Fashion's Generative Force
- hazeldclarke
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Undercurrent Surfaces
There are moments in a country’s creative consciousness when you sense a tilt in the atmosphere. For many of the designers who participated in Zurich Fashion Week 2026, the seeds were sown at last year’s pre‑events. After a year of preparation, this was the moment their creations stepped into full beam.
As I walked into the Kongresshaus Zurich this February, the first edition of Zurich Fashion Week (ZFW) humming to life around me, the movement felt like a demonstration of intention and a call for recognition. Switzerland has long been a country of precision and quiet mastery. But with a new generation of designers gathering in the emerging Swiss fashion capital — bringing fresh global perspectives — something else was stirring: an insistence on visibility, on experimentation, and on a future in fashion design that is theirs to claim.
A Fashion Week Built for What Comes Next
Over five days, Zurich Fashion Week drew around 3,000 guests and placed established labels, emerging designers, and Swiss fashion schools on one shared stage — a platform shaped by themes of sustainability, identity, and material innovation.
"We want to give young talents visibility and strengthen fashion as a cultural and economic force in Switzerland,” says Tamy Glauser, President of the Association. “ZFW is not just a runway — it is a space for exchange between generations, disciplines, and cultures.”
The programme brought together Modeco, New Orchard, Atelier J. Santana, Coco Création, Selva Huygens, Ombre, Madame Badass, Intensify Me, Nova Noche, Tamara von Arx, Zano, Guju Gumpold, The Last Human, Fragile Base, Spacecrib, Amato, Judassime, Terje Vincentz, Maya Seyferth, Dobrżanska, and students from HEAD Genève, alongside a Pop‑Up Market, talks, workshops, and side events.
Designer Voices
Artistically, the designers experimented from their own perspectives, reworking familiar conventions and playing at the edges of femininity and masculinity — at times embracing codes and boundaries, often blurring them, and even merging both entirely. .Modern reinterpretations of traditional costume appeared alongside animal‑like headpieces and masks. Refined evening gowns and nightwear passed weightlessly through the sequence of catwalks, contrasting with powerful tunics, skirts, and suits that shifted with fluid ease across genders — pieces that spoke to the duality of identity — its liberation and the pull of convention.
Inspiration sits at the core of this artistry — a theme that surfaced in brief conversations with some of the brightest designers present.
Among them were the twin model brothers behind the clothing brand Darkos. Their collection draws on an energy shaped by a blend of masculinity and femininity — an ambiguity that, in their words, makes the pieces “open for everyone”.
The twins’ remarks captured the essence of their approach–a glimpse of which comes through in the short video clip below.
Click to play the video
In the Making
A shift is already underway. Switzerland is fast becoming the crucible of international fashion alchemy — a place where young talent from far and wide can forge their practice — and the heat is rising. I’ll be following up with more designer voices in THE GAZE, capturing the most promising newly cast couture. Stay tuned to this space.
Credits: Photography: Zurich Fashion Week
© Hazel Clarke 2026
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