It’s more than likely the only dresses that have occupied your headspace in recent months – if any at all – are those tied to an occasion. November and December can be pretty full throttle on the festive front, with endless drinks, parties and gatherings in the calendar before the year comes to an end.
Besides the celebratory moments that might call for a dress, the winter season doesn’t seem like the optimal time to invest in a new style. But there’s no harm in getting ahead: the spring/summer 2026 collections, shown in September and October, brought plenty of new takes to the fore, which will inspire the mainstream market come February.
The string of designer debuts delivered fresh visions at Chanel and Bottega Veneta (to name but a couple), positioning several dresses front and centre on the runways. Matthieu Blazy focused primarily on relaxed silhouettes and Chanel’s bouclé tweed suiting for his inaugural outing, but he also mooted several awards-season-worthy looks for his coterie of ambassadors to champion.
At Bottega Veneta, too (Blazy’s former stomping ground), Louise Trotter catered to the brand’s loyal clientele with parachute dresses that appeared effortless, thanks to the lightweight fabrication and fitted inner construction. The asymmetric shoulder straps, which peeled off models’ shoulders, added to the nonchalant overall effect.
Miuccia Prada’s dress postulations were less nonchalant by comparison, centred around the apron. “We in fashion always talk about glamour or rich people, but we have to recognise also that life is very difficult,” she told Vogue. “And to me the apron contains the real difficult life of women in history, from factories to the home.” At Miu Miu, they came in both utilitarian leather and primly-printed finishes – some of which were splayed with florals, another key dress trend of the season, seen at Chloé and Loewe – prompting Rosalind Jana to ponder “Can An Apron Be Fashion?” for British Vogue. Similarly, London designer Talia Byre explored apron dresses for spring/summer 2026.
Even if a dress-requiring function is way off the cards – and you plan on living in trackies throughout January – the below dress trends are worth bookmarking for a later date.
