As the runways have shown us recently, there’s a hunger for beauty, glamour, and heart in fashion. With Wuthering Heights dominating pop culture, there was also a sense of romance rising on both the spring and fall 2026 runways: bustles and bustiers (like that at Bora Aksu and Anna Sui) were back in a big way, as well as sinewy lace at Simone Rocha and Cecilie Bahnsen. Drop waists of the Art Deco era also proliferated at Chanel, Marni, and Rabanne. Paired with the penchant for mood-boosting colors (from Auralee to Prada and Ferragamo), the fur-lined and floral-patterned silk robe of an era-gone-by fits right in with the moment.
The opera coat-style piece comes celebrity and street style-approved: Alexa Chung, Zoë Kravitz, Kate Moss, Jennifer Lawrence included. The opulent robe feels like a natural progression from the balletcore aesthetics of past seasons (graduating from the stage to the stalls) and a more refined update on the Almost Famous-y Penny Lane coat, moving the trend cycle fluidly from the ’70s to the ’80s. Lightweight and slinky, it’s a great transeasonal piece, too.
One of the most prominent fur-lined silk robes comes courtesy of London designer Conner Ives, who has dressed the aforementioned Lawrence, Moss, and Kravitz in his silk floral demi-couture coats. Tish Weinstock opened Ives’s fall 2026 show in a full-length silk coat made with repurposed vintage fur and lavish Qing Dynasty-era tapestries. The commitment to craft is on full display, and with its casual styling atop a tee and jeans, it’s surprisingly versatile. As Ives previously told Vogue, it’s the most expensive piece on his linesheet, but a bestseller.
London-based Bulgarian designer Viktor Gichev has bolstered the moment with his own antique-inspired take on the opera coat. As well as his own designs, Gichev runs the fabulous One Of A Kind archive on London’s storied Portobello Road, where he curates slinky, diaphanous Alexander McQueen and Galliano-era Dior dresses alongside Fendi furs, Chanel sets, and Tom Ford for Gucci’s statement-making outerwear. Alexa Chung wore his Poiret-style jacquard opera coat, crafted from floral curtains and repurposed mink fur. It follows the rhythm of his design aesthetic and narrative as a designer, which he has described as akin to “something discovered in an attic eaten away by moths.”
This coat is cut as a voluminous circular cape with no rigid tailoring, led by volume, drape, and fabric, and the fur is repurposed from vintage coats that the designer found on eBay, with a shell made from antique upholstery fabric. “There’s something powerful about giving these discarded pieces a second life—they carry memory and energy,” Gichev tells Vogue. “I like fabrics with history behind them.” Gichev was inspired by historical opera cloaks and early 20th silhouettes, with Paul Poiret and Romeo Gigli as references. Without wanting to feel too costume-y, Gichev sees his pieces paired perfectly with jeans and more modern style inflections: “It’s that paradox I like…worn in a way that’s effortlessly messy, personal, undone.”
