Dear Shaded Viewers,
For Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026–2027, Franck Sorbier looks back to the dawn of the twentieth century, when the Paris Exposition Universelle celebrated discovery, craftsmanship, and cultures from around the world. From that moment in history emerges Le Parfum des Globes-trotteuses, a collection imagined through the lives of fearless women whose journeys carried them across continents, oceans, and civilizations. “Their lives resemble the Book of Wonders by Marco Polo or the novels of Jules Verne,” Franck writes, describing adventurers driven by curiosity rather than destination.
The collection moves through the elegance of ocean liners, the romance of the Orient Express, the Silk Road, and the monasteries of Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. Those imagined itineraries find their way into the garments through Ottoman-inspired coats, antique kimono embroidery, Uzbek ikat, Persian palmettes, Mughal references, and fabrics recalling the textures and colors gathered along distant routes. Rather than reproducing traditional dress, Sorbier assembles fragments of memory into a wardrobe shaped by movement and cultural exchange.
Travel also becomes a symbol of independence. Trousers appear throughout the collection as a reflection of women’s emancipation and the freedom to move through the world on their own terms. Rich jacquards, velvet, organza feathers, and animal-inspired textures are balanced by a palette where black anchors the collection, punctuated by vivid reds, gold, silver, and contrasting natural whites.
Franck imagines couture as a passport through history, where every garment carries the traces of places visited, stories collected, and lives lived in constant motion.
Yours digitally,
Pedro
