There’s a lot to unpack from the AW26 fashion season. Across New York, London, Milan and Paris we saw werewolves, ice skaters, birds of paradise and even Mark Zuckerberg on the front row. But between the flora, fauna and billionaires, this season’s show soundtracks had us tapping our feet. Matthieu Blazy’s “Just Dance” moment had the entire Chanel front row singing along. Meanwhile, Jonathan Anderson is surprisingly clued up on underground electropop. If we were to poll the genres most played during fashion shows, classical would undoubtedly come out on top. Dance and techno would follow it, but pop music is quickly climbing the ranks. From Daniel Lee’s love of FKA twigs, to Pierpaolo Piccioli being a Rosalía megafan, fashion has fallen for pop – as evidenced this season. But which of today’s major luxury designers has the best taste in music? We’ll let you decide…

MATTHIEU BLAZY 

(LADY GAGA, NELLY FURTADO, FOUR TET) 

When it comes to our tastes in music, many of us claim to love “a bit of everything”. Usually, it’s a cop out answer, but for Chanel creative director Matthieu Blazy, the proof is in the pudding. For each of his Chanel shows so far, the designer has worked with fashion’s leading sound director, Michel Gaubert, who has worked with basically everyone and soundtracked some of the biggest shows in fashion history.

Following Chanel’s SS26 couture show in January, Gaubert wrote on Instagram: “the soundtrack went from Sleeping Beauty to Joan Baez, Four Tet, Nelly Furtado and Catherine Deneuve”. We heard Oasis’s “Wonderwall” during the same show; meanwhile, back in September, he mixed “Rhythm Is a Dancer” with The Corrs’ “Runaway”. As for the most recent AW26 ready-to-wear show, Blazy and Gaubert had the entire Grand Palais singing along to Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” – taking the trophy for the best soundtrack moment of the season. Remixed with that famous Gaga baseline, Blazy also dropped in quotes from a young Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot, as well as a brief detour to the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film score. If you didn’t know he was a millennial before...

JONATHAN ANDERSON 

(MK.GEE, NEW YORK, MARIAH CAREY) 

During Jonathan Anderson’s sophomore Dior menswear show in January, the designer cited one unlikely inspiration: the New Jersey guitarist and former Dazed cover star Mk.gee. The show opened with “Alesis” blaring through the speakers, taken from his debut album Two Star & The Dream Police (the one that topped our Best Albums list back in 2024). “I’d met this amazing singer and musician called Mk.gee,” Anderson said backstage. “I was trying to work out what these characters would be together, as a new radical.”

For AW26 womenswear, the Irish designer proved he’s got good taste once again, this time with the help of Gretchen Lawrence and Coumba Samba, AKA underground electropop duo New York. One of their most popular tracks, “think of you”, was sandwiched between dramatic classical music. To gain more insight into Anderson’s listening habits, take a look at the playlist he curated a few years ago, featuring Mariah Carey, Charli xcx and Joni Mitchell.

DANIEL ROSEBERRY

(TAYLOR SWIFT, FIFTH HARMONY, TATE MCRAE)

Daniel Roseberry has a special connection with the music industry. Mainly because the past three Album of the Year winners have all worn Schiaparelli to the Grammys (Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Bad Bunny). Although he’s never played Swift’s music during a Schiaparelli show, the designer is a certified Swiftie and has been caught listening to her music in the background of TikTok videos while wearing Eras tour merch. Some fans are even conspiring that he will design the singer’s wedding dress.

For the brand’s AW26 ready-to-wear show, Roseberry opted for a soundtrack consisting of Tate McRae and Fifth Harmony. Feet were tapping on the front row, but not as much as at last season’s show, when Roseberry curated a 90s R&B soundtrack featuring Aaliyah’s “One in a Million” and “Rock the Boat”. 

PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI 

(ROSALÍA, LAURYN HILL, RAYE) 

After the soaring success of Lux last year (it topped our Best Albums of 2025 list), it’s no surprise that Rosalía featured during this season’s runways. The singer’s fourth studio album cropped up twice during the AW26 shows, with both Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri choosing “Divinize” as their show soundtracks. Although the two designers no longer share a fashion house (they were previously co-creative directors of Valentino), clearly they still share a taste in music. Piccioli’s use of Rosalía was a nod to Balenciaga’s partnership with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, with the Spanish singer set to star in the show’s upcoming season. In September, during Piccioli’s Balenciaga debut, the designer played Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You (I Love You Baby)” not once, but twice, spliced with Raye’s cover of “Feeling Good”. 

DANIEL LEE 

(FKA TWIGS, BLACK SABBATH, SINÉAD O’CONNOR)

Daniel Lee is a one artist at a time kind of guy. If you hadn’t noticed, at each of his Burberry shows the designer focuses on one musician only. A year ago, for AW25, the soundtrack was made up entirely of Sinéad O’Connor. For SS26, it was Black Sabbath (a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne), and for AW26 it was all about FKA twigs. Although twigs herself wasn’t in attendance, the show opened with “How’s That”, a track from the singer’s 2013 EP2, followed by songs from her Magdalene and Eusexua eras – the perfect playlist for a collection all about going out-out in London. 

SEÁN MCGIRR

(AN ORIGINAL SCORE BY AG COOK)  

A year ago, Seán McGirr’s AW25 McQueen show soundtrack included Joy Orbison, John Glacier, D-Breeze and The Soft Boys. After dipping his toe into the world of dance music, the following season, he asked AG Cook to design an original score. In 2026, the PC music founder is one of the industry’s most in demand producers; he’s worked with Beyoncé, Charli xcx, Caroline Polacheck, Addison Rae, and also produced an original score for A24’s The Moment. His segue into fashion was inevitable, and McGirr turned to Cook once again for his most recent, horror film-themed show. Are we witnessing the start of a beautiful, long-lasting relationship? It won’t be long before McQueen soundtracks are on Spotify if so. 

MIUCCIA & RAF 

(90s TECHNO) 

If Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons are like the cool mum and dad of the fashion industry, it only makes sense that their taste in music would be 90s techno – transporting them back to their raving days. There was a lot happening at their most recent show, including 15 models wearing four looks each, shedding a layer with every lap of the show space. Each time a model reappeared on the runway, she looked slightly more dishevelled, having quickly whipped off her outer layer backstage. The music matched the chaos, becoming progressively more erratic. The playlist included 90s rave legends like Dutch techno producer, D-Shake, Berghain regular Dustin Zahn and Detroit EDM producer Robert Hood. 

DEMNA 

(FAKEMINK, ESDEEKID, NETTSPEND)

OK, OK, these artists didn’t exactly feature on the soundtrack at Demna’s Gucci debut, but they were a big part of the show. Dazed cover star fakemink and Nettspend both walked the show, seemingly squashing their beef and working it out on the runway. Meanwhile, mysterious Scouse rapper EsDeeKid sat front row with a giant Gucci bag. Rap may not have soundtracked the show, but it certainly soundtracked the afterparty, where EsDeeKid performed alongside Rico Ace and fakemink. If any luxury fashion designer was going to be plugged into the UK Ug scene, of course it would be Demna.