Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2026: Aelis and RVDK on Sourcing and Sculpture
Two Spring 2026 Haute Couture houses built sculptural collections from self-imposed material limits.
Aelis: plant-based only. RVDK: salvaged only.
Both achieved couture-level precision
Aelis
Plaster, Silk, Sculpture
Sofia Crociani collaborated with L'Atelier de Moulage—the 230-year-old Louvre atelier that reproduces museum masterpieces—to dip silk, tulle, and duchesse satin garments in plaster.
The goal: capture the exact drape of Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Myron's Athena, then translate that into wearable form.
The result was trompe-l'oeil construction where fabric moved like marble. Restrained silhouettes. Architectural precision. No skins, no feathers, no animal derivatives—just material intelligence made visible.
Crociani, who founded Aelis in 2017, works exclusively with upcycled textiles, vintage materials, and bio-sourced fabrics. The Spring 2026 collection, "Statuary," was presented at the Musée du Luxembourg—the first fashion show ever held in the historic venue.
Our picks:
RVDK Ronald van der Kemp
98% Salvaged, 100% Couture
Ronald van der Kemp built "Wardrobe 23: We Are The World" from materials destined for disposal: vintage couture fabrics, rescued leather remnants from luxury bag production, surplus Swarovski crystals, forgotten textiles. The Fédération recognizes RVDK as the world's first sustainable couture brand, and the Spring 2026 collection demonstrated why.
Van der Kemp works with what already exists. The collection transformed vintage couture fabrics, rescued leather remnants from luxury bag production, and surplus Swarovski crystals into sculptural eveningwear.
Our picks:
Notes from HERBE.
The connection between these collections isn't just sustainability—it's precision. Crociani and van der Kemp both built from material constraints (silk-only, salvage-only) and let those parameters sharpen the construction rather than limit it. That's the mark of design intelligence.
Cover Image: FHCM
