Missoni: Hemlines shorten, as fashion travels from sea to city

For Spring/Summer 2026, Alberto Caliri, Missoni’s creative director, has conceived an everyday wardrobe. Moods and attitudes were ‘Missoni-fied’ through relentless exploration of colour and materials and the vibrant, composite rhythm of the patterns, resulting in garments designed to be worn day after day, in real life.

“In the proposal for next summer, I chose to start from the beachwear collection and bring it into an urban context, guided by an idea of lightness and versatility. I have reprised the very short silhouettes of my debut, also because we feel it is right to give continuity to a style we believe in rather than change it every six months,” the designer told FashionNetwork.com.

“I realise that our work is changing, shifting from pure proposition to listening to what the market is asking for. Our offering for next spring/summer is definitely very young, but it still leaves room for different interpretations.”

The horizon into which the collection expanded is the sea, understood not so much as the beach as the flow of days spent in swift succession, of occasions that carry one from the shoreline to the city and back again. Binding it all together was a sense of spontaneity: the pure instinct to dress by blending new garments with inherited pieces, things found in a wardrobe and instantly made one’s own: his cardigan and blouson, the striped shirt, the cashmere waistcoat, the shorts, even the terry towel.

The stylistic gesture was decisive, asserting as its identifying signature a silhouette reiterated from the previous season: voluminous yet abbreviated, with bare legs. Everything shortened, to the point that bikini briefs replaced trousers, which otherwise were shorts with rolled hems.

The impulse to shorten was pervasive: even tactile jumpers and blazers broadened at the shoulders only to contract at the hem, while mini dresses became backless T-shirts. The twinset was refreshed, taking the form of a waistcoat coordinated with a little sundress.

In addition to the wonderful ready-to-wear, many accessories stood out on the catwalk: a multitude of bags, small berets, soft ankle boots, flat shoes, and oversized jewellery.

“We are expanding our universe more and more in this area. We want women to be able to carry Missoni with them at all times, without necessarily wearing a dress or a cardigan from the label,” Caliri concluded.