Australians occupy a special place on the international fashion calendar. The autumn/winter 2026 ready-to-wear season has come to an end with the final show at Paris Fashion Week, but while citizens of the northern hemisphere must wait months to jump on the trends, we can cherry-pick the best looks now as autumn conditions take hold.
Here are the pieces to place you ahead of the international clothing curve.
The jacket: Easy rider
Dog poo, cigarette butts, body odour intermingling with Diptyque’s Tam Dao perfume and trench coats are usually guaranteed wins on the bingo card of Paris Fashion Week street style. This season only three out of four were guaranteed, with the military chic of classic trench coats finally surrendering to the quiet rebellion of leather jackets.
Leather overcoats worn over lace dresses, and micro motorcycle jackets donned with dominatrix confidence over fitted leather skirts, revved the engines of front-row regulars but missed out on pole position. The undisputed leader of the pack was oversized jackets, where the tips of manicured fingers peeked out from sleeves.
The top-heavy look was accentuated by Love Story breakout star Sarah Pidgeon with straight-leg pants, while Tiffany Hsu, the chief buying officer at luxury e-tailer Mytheresa, took a drop-waist approach to cover her camisole and barely there skirt.
You can follow Hsu and balance the masculine appeal of leather with feminine lace, or take to the tonal road like microbiologist-turned-content creator Grece Ghanem and wear a simple black skirt to give your business look a hardcore edge.
The boots: The white stuff
In Paris, fashion editors were fighting over black heels with a white trim or mint green toes in Chanel boutiques, but I’m not encouraging violence or economic inflation on Australian shores.
White boots made just as strong a statement on the cobblestones of the City of Light, suggesting they might be equally sturdy in Melbourne’s laneways or dodging e-bikes on Sydney streets.
Normally worn as a retro nod to ’60s glamour, white boots become an acceptable alternative to black ones. At the Celine show, Australian actress Naomi Watts, who did the rounds at Zimmermann, Jean Paul Gaultier, Mugler and Balmain, showed how it’s done, matching her white shirt with boots and wearing a black jacket for contrast.
Nicole Warne, one of the few cool ambassadors for Australian style in Paris, rose above the handful of content creators clowning for photographers in a grab bag of borrowed clothing. The authentically chic Warne demonstrated that white boots can be sophisticated when worn with the simplest of black dresses.
Linda Fargo, the empress of womenswear at US department store Bergdorf Goodman, took the top-to-toe winter white approach but I’m guessing that she doesn’t have to pay for her dry cleaning.
The accessory: Be square
Having acquired an affinity for silk accessories by incorporating men’s ties into their wardrobes (still a trend), many women have decided to go bigger by bringing scarves out of mothballs. The best approach to wearing them well? Think of how Queen Elizabeth or a ’70s flight attendant would tackle a silk scarf and do the complete opposite.
Rather than overthinking intricate knots, follow the lead of Hong Kong actress Elva Ni and wear a scarf loosely around your neck, beneath a tailored shirt with the knot at your nape, creating a dramatic train over your collar. It’s all about making the accessory look like a casual, last-minute addition to your wardrobe, even if you’ve been practising in front of the mirror for hours.
Ukrainian model Viky Rader took the rather extra approach of tucking her scarf into her belt and letting it fly like a flag for photographers. In real life, to avoid being caught in revolving doors or having your accessory snatched away by a departing Uber, tie it around your handbag like ’60s style icon Babe Paley or use it as a belt substitute.
The easiest approach to scarf styling is loosely draping it around your neck, beneath a jacket, for a sophisticated flash of silk without having to commit to a blouse. Italian fashion editor Anna Dello Russo holds hers in place with a hefty necklace but a scarf ring offers a similar sense of security without the neck strain.
The top: Neck it
“Turtlenecks for autumn” is hardly groundbreaking advice but it’s all about the way you wear them. The trick to staying on trend is to layer them beneath business shirts and smock tops as a base layer.
When the temperature drops another degree, try layering turtlenecks beneath crew neck jumpers and prepare to leave your coat at home.
Black is a basic backdrop but bold reds instantly energise any outfit. Yellow and mint are also encouraged for sticking your neck out.
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