In many ways the fashion industry was in flux in 2025 (15 creative director debuts in a single season will do that), and as we look ahead to a new year, there’s no sign of it putting on the brakes. For example, when it comes to the key skirt trends for spring/summer 2026, movement is very much the name of the game, whether in the form of dynamic textures, explosive silhouettes or undulating hemlines.
Featured in this article
Take Louise Trotter’s Bottega Veneta debut, which featured swirling, anemone-esque skirts made from recycled fibreglass fabrics that, in Trotter’s words, had “the feeling of fur” but moved “like glass”. Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel debut, meanwhile, was alive with befeathered floor-sweeping skirts, dancing flamenco ruffles and tactile fringing.
Lively hemlines were a common theme across the spectrum. We saw the waterfall skirt – aka 2026’s polished spin on the Y2K handkerchief skirt – on the Alaïa runway, characterised by cascading layers and high-low hemlines. The gravity-defying proportions and fluffed-up hemlines of bubble skirts are also staying put for next season, with Prada providing inspiration in the form of monochrome and lime-green miniskirts, styled with utility jackets and pointed-toe heels.
Speaking of colour, we’re witnessing the unexpected revival of 2010s-coded turquoise, thanks to the saturated styles sent down the Dries Van Noten and Fendi runways. This take has nothing to do with the polyester babydoll dresses you wore in your youth (just me?), this is all about colour-blocking separates that would look just as good at a beach bar as they do in the office.
Scroll down to see and shop the biggest skirt trends for spring/summer 2026.
The drop-waist skirt
The grown-up boho skirt
-1532.png)
The crafty, textured skirt
The asymmetrical hemline skirt
-1069.png)
The pop-of-turquoise skirt
The puffball 2.0
The waterfall skirt
