Charli XCX turns SS26 into a runway descent

Charli XCX’s SS26 invitation arrived via finsta, and the show leaned into a very literal idea of a runway that “goes straight to hell.” A guest version of Charli joined Carine Roitfeld and Anthony Vaccarello, while Debra Shaw, Loïc Prigent, and fashion-industr

“Yeah, we’re walkin’ on a runway that goes straight to hell. Nothing’s gonna save us, not music, fashion, or film.”

Charli XCX said it like a dare, and then staged it like a scene: a runway built for a descent, an invite posted through her finsta (@b.sides), and an entire industry showing up as if the idea of “nothing’s gonna save us” could be temporarily reversed by good styling and familiar faces.

The tone was slightly unwell from the start. Online. the emotional stability of the “Angels” was immediately a concern—especially if Charli was planning to release a fashion collection unannounced. And it’s not just nerves. The timing is its own kind of provocation: we are already well beyond Spring/Summer 2026. with Cruise 2027 collections already looking hard to top.

But music—always the thing that steadies the story—stayed in the background as the anchor. Hell, meanwhile, arrived in the front row.

A guest version of Charli XCX—sandwiched between Carine Roitfeld. ex–Vogue Paris editor-in-chief now leading CR Fashion Book. and Anthony Vaccarello. creative director of Saint Laurent—watched a model-Charli walk the runway. Also in attendance were supermodel Debra Shaw; Zadig & Voltaire’s Dan Sablon; La Watchparty’s Lyas; Supreme’s Zac Ching; filmmaker Loïc Prigent; the August Barron duo alongside their go-to PR lead David Siwicki; plus Lucien Pagès and Michel Gaubert. the man behind Karl Lagerfeld’s and Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel runway soundtracks.

Model-Charli, the only one there in the role, moved through a runway inspired by the 1990s. The looks came through Saint Laurent. Balmain. Ann Demeulemeester. Chrome Hearts. and Lou De Bètoly—each one presented with the kind of knowing confidence Charli seems to treat as part of the performance. Even the setting felt like pop culture folded into fashion history.

At one point. she recalled the feeling of walking into a memory: a bump into herself. referencing Shalom Harlow and Brandi Quiñones on Gianni Versace’s Spring/Summer 1995 runway. Later, the show didn’t keep its distance from its own theatrics. She twisted her heel. fell. and laid on the floor for a moment before getting back up—like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. A few scenes later. she’s lighting a cigarette and walking it off. the kind of romantic nonchalance Carrie would turn into a montage and Kate Moss would probably treat as a standard Tuesday.

There’s a contradiction at the center of all of it. and it doesn’t hide: the line says nothing will save us. but the event runs on the old. stubborn belief that fashion can still pull you back from the edge—if only for an evening. When the show is this tightly stacked with archival echoes. cameo-ready faces. and an insistently designed look. “nothing’s gonna save us” starts to feel less like a verdict and more like a prompt.

Charli XCX SS26 fashion runway pop culture Carine Roitfeld Anthony Vaccarello Saint Laurent Balmain Ann Demeulemeester Chrome Hearts Lou De Bètoly Debra Shaw Loïc Prigent Michel Gaubert CR Fashion Book Karl Lagerfeld Matthieu Blazy Karl Lagerfeld soundtracks runway soundtrack Gianni Versace Spring/Summer 1995