The Big Statement Skirt Is The One Item You Need For 2026

Here are the skirts to buy and how to style them.

Published: December 30, 2025

The Big Statement Skirt Is The One Item You Need For 2026 — Chanel. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

They say three's a trend. So when a trifecta of designers making their debuts during the spring/summer 2026 season all made a point of putting one standout item of clothing on their inaugural catwalks, it all but guaranteed this garment's importance ahead of spring. It's the statement skirt, which came with look-twice fabrications here and floor-sweeping hemlines there, taking up space in the literal sense of the phrase to utterly sublime effect.

At Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli's take was to use his swooshes of saturated block colour on a ballgown-skirt, an emerald puffball that was paired with a cropped tee so brief that it glimpsed a slice of underboob (Sarah Paulson has already taken the ensemble for a spin, FYI, channeling a modern princess mood that was a perfect 10).

Louise Trotter arrived, and then some at Bottega Veneta, winning rave reviews for a collection that included filament skirts that, manipulated into mini swathes, bounced as they headed down the runway. Like Balenciaga, Bottega's skirt was partnered with a lo-fi top half, a charcoal sweatshirt with a relaxed fit, scrunched arms and power shoulders. (If Trotter is backing the "business on the top, party on the bottom" formula, expect it to go nowhere soon.)

Finally, Matthieu Blazy's Chanel, where several big-energy skirts paraded down the catwalk, including a mini that erupted into fiery red folds then graduated into a floor-brushing train. The low-key top half continued here, too, with a long-sleeved silk polo shirt that gave the whole look an effortless slant in keeping with the label's history of making a woman's comfort a priority.

The gargantuan skirt has already received several red-carpet endorsements—from Teyana Taylor, Kristen Wiig and Elle Fanning—but that doesn't mean it needs to be saved for best.

Despite its main-character vibe, or perhaps because of it, the statement skirt wants to accompany you everywhere, to cocktail parties, sure, but also to brunch and definitely to work. Since all three designer labels decided to show their skirts with something understated, it would be rogue not to follow suit. A pressed white shirt, a black crew-neck jumper, a heavy-weight tee with elongated sleeves; any would make a reliable supporting act to your skirt.

Where to find 'the one'? The high street has plenty of skirts that make a statement while still being wearable for real life. Dreading the return to work and the slow march to spring? Flounce into the office wearing this skirt and, I almost guarantee, you'll more than be able to be able to grin and bear it.