Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel bestowed a variety of designs to her successors – the skirt-suit, one of her most iconic offerings, being a prominent example. Those who have continued her legacy have used it as a springboard of possibilities, altering it every which way, or barely changing a thing. Matthieu Blazy did the former for autumn/winter 2026, and opened his show with a version that used double-C buttons as decorations rather than a closure on the jacket, and instead using a zip to fasten. The skirt, meanwhile, resembled the original silhouette but was rendered in a ribbed fabrication in place of the maison’s signature bouclé.

Read more: The Key Autumn/Winter 2026 Trends To Know Now

The Chanel skirt in question, along with other knee-skimming lengths seen across the season’s collections, ushered in a new wave of pencil skirts on the runways. A corporate staple, they’ve always had a place in the wardrobes of city workers, but their ubiquity during Fashion Month proved their kudos beyond the boardroom. Mrs. Prada harked back to her own archive with the crunchy versions she showed at Miu Miu: in her Vogue Runway review, Sarah Mower remarked how the knee-length pencil skirt and “peach vintage-y camisole” are two items that “imprinted on the way the ’90s generation dressed”. She added: “Her revival of the revival resonated fondly with older watchers: all this still looks good.”

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The skirts she conjured for Prada this season – all of which were, like those seen at Miu Miu, familiar yet new – looked good, too. Veering away from a conventional casting format, Ms. Prada and Raf Simons called upon just 15 models, all of whom wore four looks, peeling back layers each time they exited backstage (rather than changing entirely). Ensembles that at first glance appeared to be skirts were revealed to be dresses, while those that were in fact skirts were wonderfully bold, complete with embellishments and prints.

Turns out that statement skirts are big news for 2026. Face-print versions that featured in Dario Vitale’s lauded first (and last) spring/summer 2026 Versace outing were a hero buy among fashion insiders this summer, including British ’s Chioma Nnadi.

There are plenty of skirt trends to take into the new season. Below, highlights some of the key styles worth trialling this autumn.

Chanel autumn/winter 2026.