Germanier presents Les Chardonneuses for Spring Summer 2026, a couture collection conceived as a site of transformation and material inquiry. The season frames couture as an active process where memory, reuse, and invention operate through physical change. Germanier approaches couture as a working method grounded in experimentation and reconstruction, allowing garments to carry visible traces of their past while asserting new form and function.
COUTURE COLLECTIONS
The collection draws from vintage pieces sourced from Maisons of the LVMH Group, including official uniforms created by Berluti for the French Olympic and Paralympic teams at the Paris 2024 Games. Building on the direction introduced with the Prélude collection in December 2023, Les Chardonneuses advances what Kévin Germanier defines as upcycled couture. Some garments undergo enhancement through embroidery, inlays, and refined finishes. Others experience full deconstruction, followed by recomposition through dismantled structures, altered patterns, and reshaped volumes.
Recycled sequins, embroidered bottles, and cans appear throughout the collection, interacting with refined fabrics through deliberate placement. These elements operate through contrast and tension, creating surfaces that shift between density and openness.
The silhouettes project a sense of control and independence shaped through time and manual precision. Architectural volumes appear alongside fluid lines, each studied for proportion, balance, and structural clarity. The collection alternates between assertive forms and softer articulation, producing a rhythm that responds to the body in motion. Texture plays a central role, with embellishment and surface treatment guiding how garments occupy space.
Kévin Germanier draws visual references from Switzerland, translating them into material and form. Organic shapes recall the work of H.R. Giger, while floral elements reference edelweiss and thistles. St. Gallen lace informs surface detail, and the folkloric presence of the Tschäggättä figures from Valais enters through exaggerated volumes and expressive construction. These references appear through embroidery, relief, and surface manipulation, integrated into the garments through sustained manual work.
Some textiles receive added structure, while others undergo cutting, shifting, and recomposition to activate movement during wear. Each transformation responds to the body, allowing garments to change through motion. Hand-executed finishes define both interior and exterior surfaces, maintaining consistency throughout the construction.
The show opens with Lisa Rinna, whose commanding presence establishes the tone of the collection. Her appearance anchors the work in a living form of couture, where theatrical energy meets disciplined construction. Germanier advances couture as a practice rooted in transformation. The collection frames reuse as a source of invention and positions construction as a site of meaning, where every recomposed element contributes to a renewed vision of form and presence.
