The Corporate-Core Fashion Craze Is Alive And No, It's Not Necessarily A Recession Indicator

Analyzing some of what we saw on the Paris runways this week, and why it can be an optimistic signal of where the fashion industry is headed.

This fashion month in Paris, as we watched designers unveil their Spring 2026 runway collections, something interesting and very un-spring-like was happening. While some brands displayed bright colors and mini-length hemlines and, of course, florals, many opted for the opposite. Suiting and tailoring and corporate-appropriate looks dominated quite a few of this season’s womenswear runways.

Take a couple of runway collections—Jonathan Anderson’s debut collection for Dior, Acne Studios, Stella McCartney, Torishéju, and Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford—all of which were shown in a roughly 24-hour period, and all of which prominently displayed suiting and tailoring.

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Of course, suiting and tailoring are nothing new in the fashion industry or for womenswear. Being able to tailor a jacket or fit a suit perfectly to a client’s body was imperative for dominating the couture-heavy high-fashion world of the 20th century. But, as fashion expanded from the handmade world of couture and toward mass ready-to-wear—from T-shirts to designer denim to $700 flip-flops you just have to have—so too have the ways designers can show off their skills and expertise. So, why all the tailoring now?