Anna October Pre-Fall 2026

It is frigid in Kyiv, where many people lack water, electricity and heat. Still, Anna October and her team soldier on, hope being a prerequisite for creation. In times of crisis it is common to look back at the times before through the rose tint of memory. On a Zoom call from Paris, October said she had been thinking a lot about her late mother, whose admonition—‘Anna, you’re a lady, behave in an elegant and ladylike way’—was instrumental in shaping her own personality. Yet, as October wrote in her notes, the collection was not based on nostalgia; rather she took an almost kaleidoscopic view of her childhood and pulled out fragments that were meaningful and delightful. One of the floral prints, for example, referenced the pattern on a china cup Mrs. October used to sip tea from. The matriarch, who October said was a wonderful hostess, also inspired a piece of jewelry in the form of a golden muselet that holds the promise of pop, fizzle, and celebration.