Fashion Travels: The Cities Inspiring Fall/Winter 2026

From Manhattan’s coolest blocks to Antwerp’s Flemish masterpieces and Milan’s architectural contrasts, this season’s collections are all the inspiration you need to hop on a plane somewhere and look perfectly stylish doing it. Here, we follow Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten and Bottega Veneta back to their creative sources, exploring the hotels, cultural hotspots and after-dark haunts worth knowing about now.

Milan has fashion credentials stretching back centuries, but it’s the city’s pinkish-white marble cathedrals that usually play show backdrop or runway reference. However, for her fall/winter ’26 collection for Bottega Veneta, designer Louise Trotter pushed past this grandeur to explore the city’s more austere, brutalist architectural exteriors and the sensuality concealed within them. Presented at the house’s Palazzo San Fedele headquarters, the show opened with sculptural tailoring, elongated silhouettes and rounded-shoulder coats, before unfolding into fluid dresses, tactile shearling and extravagant, shimmering textures.

To inhabit that aesthetic, book into STRAF, a design hotel conceived by artist and designer Vincenzo De Cotiis, mere steps from the Duomo. Here, raw concrete, burnished metals and industrial finishes are the order of the day and make a fantastic contrast for Bottega Veneta’s drapey crepes and jacquards. The lively STRAF Bar, with vintage furnishings and DJ sets, is an intriguing entry point to Milan after dark.

For an alternative perspective, Hotel Viu Milan rises above the evolving Porta Volta neighborhood, its glass façade decorated by vertical gardens. Head to the rooftop pool and terrace for an aperitivo with 360-degree city views, or settle in for dinner at Morelli, where chef Giancarlo Morelli brings a flavorful, contemporary approach to Milanese cuisine.

Elsewhere, the Bvlgari Hotel Milano, tucked away on a private street in Brera, is a masterclass in Milan’s more discreet pleasures. Its secluded garden, sumptuous interiors and subterranean spa make it a delightfully appealing escape from the city’s bustle.

Naturally, no fashion pilgrimage would be complete without exploring the Quadrilatero della Moda, Milan’s legendary luxury shopping district. Arrange a private shopping appointment, then finish with dinner at Seta, Antonio Guida’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental. Like Trotter’s collection, it’s an exercise in precision, craftsmanship and the pleasure of discovering what is waiting beneath an immaculate exterior flourish.

What do teenage rebellion and 17th-century Flemish painting have in common? Quite a lot, according to Julian Klausner. For Dries Van Noten’s fall/winter ’26 collection, the designer delved into the awkward exuberance of adolescence through the artistic lens of Antwerp, the house’s hometown. School-uniform references found interplay with extravagant textures, gold embellishments and painterly florals, with historic Flemish still lifes reimagined as oversized, pixelated prints. The result was an eclectic collision of youthful experimentation and the rich visual culture of a city that once served as one of Europe’s great trading centers.

Antwerp’s architecture is all a marriage of old and new, which is easy to experience luxuriously. Check into Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp, a former monastery whose centuries-old architecture now houses a remarkable collection of contemporary comforts. Its three-floor Botanic Health Spa offers everything from advanced diagnostics and personalized recovery programs to an 18-meter swimming pool. The hotel is also home to the two-Michelin-starred Hertog Jan – an exceptional chance to savor an elaborate tasting menu.

Alternatively, upscale boutique hotel August occupies a former Augustinian convent, where modernist interiors, leafy gardens and an atmospheric bar are ideal for lingering in, sporting a Dries matelassé jacquard or floral-print duchesse-satin midi, of course.

Dive more deeply into the city’s artistic heritage by visiting MoMu, the fashion museum dedicated to Antwerp’s design scene. Then make for the Rubenshuis, where the Baroque painter’s former residence is undergoing restoration. While the historic house remains closed, its immersive Rubens Experience and garden are open. Better still, Dries Van Noten himself advised on the garden’s planting, ensuring a succession of color throughout the seasons. A gorgeous way to see the designer’s creative world come full circle.

In New York, even mundane tasks feel like main character plot points. Just ask Sarah Pidgeon, star of Balenciaga’s fall 2026 campaign, ‘A New York Minute’. Directed by Past Lives filmmaker Celine Song, the trilogy of 60-second films follows the actor through an ordinary Manhattan day, collecting dry cleaning, crossing busy streets and hailing a cab. Under creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, the city becomes the runway for Balenciaga’s TechWear separates, Jet sneakers and sculptural eveningwear, with the ‘Le City’, ‘Le 7 Bowling’ and ‘Rodeo’ bags playing key roles too.

For your own New York minute, begin uptown at The Carlyle, beneath Ludwig Bemelman’s whimsical murals for a martini and some jazz, or slip into The Mark’s impossibly chic bar for cocktails surrounded by fashion’s absolute finery. A little further south, The Frick Collection, newly reopened after extensive renovation, offers exquisite time among Old Masters, while The Lowell’s Pembroke Room is an elegant spot for a little tea and cake.

As lower Manhattan beckons, make Gansevoort your travel HQ. Overlooking the Meatpacking District’s quaint cobbled streets, the hotel has a raft of enticing spots: morning espresso at Coffee + Cocktails, caviar-topped duck-fat tater tots at Estelle’s, and sunset drinks at Gansevoort Rooftop, where a heated pool overlooks the Hudson. For dinner, book a seat at Saishin’s intimate omakase counter, where Japanese seafood and skyline views make a persuasive pairing.

When darkness has really settled in, After Eden transforms from a Vietnamese coffee spot into a Southeast Asian-inspired cocktail lounge. In the famously art-filled NoMad, the Japandi-inspired Stone & Soil is perfect for a dusk-til-dawn drink, accompanied by your ‘Le 7 Bowling’ bag.