By Rebecca Ceccatelli and Giulia Piceni. Cover image Iris van Herpen, Cosmica dress, Shift Souls collection, Haute Couture spring/summer 2019. Colored clouds by Kim Keever printed on translucent organza. Photo by Warren du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones.
Runways alone are no longer enough to tell the story of fashion. Today, beyond wearing it or scrolling through it on a screen, sometimes all it takes is a train ticket, an exhibition, and a European city to explore. Fashion seems to be increasingly moving beyond the rigid schedules of fashion weeks, taking shape — and temporary residence — in museums, exhibition spaces, historic palaces, and more unexpected venues, transforming itself into a fully fledged cultural experience. In fact, fashion exhibitions have now become top-tier platforms in contemporary fashion storytelling, thanks to their ability to bring iconic garments into dialogue with archives, immersive installations, and new visual narratives. It is in this context that fashion becomes part of a broader story, where visitors are no longer mere spectators but, for an hour or two, can feel immersed in the narrative — able to observe up close, listen, and move through it.
In 2026, Europe once again confirms itself as a living map of fashion, shaped by exhibitions that create a dialogue between past and present, featuring major fashion houses, revolutionary designers, and contemporary perspectives. From major museums to the most experimental institutions, the continent becomes a truly diffused cultural runway, where each city offers its own unique take on style and its cultural impact.
That’s why this article is an invitation to travel through fashion this year, ready to get lost among exhibition halls and creative capitals, and to rediscover the fashion system as an emotional language. Because in 2026, more than ever, fashion is something to be visited too.
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses @ Kunsthal, Rotterdam
When: Until March 1, 2026
Choosing Iris van Herpen as a starting point is a strong move — and an easy way to earn your trust. Sculpting the Senses is the exhibition dedicated to one of the most forward-thinking fashion designers working today. On view at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the show explores van Herpen’s practice, where experimental techniques challenge fashion conventions while remaining grounded in the craftsmanship of haute couture.
Conceived as a sensory journey through her universe, Sculpting the Senses brings together more than one hundred iconic pieces that highlight how van Herpen continues to push the limits of couture through sculptural forms, innovative materials, and technology.
The exhibition unfolds across nine thematic sections, a contemporary cabinet of curiosities, and a reconstruction of her Amsterdam studio. Along the way, it opens up reflections on the body in space, its relationship with the environment, and its possible futures — ideas explored through a dialogue between her designs and works by artists such as Philip Beesley, Wim Delvoye, Damien Jalet, Kohei Nawa, and Neri Oxman. The result is an immersive journey not to be missed.
Elsa Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art @ V&A, London
When: Opening Saturday, 28 March 2026 — on view until 8 November 2026
If Iris van Herpen looks to the future, Schiaparelli takes us back to the moment when fashion first dared to call itself art. Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London explores the radical legacy of Elsa Schiaparelli, a designer who transformed clothing into a space for imagination, provocation, and collaboration.
From surrealist motifs to bold silhouettes and unconventional materials, the exhibition traces — for the first time in the UK — how Schiaparelli succeeded in blending art and fashion long before it became common practice.
A rich selection of garments, accessories, archival materials, and artworks is on display, with particular focus on the close relationships Elsa cultivated with artists such as Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau.
Get ready to encounter in person the famous Rose Evening Coat, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli and Jean Cocteau in 1937; Dalí’s Lobster Telephone; and the iconic Skeleton Dress from 1938. Is it enough to convince you?
Fashion in the 18th Century: A Fantasized Legacy @ Palais Galliera, Paris
When: 14 March 2026 — 12 July 2026
In Paris, the Palais Galliera brings the eighteenth century back to life with Fashion in the 18th Century: A Fantasized Legacy. Far from the dusty history it has often been dismissed as, this exhibition reveals how the Age of Enlightenment shaped women’s silhouettes, fabrics, and accessories — and how it continues to inspire designers today.
The exhibition doesn’t simply celebrate elegance and refinement; it also highlights how the eighteenth century’s extravagance, whimsy, and excess have been reimagined over time, flirting with camp, theatricality, and queer creativity.
By honoring the over-the-top alongside the historically accurate, the show positions the eighteenth century not only as a source of inspiration but as a living, fantastical aesthetic that continues to spark bold and unexpected interpretations in fashion today.
Bringing together over seventy silhouettes, accompanied by accessories, textiles, graphic arts, and photographs, the exhibition showcases masterpieces such as Queen Marie Antoinette’s corset. Visitors can also compare eighteenth-century silhouettes with those of later periods through a selection of iconic contemporary pieces from the collections of Chanel, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood, and Dries Van Noten.
The Antwerp Six @ MoMu Fashion Museum, Antwerp
When: 28 March 2026 — 17 January 2027
The upcoming exhibition at MoMu in Antwerp marks a decisive moment in fashion history, revisiting the legacy of the Antwerp Six forty years after their international breakthrough. Bringing together the work of Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee, the exhibition explores how a shared educational background at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp gave rise to radically different yet equally influential creative paths.
Rather than presenting a nostalgic retrospective, the show positions the Antwerp Six as a cultural turning point, foregrounding their rejection of commercial conformity in favor of intellectual depth, experimentation, and conceptual clarity. Through garments, archival documents, early collections, and contextual materials, the exhibition traces how Antwerp emerged as an unlikely fashion capital in the mid-1980s, reshaping the global perception of Belgian design.
Emphasis is placed on individuality within the collective, highlighting how each designer developed a distinctive language while remaining connected by a shared attitude toward authorship, craftsmanship, and narrative. Ultimately, the exhibition frames the Antwerp Six not as a closed chapter but as an enduring mindset whose influence continues to resonate in contemporary fashion.
Want to know why the Antwerp Six exhibition is a must-see for fashion students? Find out more here.
Azzedine Alaïa and Christian Dior: A Dialogue of Form @ Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Paris
When: Until 24 May 2026
The current exhibition at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris offers an intimate and rigorous dialogue between two masters of haute couture: Azzedine Alaïa and Christian Dior. Set within Alaïa’s former home and studio in the Marais, the exhibition reveals the designer not only as a creator but also as a passionate collector and scholar of fashion history.
By juxtaposing Alaïa’s sculptural creations with historic Dior garments, the exhibition highlights shared obsessions with the architecture of the body, precision of cut, and the celebration of the female silhouette. Rather than following a chronological narrative, the display builds visual and formal correspondences that transcend time, allowing garments to speak through volume, line, and construction.
The exhibition underscores how Dior’s New Look and Alaïa’s body-conscious modernity are connected by a profound respect for craftsmanship and an almost architectural approach to dressmaking. In this restrained and contemplative setting, the Fondation Alaïa invites visitors to consider fashion as a continuous lineage of ideas, where influence is absorbed, transformed, and reinterpreted with devotion rather than imitation.
