Chitose Abe opened Sacai‘s Fall Winter 2026 show with a provocation: what happens when you destroy in order to create? The answer, presented during Paris Fashion Week, is a collection that punches through convention with the precision of its muse, Muhammad Ali.
The Concept
The collection builds on Abe’s signature hybridization by exploring what she calls “the beauty of destruction.” The image of Ali mid-punch serves as the conceptual anchor, emblematic of the freedom associated with breaking free. Freedom of design. Freedom of thinking. Freedom of being.
FALL WINTER 2026 RUNWAY SHOW
For Sacai, destruction is not chaos but method. Garments are dismantled and reassembled, their construction hidden in pattern-making rather than displayed on the surface. The result is clothing that appears seamless while containing multitudes.
Construction Techniques
The technical innovation centers on what Abe describes as “trickery of construction.” The skirt/pant hybrid emerges as a key silhouette, built not through layering but through cutting. Wide trousers are cropped to create the illusion of a wrapped skirt over straight legs. The construction is invisible; the asymmetry appears effortless.
Jackets receive similar treatment. Spliced horizontally, the lower half attaches to the lining rather than the shell, then layers to appear as a single garment. Two jackets become one through a seam you cannot see.
Elegant shirts pair with scarf-like ties wrapped gently around the collar rather than knotted tight. Formality undone just enough to breathe.
Key Looks
An olive-brown ribbed knit sweater appeared bisected by a bright blue fringed panel wrapping diagonally across the torso, the fringe cascading in three textured tiers. Below, the skirt/pant hybrid in olive wool created movement without bulk. White shirt cuffs extended beneath the sweater’s hem. The blue against olive read as deliberate collision.
The Levi’s collaboration delivered standout moments. A shearling-lined denim trucker jacket in medium wash blue layered over a dark olive crewneck, hybridizing the Type 1 and Type 2 silhouettes with bomber-style shearling trim at collar, cuffs, and hem. Wide-leg flare jeans in matching denim completed the double-denim look, trouser styling evident in the clean front pleat. Burgundy leather shoes grounded the workwear foundation.
An electric blue puffer jacket with fur-trimmed hood commanded attention, the cropped silhouette ending at the waist to reveal layered white shirting beneath. Voluminous black trousers with an apron-like front panel created the skirt/pant hybrid in its most dramatic form. Climate-adaptive utility rendered in primary color.
Collaborations
The Levi’s partnership reimagines the Type 1 and Type 2 denim jackets through Abe’s lens. Leather biker details merge with trucker construction. Bomber jacket DNA splices into workwear heritage. Flare leg jeans adopt trouser styling, the hybrid neither fully casual nor fully tailored.
The third collaboration with A.P.C. created a new fabric inspired by the French house’s patchwork quilts by Jessica Ogden, re-colored and re-imagined into Sacai’s signature styles.
J.M. Weston returns with the Golf Derby in a new bordeaux colorway, grounding experimental silhouettes in French craftsmanship.
Casting and Credits
Casting directors Jussi Vuorenlehto and Piergiorgio Del Moro assembled a roster that matched the collection’s global perspective. The lineup included Agel Akol, Ali Daniyarov, Alvar af Schultén, August Kruse Templer, Awar Odhiang, Bakary Cisse, Benjamin Carion, Canlan Wang, Chandler Frye, Charlie Jones, Craig Shimirimana, Dare Sulemana, Dario Tonin, Douta Sidibe, Emile Danckaert, Emils Germanis, Gideon Adeniyi, Hejia Li, Ivan Kot, Joachim Matthew, Krystof Turek, Lammy Ajibola, Lucas Ernens, Luka Hoogedeure, Mahe Poiron, Matteo Kurth, Maurits Ek, Mayowa Olayiwola, Mikołaj Księżopolski, Muzakir Masahudu, Nand Quivreux, Pierrick Grégoire, Saliou Seck, Samuel Elie, Serkan Deniz, SJ, Suyong Jung, Vasilis Lelidis, Victor Buysse, Waldemar Durup, Ward Stevens, and Wei Yiting.
Fashion Editor Karl Templer styled the collection. Guido Palau handled hair, while Diane Kendal created the beauty looks.
The Takeaway
Abe’s Fall Winter 2026 collection rewards close examination. The more you study the construction, the more you understand the destruction that made it possible. In a market saturated with safe hybridization, Sacai delivers genuine technical innovation in service of wearable clothes.
Muhammad Ali punched to break through, to reach the other side. Abe operates on the same principle. The beauty of destruction is what you build from the rubble.
Sacai Fall Winter 2026 was presented during Paris Fashion Week on January 25, 2026. Discover more of the runway looks:
Designer: Chitose Abe Fashion Editor/Stylist: Karl Templer Hair Stylist: Guido Palau Makeup Artist: Diane Kendal Casting Directors: Jussi Vuorenlehto, Piergiorgio Del Moro
