Paris Fashion Week’s creative director debuts: Xiaohongshu reacts

What happened Paris Fashion Week Spring 2026 will forever be known as a season defined by seismic creative shifts. These drastic changes arrive during a period of desperation for luxury fashion — sales are the focus. At the start of 2025, McKinsey warned of a luxury slowdown, with the year predicted to deliver negative value creation for the first time in nearly a decade. LVMH posted first-half revenue of 39.8 billion euros ($46.7 billion), a 4% decline from the same period last year, the result of a combination of price fatigue and subdued consumer spending. Change is therefore of paramount significance for leading houses. Jonathan Anderson, long synonymous with Loewe’s evolution into a house of craft-driven playfulness, unveiled his first Dior collection Wednesday, marking a pivotal transfer of codes from artisanal eccentricity to more focused refinement. At Mugler, Miguel Castro Freitas succeeded Casey Cadwallader, debuting yesterday, while today Loewe itself opened a new chapter with Proenza Schouler founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez starting their journey as co-creative directors. The spotlight now turns to forthcoming debuts: Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, and Duran Lantink at Jean Paul Gaultier. Their arrivals foreshadow a radical reinvention of houses long tethered to singular visions — will Balenciaga depart from Demna’s “normcore” irony? The Jing Take These new creative directors are stirring debate on Chinese social media, with bloggers discussing which debuts are a success. At Mugler, the response to Castro Freitas’ debut sways toward commerciality and craftsmanship, rather than the drama of ex-creative director Casey Cadwallader. Blogger @kallen wrote in a post, “an homage to the founder’s signature designs one by one, but in reality, the brand’s avant-garde and edgy spirit is completely gone. [...] I guess this is a kind of subversive spirit. The fact that they replaced Casey with Freitas shows that the brand’s intention to sell more is crystal clear.” Echoing this view, @peekaboom wrote, “Miguel Castro Freitas’ Mugler debut feels oddly familiar, like Dries Van Noten wandered onto the wrong set, along with some deconstructed Margiela style from the 90s. [...] Freitas’ coolness feels a bit at odds with the Mugler brand, which is refined by ultimate sexiness and drama.” The comment is insightful, seeing as Castro Freitas was previously at Sportmax, Dries Van Noten, and Christian Dior Couture. Blogger Jery Yang commented, “The new creative director’s work feels heavy on craftsmanship, you can tell the clothing is well-made. I loved Casey’s designs — they have a sharp, edgy soul — but I have to admit, they were not very wearable and hard to sell. After all, L’Oréal is still a company that needs to make money.” Dior takes on artistic edge Dior’s direction under Jonathan Anderson has been warmly received in China, despite divisive reviews on a global scale. Fashion blogger @peekaboom praised his “proportions, deconstruction, and grasp of history,” noting that “the return of an all-supermodel lineup also signals his determination to lead Dior back to the realm of haute couture — Liu Wen and Sun Feifei hadn’t walked for Dior in years!” Blogger WanliEditorialDepartment (@万里编辑部) added, “We’re thrilled to witness a Dior where men and women’s fashion are no longer divided, a realization of fluidity in gender clothing. JWA elevated the brand’s artistic prestige, which might lead to high revenue in the next economic cycle.” Anderson’s Loewe legacy with a twist At Loewe, Anderson’s playfulness drew mixed reviews. Blogger Who doesn’t like beautiful things? (@谁不喜欢漂亮东西) posted, “Industrial silhouettes, bath towels, faux layers, and crinkled lines … have been overdone in recent years and are frankly nothing new,” while @manicbee joked that the house’s strength remains “offering the same style in multiple colors (just kidding).” Yet others, like Fiveeleven, called the show “amazing for a debut performance.” Much of the buzz, however, centered on celebrity attendees, such as actress Chen Duling and actor Wang Yibo, underscoring how spectacle and star power often overshadow design critiques in China’s fashion conversation. Either way, Loewe scored in terms of influence. At the time of writing, #Loewe 2026 Spring/Summer Womenswear had received 44.39 million views on Weibo, and netizens obsessed over the crowd of superstar attendees, from Wang, to buzzy new K-pop group AllDay Project (ADP). Now, we look forward to seeing Balenciaga’s perhaps more demeure era under Piccioli, Jean Paul Gaultier’s cartoonish drama under Lantink, and a needed refresh of Chanel, which had labored under Virginie Viard for the past five years. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

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Paris Fashion Week’s creative director debuts: Xiaohongshu reacts