On Wednesday afternoon, just three days before his Spring/Summer 2026 show at Paris Fashion Week, I hopped on a call with designer Louis Gabriel Nouchi. He was in his studio and, amidst all the chaos of his upcoming show, he was calm. Almost too calm, for someone who’s about to show their newest collection to the world and, in doing so, a part of themselves. But Nouchi’s been here before and he’s making the most of it, saying, “I took a lot of joy from this season - this is the best part of the collection, why stress?”
After talking to Nouchi last season, it was clear that no matter what the concept was, he wanted the attention to stay on the clothes and the sheer wearability of his designs. “I’m doing fashion because I would like the people to wear what we do,” he says. He used his inspiration for this season - Philip K. Dick’s book “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep” - as a tool for his designs, taking excerpts from his interpretation to create, like the development of robots taking on human feelings. “I think it’s really connected to what we are in this situation with the dystopian feel of social media, reality and the fact that artificial intelligence is evolving so fast that it’s impossible to see the difference between what’s real and what’s not,” he says.
Nouchi also fixated on this sand colour this season that also comes from Dick’s book, saying, “We wanted to have this kind of sand [colour] and as a French Parisian, it can be a very ‘bourgeois’ kind of colour like on a suit and a coat. So our goal was to make it look hot and sexy and sharp and lose this ‘bourgeois’ connotation.” He’s always been known to subvert connotations, from his androgynous designs to his fluid cuts that promote bare skin being shown and this idea of transparency, something he expanded on here, saying, “All the transparency, that’s the next step for this collection. I’ve always had this lingerie, jersey material which is very important for the brand and we were like, ‘Okay, let’s do it in tailoring,’ to have this fluidity and transparency that is across the whole collection.”
Having alluded to the negative politics that surround us outside of fashion, it’s only natural that it makes a designer question the role they play in the world when what they primarily do is make clothes but Nouchi, upon some self reflection, doesn’t see it that way. He says, “When I see the news and what’s going on in this world, I think, ‘What’s the point of what I’m doing?’ But, at this certain time, we have a platform, we have a community to stand for so it’s never been more important to stand for our value - I think from all the craziness, we have to make something beautiful.”
This beauty can be seen in some of Nouchi’s new fabrications for SS26, too, with the idea of imperfection being a form of perfection - an ideology that links to Japanese Wabi-Sabi. “We are developing all the materials for the brand and it was about how to have this black oil kind of vibe. It’s mechanic how you have this kind of dusty and fakely damaged look to give some history to the garment, like it was worn,” he explains.
There’s a certain nuance to his dystopian looks, something so erotic that springs from the Nouchi-isms of his signature details. Oiled textures, sheer veils, all contrasted with the sharp cuts and extended shoulders that he’s become known for. The result is a sensual, sensitive collection that pays respect to the world around us whilst still maintaining its sexy appeal that serves as a reminder: always find joy.
Featured image via Louis Gabriel Nouchi©
More on Culted
