we’d be getting. Reports of new designer appointments came every month of 2025, with the exception of April and August.

Now, the endless speculation is finally coming to an end: We will witness 16 designer debuts at the spring 2026 ready-to-wear shows.

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Although many of the designers involved in this re-shuffle are familiar faces like Pierpaolo Piccioli and Demna, their stakes are as high, if not more so, than those of the designers stepping into the spotlight for the first time. For the first time in decades, the Christian Dior label will be under one creative director, meaning Jonathan Anderson will be working on at least 10 collections a year between menswear, womenswear, and couture. Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, long New York fashion’s golden boys, have left the city and the Proenza Schouler label they founded more than 20 years ago to take a gamble in Paris at Loewe. Perhaps no one is feeling more pressure than Matthieu Blazy, whose debut at Chanel will fittingly take place on the final day of shows.

The industry-wide shakeups are allowing new talent to rise, whether that’s relative unknowns like Nicholas Aburn at Area, and Miguel Castro Freitas at Mugler, or designers who have toiled as second-in-commands behind the scenes and now get to call the shots like Versace’s Dario Vitale and Carven’s Mark Thomas.

It’s a lot of names and places to remember, so we’ve put together a yearbook to commemorate what is sure to be a season that changes fashion. Meet the designers of the Class of Spring 2026.

41, Jamaican
Previously: Diotima (ongoing)
Known for: Reimagining the possibilities of crochet
Most likely to have fashion It-girls twinning - and not caring about it

37, American
Previously: Balenciaga, Alexander Wang, Tom Ford
Known for: Downtown NYC cool cred
Most likely to go from 'What's his name?" to 'IYKYK'

44, Georgian
Previously: Balenciaga, Vetements
Known for: Pantaboots, experimental fashion shows
Most likely to break the internet

46, Italian
Previously: Bally, Gucci, Carol Christian Poell
Known for: Making Bally cool
Most likely to keep the peplum trend alive

42, Italian
Previously: Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta, Dsquared2
Known for: Mini skirts, really understanding women after spending over a decade with Mrs. Prada
Most likely to have the hottest casting of the season

56, British
Previously: Carven, Lacoste, Joseph
Known for: A supple hand with materials
Most likely to finesse a sense of ease in an unusual boxy silhouette

40, Irish
Previously: JW Anderson (ongoing), Loewe, Versus by Versace
Known for: Conceptual clothes, moonlighting as a costume designer for Luca Guadagnino
Most likely to win an Oscar

45, Portuguese
Previously: Sportmax, Dries Van Noten, Dior
Known for: Being a dancer ages 6 to 17
Most likely to lean on performance and theatrics for his capital-S show

49, British
Previously: Lacoste, Helmut Lang, Joseph
Known for: Loyalty - he worked with Louise Trotter at his last three jobs, his facility with minimalist and athletic silhouettes
Most likely to say "this isn't quiet luxury, these are timeless clothes"

47 & 46, American
Previously: Proenza Schouler
Known for: American sophistication with offbeat details, winning the first-ever CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
Most likely to have Chloë Sevigny in the front row

42, Belgian
Previously: Diesel (ongoing), Y/Project
Known for: Making gravity-defying clothes through his use of wire, being the king of denim
Most likely to wear a lab coat

57, Italian
Previously: Valentino, Fendi
Known for: PP Pink for Valentino, putting Frances McDormand in the best Met Gala look ever
Most likely to create the next It Pantone colour

44, American
Previously: Polo Ralph Lauren, Celine, Balenciaga
Known for: Being the new American in Paris
Most likely to make you buy a pair of skinny jeans against your better judgment

38, Dutch
Previously: Duran Lantink
Known for: A penchant for inflatables
Most likely to spend time in the prosthetics department

41, French-Belgian
Previously: Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Raf Simons
Known for: Trompe l'oeil leather jeans and tank tops, accidentally being unmasked while working at the famously anonymous Maison Martin Margiela
Most likely to make you do a double take