A couple of days before hosting a walkthrough of his pre-fall 2026 collection, Han Chong previewed a short film in a packed-out dumpling restaurant in Chinatown. “Sandiwara,” written and directed by Sean Baker and starring Michelle Yeoh, formed part of Self-Portrait’s ongoing Residency program, which launched with a Christopher Kane capsule in 2024, and will continue to expand into collaborations across other creative disciplines. Why? “There’s too much noise, too much fashion at the moment,” the designer said. “People are overwhelmed.” It was hard to disagree. By the time we met at Self-Portrait’s headquarters in Farringdon, fashion month had already been rumbling on for the better part of 8 weeks, with the fall 2026 season having technically begun at Pitti Uomo in January. Little wonder, then, that Chong chose to pull it back this season. “It felt right not to over-design,” he said.
Would it be taboo to admit that it came as something of a relief to inspect a rack of clothes with no agenda beyond “being easy for the customer to understand”? Let’s hope not. Doing away with your creative ego and catering to actual shoppers—rather than, say, critics or magazine editorials—is noble in its own way. (And you could say Demna did much the same at his debut Gucci show.) In Self-Portrait’s world that translated to coordinated skirt sets of broderie anglaise, pale-pink knits with floral button detailing, and lace-trimmed bouclé suits. Meanwhile denim—arguably the most straightforward fabric of all—was engineered into cowl-neck minidresses with permanently flared skirts, twisted-seam cargo trousers, and halterneck button-up maxi dresses. It was elsewhere treated until it draped almost like cashmere, appearing in pussy-bow blouses and wide-leg jeans embroidered with a silver pinstripe thread. Altogether the mood felt sweeter, a touch more coquettish than last season. “Well,” Chong shrugged. “we’re heading into summer and customers will want to feel light.”
Indeed, pre-fall—Chong’s biggest season—will retail until early September, covering the period in which his clients’ calendars fill with bachelorette parties, weddings and summer holidays. Hence the emphasis on occasion wear: lavishly draped ribbed-jersey gowns, asymmetric cotton poplin shirt dresses, bow-topped shifts, and diamanté-strewn cocktail numbers ranging from backless columns to ruched minis. There was even a taffeta bridal gown. And who better an endorsement for Chong’s party girls than Kate Moss? “Oh my God, your bias-cut dresses,” he recalled her saying of a longer version of the polka-dot slip featured here. “They fit so well and look amazing.” It’s by coincidence, really, that the model’s Balearic uniform was evoked in crochet beach dresses and basket bags, alongside vintage-y nightgowns, linen waistcoats and lace blouses of the sort she’s long been known to find along Portobello Road. Chong won’t say whether she’ll be the next subject of his Residency.
