The use of trompe l’oeil techniques in fashion collections has been steadily rising over the past several seasons. But if there’s one designer that isn’t trying to trick the eye, it’s Ellen Hodakova Larsson, who’s telling it exactly how it is. She’s not trying to make a skirt made from books look like anything other than a skirt made from books – that’s exactly what it is. Last season, the Swedish designer sent a cello down the runway worn as a dress, and a violin worn as a hat. This season, for SS26, she’s moved away from the musical instruments, opting instead for metal umbrella boning – the main material of at least nine looks.
Photography Jamie-Maree Shipton
