Welcome back to Fashion Bulletin, a weekly column where Coveteur's senior fashion editor, Ella O’Keeffe, recaps all the buzzy industry news you from the week.
Welcome back! The first item on today's agenda is couture week. Glenn Martens’ Margiela collection breathed a newfound sense of hope into all of us. Such a successful and truly exciting debut feels rare at the moment, and off the back of Michael Rider’s Celine success, things finally feel as though they are settling into place.
At Margiela, Martens showed careful restraint while exploring his own codes and the deeply symbolic codes of the house. Yes, there were plenty of references from Martin’s era. After all, understanding the foundations of a brand is key for the loyalists, especially at a house like Margiela. What was refreshing, though, was Martens’ ability to balance this with his own perspective. This is the game for truly great designers, and Martens’ is displaying all of the ingredients to possess the makings of one.
This excitement is emphasized by what took place at both Celine and Dior Men’s this season. Jonathan Anderson’s hotly anticipated Dior debut was such a joyful exercise—another example of a designer whose merit stems from his own deep obsessions with certain themes and codes, while having an expansive understanding of the history of a house. When a designer shake-up has been humming through murmurs at the rumor mill for so long, it’s a relief to finally see it all fall into place.
Jane Birkin’s Hermès Birkin Prototype Has Sold For Over $10 Million
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Yesterday, the 40-year-old bag sold for £8.6 million (or $10.1 million). It broke the record as the most expensive handbag ever sold at auction, and despite the rumors that Kim Kardashian would be bidding for it, an anonymous buyer from Japan ended up purchasing the piece of fashion history. As the first Birkin ever created, the bag has significant scuffs and an unmistakable “J.B” embossed into the black leather. Praying that the buyer doesn’t also collect Labubus…
Schiaparelli Is Headed To The V&A
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This week, on the heels of another breathtaking Schiaparelli couture show from Daniel Roseberry, the Victoria and Albert Museum has announced a new 2026 exhibition titled “Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art.” The exhibition will reportedly feature over 200 pieces from the Schiaparelli archive, including “garments, accessories, jewelry, paintings, photographs, sculpture, furniture, perfumes and archive material, according to a press release. It will also include Elsa’s collaborations with Salvatore Dalí, the artist who inspired so many of the designer’s surrealist silhouettes during her time at the helm of her namesake brand.
JW Anderson’s Rebrand
JW Anderson
On the topic of JW Anderson, the eponymous designer announced last week that his brand would be going through an identity shift as he steps into his new role(s) at Dior. This included scaling back runway shows, and introducing more homewares and objects into the brand’s offering. Early this week, Anderson debuted the new era for the luxury label, offering up tableware, Murano glassware, tea towels, and pared-back basics, some with queer jargon emblazoned on the front of t-shirts and woven into sweatshirts. The move is a clever one from Anderson, who has signed up for a serious undertaking at Dior in heading up menswear, womenswear, couture, and accessories. Despite being known as someone who has endless ideas, scaling back the ready-to-wear offering at JW Anderson is sure to help curb burnout.
