Last Friday (May 22), Charli xcx dropped “SS26”, the follow-up single to “rock music” taken from her upcoming seventh album. Alongside the track, the artist released a music video directed by Torso, in which she staged her own SS26 fashion show in Paris. If you missed it, we reviewed the runway, like we would any other fashion show, here.  

A few days before its release, Charli teased the video by posting a show invite on her finsta (@b.sides), making people think she might be launching her own luxury fashion brand. While this turned out not to be the case, the show featured many of her favourite designers (including cameos from Anthony Vaccarello and August Barron). 

For her catwalk debut, Charli and her stylist Chris Horan turned to Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain, Saint Laurent, Lou De Bètoly and Chrome Hearts, while returning to a familiar favourite, Spanish designer Javier Guijarro. The opening and closing looks of a fashion show often carry greater significance than any others, and Guijarro had the honour of kicking things off. Charli sets the tone wearing a black leather skirt suit as critics (including Carine Roitfeld, Lyas and Loïc Prigent) watch from the front row. 

On closer inspection, you’ll notice that the two pieces are classically tailored, both made entirely of leather, but manipulated with a very special construction technique. “Each piece was coated with a layer of beeswax, creating a varnished finish across the surface of the garments,” says the Barcelona-based designer. 

“Once treated, we manually sculpted and fixed specific creases and tensions into the leather: around the waist, near the button closure, across the lapels, and throughout the skirt,” he continues. “The material was stretched by hand and tied into position overnight so the wrinkles could set while the beeswax dried. As the wax hardened, it preserved the exact structure and movement we had shaped directly into the leather.” 

The look was originally meant to appear in the video for Charli’s comeback single “rock music”, rather than “SS26”,  but it got stuck in customs and missed the shoot. Luckily, it still got its happy ending. “Appearing in the ‘SS26’ video is especially meaningful considering its obvious connection to fashion,” says Guijarro. 

The designer has by now created a number of custom looks for Charli. She wore several pieces of his on stage during both the Sweat and Brat tours, and wore one of ensembles to the Met Gala 2025 afterparty (he gave us the lowdown on that look too, here). As for the “SS26” outfit, just like during fashion week, it’s always the emerging designers that steal the show.