“Dance for me, Salomé…”  opens the Mugler Spring/Summer 2026 show notes—a quote from Salomé by Oscar Wilde. The show marks Miguel Castro Freitas’ debut collection for the brand. And in a season of debut, Mugler stands out unapologetically.

Staged in a shadowy, underground car park in Paris, the venue set the tone for contrast and revelations. Freitas uses the dark to spotlight silhouette, using light and shadow as his muse. The hourglass shape, which is signature Mugler terrain, is reworked. House codes are littered throughout the show, but they are flipped on their head. The archive is honored not by homage but by deconstruction: feathered bustles, plumed jackets, and chandelier-like jeweled corsets are caught in a dusk-lit dream.

It’s a fairly neutral palette, concrete grays, beiges, deep-toned black, but it becomes immediately interrupted by flashes of seafoam or chartreuse leather and feathers – a kink in the hose of the overall show. Transparency is a tool: sheer gowns, nude bodysuits, cut-outs and strategic nipple piercings, are all vulnerable and provocative. Meanwhile, tailored suits and sculptural leathers are harsh and rigid.

The show is expressed in dualities. Exposed/concealed, soft/hard, theatrical/restrained. Corsetry becomes an abstraction; structure hovers between armor and skin. The showgirl isn’t flattened into cliché; she’s revisioned and restructured. 

In sum, Mugler Spring/Summer 2026 is a bold opening movement, a manifesto in silhouette and a reclamation of glamour’s power to disturb – a dance if you will.