At the top of the Givenchy FW26 show notes, Sarah Burton posed a question: “How can we put ourselves back together in the world we’re living in?” It’s one many designers have been circling this season at Paris Fashion Week, responding to a moment that feels increasingly uncertain. Burton, however, answered the way she always has, through clothes that celebrate the strength of women. At Givenchy, that strength reads as emotion, empowerment and resonance.

This was a collection that made you feel things. Made you smile, nod, take note of specific looks to revisit asap. Designers often talk about elevating the everyday, but here it rang so true, taking staples from every woman’s wardrobe and reimagining them in unexpected, artful ways.

It began with a monochrome suit – cropped, sculptural lapels, the most easeful of trousers, and a raised Dracula shirt collar. Overcoats followed, lush and generous, crafted with oversized leather pockets and cuffs that engulfed the hands, worn casually off one shoulder to reveal delicate bow tops beneath. (Since joining the house, Burton has returned often to ideas of dress and undress.)

Leopard print felt alive, alongside lingerie lace motifs and painterly illustrations inspired by Northern European Old Masters. Burton’s precision with cut was at its best: leather shirting flipped and worn backwards to create a high collar that exquisitely framed the face. A crisp white shirt treated the same way and paired with selvedge workwear denim was a brilliant twist on the eternal shirt-and-jeans combo. Burton’s cast underscored the world she’s building at Givenchy. Models including Alex Consani and Mona Tougaard walked alongside French lawyer and novelist Constance Debré, performer and sculptor Isabelle Albuquerque, and Geese guitarist Emily Green – who played Bataclan that same night, no less – each in their own variation of Burton’s tailoring.

Throughout, models wore silk T-shirts twisted into sculptural headpieces by legendary milliner Stephen Jones. “These headwraps are the most natural hair coverings there are,” he explained in the show notes. “Just a T-shirt. Just a twist. But it’s the right T-shirt, with the right twist.”

One of the final looks, worn by Tougaard, adapted a painting by Filipino artist Olan Ventura. Hand-painted flowers spilled from the garment as long fringed blossoms, cascading in waves that seemed to bloom and unravel as she walked. The internet promptly lost its mind – and rightly so.