The SS26 season had a recurring visual preoccupation that ran across houses as different as Hermès, Chanel, Proenza Schouler, and Acne Studios: an orientation toward the desert. Not the Western American desert of turquoise jewelry and fringe, but something older and less familiar to the Western fashion imagination — the aesthetics of the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa. Earthy mineral palettes. Artisanal surface treatments. Utilitarian silhouettes that carry an architectural weight. Fabrics that perform under heat.
This isn\’t the first time that European fashion has drawn on the Middle East and North Africa as a visual source. The relationship has a complex history — from Poiret\’s early 20th century Orientalism to Yves Saint Laurent\’s deep engagement with Moroccan aesthetics — and that history requires some examination before we engage with what\’s happening now.
The History and Its Complications
Fashion\’s relationship with the Middle East and North Africa has frequently been extractive rather than collaborative. The Orientalist tradition — Western designers drawing on non-Western cultures as a source of “exotic” visual material — has produced some of the most beautiful fashion of the 20th century and also some of the most culturally problematic.
What distinguishes the SS26 moment from that tradition — at least in its most thoughtful expressions — is the degree to which the reference is material and structural rather than decorative and surface-level. The houses that engaged with this aesthetic most seriously weren\’t applying a costume layer. They were investigating what dressing for an arid climate actually produces in terms of silhouette, fabric weight, and construction logic.
Hermès — which has deep, ongoing commercial and creative relationships across the Middle East and North Africa — approached it through the lens of their equestrian heritage, which has its own Middle Eastern roots. The resulting pieces had a utilitarian elegance that read as genuinely informed rather than borrowed.
The Aesthetic Elements to Know
Earthy Mineral Palette
The colors of sand, terracotta, clay, tufa, ocher. Dusty rather than saturated. These are not the ochres and rusts of recent boho fashion — they\’re quieter, more architectural, more mineral in feeling. This palette works well with the current direction in neutral dressing.
Artisanal Texture
The surface treatments associated with this aesthetic — hand-embroidery, textured weaves, artisanal basket construction, hammered metal — carry a visual quality that cannot be easily replicated by industrial production. Brands incorporating this element at their most thoughtful are either working directly with artisans (as Hermès has done historically) or investing in quality reproduction.
The Flowing Utilitarian Silhouette
Clothing designed for heat tends toward generous proportions (to allow airflow), covered extremities (for sun protection), and natural fabrics (for breathability). This maps almost perfectly onto the current direction in fashion toward loose, relaxed, considered dressing. The overlap is not coincidental — the same physical logic produces the same aesthetic result.
Footwear
The sandal that allows the foot to breathe. The mule that slides on and off with ease. The shoe that doesn\’t fight the heat.
How to Wear It
The Earthy Monochrome
A head-to-toe palette in dusty terracotta, warm sand, or ocher. Loose linen trouser + relaxed linen top + leather sandal in a complementary tan. The monochromatic earthy look is the most direct expression of this aesthetic at its most wearable.
Shop Mango | Shop & Other Stories | Shop Reformation
The Artisanal Accent
A piece with visible craft — a hand-embroidered blouse, a woven bag, a textured ceramic-inspired accessory — worn with simple, neutral companion pieces that allow the artisanal element to read clearly.
Shop Free People | Shop Anthropologie
The Utilitarian Silhouette
Wide, flowing, deliberately relaxed. Linen or cotton in a natural shade. Minimal accessories. This is the silhouette that has the most structural connection to the aesthetic\’s origins.
Shop Zara | Shop ASOS | Shop H&M
A Note on Engagement
Fashion\’s engagement with non-Western aesthetics is most interesting — and most defensible — when it generates genuine cultural exchange rather than extraction. The brands doing this most thoughtfully in 2026 are those with actual relationships: designers who spend time in the regions they\’re drawing from, brands with creative collaborations with artisans, houses that have been part of the region\’s fashion ecosystem for decades.
As a consumer, the most meaningful way to engage with this aesthetic is to seek out the original sources: Middle Eastern and North African designers, artisanal brands, and cultural institutions that represent these aesthetics from within. The references point toward something; following them to the source is more interesting than staying at the surface.
*Nia Johnson is Jebae\’s Culture & Industry Writer, based in London.*
