Le Journal

Alex Consani in Demna's sophomore collection for Gucci. Courtesy of GucciThe fashion industry’s carousel of appointments and exits continues, leaving each season with more debuts than the recent Le Bal des Débutantes. And while it’s always exciting to see what a new voice will offer a brand, there’s something comforting about pre-fall. It’s an opportunity for designers to breathe a little and stretch their creative muscles outside the pressures of premieres and the usual fashion calendar. Still, this pre-fall 2026 season has seen its fair share of second outings. After his introduction for Chanel in October, Matthieu Blazy brought his vision to New York, staging the 2026 Métiers d’Art show in an abandoned subway station. The city acted as the ultimate muse for Blazy, who explored the characters one encounters every day in the depths of public transit—the uptown princess, downtown cool girl, overworked businessman, and the woman in a gown who probably should have just called a cab. Similarly, over at Gucci, Demna followed up his inaugural collection with pre-fall, though the Georgian designer opted to present his sophomore effort for the brand in the form of a look book. Anticipation continues to build for Demna’s first Gucci runway show—scheduled to take place in February at Milan Fashion Week—and the pre-fall photo spread is definitely whetting appetites. With a decidedly ’90s influence, Demna’s second collection harkens back to what is likely Gucci’s most famous period: the Tom Ford era. But those two are just the beginning. As the pre-fall collections continue to roll in, keep up here while we pick out the best looks from the bunch. KhaiteCourtesy of KhaiteKhaiteCourtesy of KhaiteKhaiteCourtesy of KhaiteKhaiteCourtesy of KhaiteLouis Vuitton Men’sCourtesy of Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton Men’sCourtesy of Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton Men’sCourtesy of Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton Men’sCourtesy of Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton Men’sCourtesy of Louis VuittonRabanneCourtesy of RabanneRabanneCourtesy of RabanneRabanneCourtesy of RabanneMcQueenCourtesy of McQueenMcQueenCourtesy of McQueenMcQueenCourtesy of McQueenGucciCourtesy of GucciGucciCourtesy of GucciGucciCourtesy of GucciGucciCourtesy of GucciGucciCourtesy of GucciChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of ChanelChanelCourtesy of Chanel

When the sleek new Peter Zumthor–designed building at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has its grand opening, in April, there will be some unexpectedly sensual touches: glass walls that curve dramatically, metallic curtains that are light and gauzy, poured concrete walls that look in spots like gray-on-gray Gerhard Richter paintings. Completing the tactile-futuristic aesthetic will be a new weaving from L.A. artist Sarah Rosalena, stretching some 26 feet to span the main wall of the museum restaurant, and visible from outdoors. The artwork brings together NASA satellite images of Mars to create a surreal topography that is at once deeply familiar and unfamiliar—evoking Earth, but not this Earth.What makes the textile, rich in icy blues and desert-sand rusts, even stranger: It’s a digital creation, combining age-old and cutting-edge technologies. Which is to say, the cotton, wool, and synthetic yarns were not woven on a wooden floor loom but on an industrial, computer-programmed machine in the Netherlands that produces supersize textiles. “I could have actually handwoven the work, but it probably would have taken me a full year to do it, and my looms aren’t large enough,” says Rosalena, who learned the process from her mother and grandmother, of Wixárika (Huichol) descent, and now teaches computational craft at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Instead, the final piece was fabricated, after she’d spent six months testing samples of fibers, colors, and patterns, in just five days.Sarah Rosalena with Omnidirectional Terrain, 2025. Rosalena wears a Balenciaga jacket and skirt. | Photographed by Damien MaloneyCombining loom skills with Internet-age tools, Rosalena is one of several artists breaking down the hierarchies that separate craft and fine art, weaving and computing, ancient and new technologies. These artists are helping to expand and explode the European tapestry tradition that flourished during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when textiles that could surpass the status of painting were commissioned for the walls of royal palaces. And they are filling art galleries and museums with experimental weavings to a degree never seen before. As the curator Su Wu, who organized a survey of tapestry for Dallas Contemporary this year, puts it, “The artists that I’m interested in are wrestling with how to be irreverent within a field that’s so tied to traditional ways of making. I find that very exciting.”But even more than other forms of textiles, such as quilting or knitting, weaving has a strong hold on contemporary artists, in part because of its rich connection to computer culture. The loom, after all, involves a binary process of placing the weft (horizontal) threads over or under the warp (vertical) threads. The Jacquard loom, a machine invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in the early 19th century in France that uses punch cards to program the lifting and lowering of warp threads, is widely understood to be the inspiration for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a high-level calculator considered a precursor to the modern computer.Jovencio de la Paz with Warped Grid 7.2, 2025. De la Paz wears an IM Men coat, shirts, and pants; Dsquared2 boots. | Photographed by Keith Oshiro“I think about technology really as a continuum,” says Jovencio de la Paz, who, like Rosalena, does most of their work on a Thread Controller 2 (TC2), a digital Jacquard loom designed to fit in an artist’s studio. “Sewing needles were once made of bone and pine, and that was replaced with a steel sewing needle and then a sewing machine. Those technologies are all an expression of ingenuity,” they say. De la Paz has lately been using the TC2 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where they teach, to make largely monochromatic, waffle-weave textiles that recall the black-on-black wood-relief sculptures of Louise Nevelson. To make the deep waffle pockets, which would be “profoundly time-consuming and wildly impractical” on a standard loom,…

LISA O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty ImagesSome people own the same pair of trousers in multiple colors. Perhaps multiple versions of that knit sweater, too. Addison Rae, on the other hand, considers a skin-tight latex dress to be an essential part of her capsule wardrobe.At the Variety Hitmakers event in Los Angeles on Friday, Rae wore a blush Atsuko Kudo dress—making it her second dress in this exact design. Although constructed in a fabric as subversive as latex, the silhouette was almost trad wife-ian in vibe. The dress featured an ankle-length flare skirt and retro-style puff sleeves. Rae leaned even further into her outfit’s contradiction with the styling. She paired her dress with matching finger-less gloves in latex—short enough to show off her black nail polish, no less—and slipped on a pair of white grandma heels to complete the look.LISA O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty ImagesRae wore her first version of this Atsuko Kudo number (which the London-based label has dubbed as the “Alejandra” dress) during a performance at the Grammy Museum in October. On that occasion, she opted for an all-black version, which she paired with nude Louboutin heels and a black blindfold.With Rae’s penchant for fashion risk-taking in mind, it shouldn’t be too striking that her idea of a wardrobe “basic” is something as subversive as a latex dress.Rob Kim/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Images courtesy of the brands. Collage by Kimberly DuckEver wish you could ask some cool, tapped-in people what they’re eyeing for a gift? You’re in luck. Below, seventeen W editors answer that age-old question: what do you want—and what are you giving—for the holidays? Zegna Shearling Il Conte JacketMaybe it’s because I’m Colombian, but whenever the temperature dips below 40 degrees, I go into shock. This winter, I’m counting on this fabulous Zegna shearling coat to keep me warm without making me look like the Michelin Man. —Armand Limnander, Executive EditorSofie Pavitt Skincare Studio Mandelic Peel I love the idea of receiving a beauty treatment as a gift. I’m also obsessed with Sofie Pavitt’s skincare line, especially the mandelic serum; it changed my face in a major way this year. What better gift than a facial from the acne-clearing queen herself? With my wedding happening next year, my skin needs to be radiant and texture-free—and I would love to get a few extra tips from her. —Ashley Peña, Senior DesignerLongchamp Le Foulonné Ballerina Flats in Black VelvetI know what I’ll be wearing to pretty much every holiday party I attend this year: these ultra-comfy velvet ballet flats from Longchamp. They come in a range of colors and the dainty double buckle adds shine to an all-black look. —Maxine Wally, Senior Digital EditorClarins Multi-Active Brightening Glow Serum with Vitamin C + AHAI often jump to ready-to-wear or collectables when curating my holiday gift list—but this year, skin is in. I’ve been using Clarins’ glow serum for a few weeks; it has a light floral scent (don’t worry, I usually detest strong-smelling skincare, but this is actually nice) and it’s a great pick-me-up for dull skin during winter. —Matthew Velasco, Staff Writer, NewsFlos Bilboquet Table LampHere’s a simple LED table lamp for people who have a lot of work to do, but not a ton of space. I’ll be putting this in my office in the New Year. —Tobias Holzmann, Design DirectorToteme T-Lock Leather BagI’ve had my eye on the Toteme T-Lock bag for quite a while now. There’s something about the shape—which toes a delicate line between structured, yet still slouchy—and the way it looks when held under the arm. Now all I need is to decide whether I’d get more use out of the clutch or the top handle style... —Carolyn Twersky Winkler, Staff WriterNour Hammour Dakota Glamorous Leather CoatThis leather trench from Nour Hammour is the gift I’m fully manifesting this holiday season—like, I’m lighting a candle, writing it in my journal, and hoping the universe hears me. It’s the kind of coat that makes you look like you have your life together, even if you certainly do not. If this shows up at my door wrapped in a bow, just know I will be wearing it indoors, outdoors, and possibly to bed. —Che Baez, Visuals EditorParachute Puffer Jacket in Motion DownI’m from Florida, which means two things. One: I’m heading back there for the holidays. Two: Despite nearly a decade in New York, I’m still kind of clueless about outerwear. So, consider this a perfect pick for anyone in your life who’s constantly moving between frigid and temperate climates. It’s a chic silhouette that keeps you warm, but compresses down for easy packing and storing. —Kyle Munzenrieder, Senior News & Strategy EditorAssouline “Provence Glory” Coffee Table BookMy mother, who is constantly adventuring and already has planned a multicountry trip across Europe in 2026, will receive this book for Christmas. She can pore over the photographs of lavender fields months before she actually sees them in real life. —M.W.The Veil Snap BagThis is much more than just your average embroidered evening bag. You buy the purse, and then choose different veils with which to decorate it—from intricate embroidery to playful fringe. The veil slips on and attaches to the bag with invisible magnets. In this case, I like the beaded macramé style, which features black mesh and is finished with glass-beaded tassels. —Allia…