Bernadette SS26

I absolutely love a garden show. Especially in Paris. We all watched a shirtless man open the show by trimming a bush. Exactly. This set the tone for the collection and it was so beautifully done. The details whimsical, the energy intimate, and the set design so tenderly ironic that it felt like stepping into the diary of a grown up coquette, one who’s traded ribbons for linen but kept the poetry.

For SS26, BERNADETTE presents “Summer Estate”, a collection steeped in playfulness, girlhood, and nostalgia. The show transported us to a sun dappled seaside home, where every room and garden corner held memory. You could almost smell the sea air, feel the heat ripple through the hydrangeas, and sense the tension between past and present, innocence and experience.

BERNADETTE’s muse has returned to her family’s coastal retreat. Here, nostalgia intertwines with anticipation; there’s the lightness of rewearing a favorite linen dress, the intimacy of unpacking treasures collected in another lifetime. The show was not just about clothing, but about continuity, stories retold in tactile textures and organically faded prints. The Belgian label stayed true to its ethos of slow, sentimental luxury; intentionally wrinkled fabrics, seaside embroideries, and silhouettes designed to be worn, lived in, and passed down. Every look reflected an appreciation for craft and time, the two currencies that define BERNADETTE’s world.

The key themes presented this season included The Seaside. Garments felt kissed by salt and sunlight; crinkled cottons, easy slip dresses, and scarves tied like sea glass ribbons. These were “summer uniforms” made for more than one season.

Additionally, Summer Sunsets; the palette moved from soft vanilla skies to coral and amber hues. Cable knits hugged the frame like a warm evening breeze, and sunset prints glowed across floaty maxi dresses.

Playful Collecting; delicate beads and shells embroidered on shirting recalled the joy of finding treasures in the sand. It was tactile femininity; refined, yet curious, and deeply personal. The Summer House; think Hepburn’s crisp ease, Jackie’s garden chic, Charlotte York’s polished composure. A quiet return to classics stitched with sentiment. Femininity that doesn’t shout, merely lingers.

And finally, Garden Heatwave; gingham, lace, and embroidered insects danced across silhouettes. It was languid but alive. The embodiment of an August afternoon too beautiful to end.

At her essence, the BERNADETTE woman is delicate yet grounded, sensual yet self possessed. This season, she feels like a woman who knows her summer will not last forever and revels in every moment anyway. “Summer Estate” is the invitation to slow down and savor the sun. A collection to be lived in, cherished, and remembered. Not as a trend, but as a chapter in the evolving story of femininity itself.