In true Kegels style, the SS26 collection was shrouded in duality. Pushing and pulling between what might have been if we had more time and the harsh reality of keeping up with the rest of the world, the designer left us with the impression that, these days, a woman is always in motion.
Staged beneath the Passy metro stop in Paris’ 16th arrondissement, a soundtrack of 32 women’s voices filled the space. Their overlapping monologues exposed an exhausting chorus of thought: the regret of skipping lunch, the regret of having lunch, the obsession with perception, the gnawing need to know what’s wrong with you. Layered over this, the clatter of heels hammered through the speakers. The effect was claustrophobic, yet it suggested that even on the verge of a breakdown and even when there isn’t enough time to perfect the look or the lifestyle, the modern woman somehow makes it work.
Models emerged from an apartment doorway, dressing while moving. Skirts caught in bunches, buttons left undone, collars stretched and shirts only half tucked — all signs of someone “falling behind.” Yet in Kegels’ world these weren’t mistakes. Stains became prints, bunching became silhouette, undone hems became ease. Mishaps were recast as signatures.
Central to the collection was the idea that if wearers are always in motion, then clothes should reflect that state of becoming. Transformation played out on the runway: pencil skirts unfastened into slip dresses, rigid tailoring softened into satin gowns. In a world that dreads change, this collection turned it into a spectacle.
Even the accessories acknowledged this restless pace. Garment bags were reimagined as messenger totes, a wink at the reality of changing outfits between office cubicles and evening plans. For the designer, there is no shame in the quick-change; the act of adapting becomes part of the performance.
Weaving throughout the chaos of speed was a meditation on stillness. Kegels has always flirted with lace, but here she turned the motif on its head. Rather than layering delicacy upon delicacy, she carved it away, slicing satin and leaving behind cut-outs that felt more like an idea than a reality—something that may have come to fruition if there had been more time.
There was also an unmistakable sense of humour. Belts echoed the lines of lingerie, still-life prints morphed into moving canvases, and tailored pieces hinted at the structure of historical tournures before being undercut by slits and draped folds. A flea-market oddity — lace-print boob stickers — found its way onto the runway as 3D-printed boobtape.
Elsewhere, uniforms were unpicked and remade: police shirts, riding polos, and military jackets worn not as symbols of order but as playful archetypes reframed for a restless present. Glitter and transparency disrupted their severity, from bioglitter-filled organza skirts to sweaters sparkling at the elbows, as if to remind us that even structure can shine for a moment before slipping back into the blur.
The through-line was clear: life moves fast, but Kegels’ answer is neither surrender nor perfection. Instead, she offers a way of dressing that embraces the pace — garments that acknowledge the messiness of transition, the comedy of reinvention, and the fleeting beauty of the imperfect.
