Francesca Liberatore’s Spring/Summer 2026 show transformed the courtyard of a school on Via Borgospesso into a theater of disorder, where chaos itself became an aesthetic code. Models descended from a fire escape to open the presentation, immediately signaling a rejection of cohesion in favor of fragmentation, a mirror of contemporary life’s restless dissonance.

The collection unfolded as a series of striking contrasts. Painterly crowns and naïve sword motifs carried childlike symbolism, set against sharply tailored outerwear that emphasized cut and precision. Fabrics of near-transparency softened that rigor, creating garments that hovered between presence and disappearance. This play between solidity and evanescence defined the show’s atmosphere, a deliberate refusal to impose singular direction.

Prints adhered to strict structures but were disrupted by metallic flashes in bronze and silver, punctuating the surfaces like interruptions of clarity. Accessories heightened the dialogue with disorder: Sony headphones, styled into the looks, underscored the brand’s collaboration with the Japanese tech giant while reflecting Liberatore’s fascination with the cultural intersections of fashion and technology.

The soundtrack was as layered as the clothes, moving from Ennio Morricone’s lyricism to Mono Town’s raw edge before closing with Elisa’s haunting rendition of Mad World. In the finale, each model placed a black rose on the ground, a symbolic gesture of melancholy that lingered after the last look had passed.

Liberatore’s Spring/Summer 2026 was not about unity but about tension. By turning dissonance into design, she offered a collection that was uneasy yet compelling, one that refuses clarity in favor of truthfully reflecting the fractured rhythms of modern life.