The future showed up in a wetsuit. Pierre Cardin’s Spring 2026 felt like a dispatch from some floating city where humans have traded land for tide, couture for climate tech. Rodrigo Basilicati, the nephew-turned-navigator of the Cardin mothership, sent out his army of sleek black-and-white catsuits—unzipped from the future and zipped straight onto the runway on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Forget draped silks and soft tailoring, shoulders bloomed into green fins, hips waved in yellow motion, an orange bib echoed a warning buoy in stormy seas. Each look moved like an experiment in wearable architecture, a puzzle piece in Basilicati’s vision of post-earthly elegance. Welcome to the Aqua Age, darling. The forecast reads: 80% humidity, 100% couture. Rodrigo Basilicati is riding the futuristic wave, translating his environmental convictions into wearable form, and turning his ideas into a wake-up call. He offers a glimpse of a tomorrow that feels almost within reach—ice caps sighing their last, Parisian streets shimmering under shallow waters, and us moving through it all in zippered catsuits, poised and prepared. And somehow… I could picture myself in that world. Because maybe this is what it means to evolve — to dress for the flood, to stay fly while the water climbs, because it’s not a metaphor anymore — it’s in sight on the horizon.We missed the moon; now we’re learning to breathe underwater.
In a room buzzing with over a hundred Cardin licensees (many flown in from Asia, where the brand continues to thrive, celebrated for its iconic ‘80s style and disco-era elegance), Basilicati played the role of a futurist preacher. The message was clear: Cardin is here for continuity—a philosophy surviving melting poles and shifting markets. When the catwalk’s a dock, and the runway lights reflect on water—we might all wish we’d suited up sooner.
