Antonio Marras pays tribute to roots, rebels and romanticism in SS26 show

With his signature emotional flair and poetic tributes to his native Sardinia, Antonio Marras staged a striking Spring/Summer 2026 runway in an unexpected location: the dazzling white salt flats of Alghero. Against this surreal backdrop, the models didn’t simply walk — they ran, played, and climbed the salt dunes like carefree children discovering snow for the first time.

Scattered across the salt dunes were open books, evoking the literary inspiration behind the collection. Marras drew from a real historical event: the 1921 visit to Sardinia by British writer, poet, and painter D.H. Lawrence — best known for “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” — who traveled with his lover Frieda von Richthofen, a German baroness. Though married to English philologist Ernest Weekley, Frieda left her husband and children to follow Lawrence across Europe.

“We brought a story to the runway that’s part real and part imagined. We added a stop in Alghero and its salt flats to Frieda and Lawrence’s original journey, which led to the book Sea and Sardinia,” Marras told FashionNetwork.com backstage. “But we didn’t stop there — we imagined Frieda inviting all the members of the Bloomsbury literary circle to join them, including Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and Ottoline Morrell.”

To dress the characters in this reimagined literary tale, Marras described his collection as “a kind of kaleidoscope, made up of different moments, situations, and emotional states born at different times. I love mixing volumes and styles, creating contrasts that at first seem unrelated, but ultimately recreate the magic,” he explained.

 
The palette reflected that kaleidoscope: delicate, whisper-soft tones of lilac, cadmium, pink, gold, ecru, violet, chocolate, plum, cream, powder, bronze, and faded black — with hints of sand and copper. A wide variety of patterns added richness: checks, jacquard stripes, damasks, lace, tartan, faux fur, polka dots, pinstripes, Prince of Wales, Cornely embroidery, geometric prints, rose motifs, and faded tapestry effects. Floral prints, ruffles, draping, pleats, moulage, inlays, and patchwork completed the visual story.

 
Silhouettes clashed and embraced — some flowing and seductive, others androgynous and sharp. There were oversized robes that conjured up images of Gloria Swanson, and gentlemanly coats fit for Hercule Poirot. Men’s tailoring met grand soirée gowns, cocktail dresses, pajama sets, capes, leather, denim, and knitwear that looked like embroidery. Marras paired men’s and women’s garments in identical fabrics, reinterpreted through different forms. The result was a blend of traditions, dress codes, and artistic influences that formed a deeply personal, recognizable aesthetic.
 

Authentic traditional Sardinian garments were also featured — “too beautiful to be reinterpreted, too important not to be shared,” Marras said. Among the show’s most emotional moments was the appearance of Giuseppe Ignazio Loi, a Sardinian shepherd and actor in Riccardo Milani’s film La vita va così. The film tells the true story of Loi’s refusal to sell his land to a major real estate group, turning him into a symbol of love for one’s roots and homeland.

 
The show’s finale saw all the models return to the salt runway, accompanied by the song “Questo nostro amore” by Rita Pavone. Marras walked arm-in-arm with Giuseppe Ignazio Loi as guests applauded — a fitting end to a runway that fused memory, imagination, identity, and love.