By Louise Daniel
Robert Wun presented a dramaturgical epic for the sixth chapter of the Chinese courtier, aptly titled “Valour: The Desire to Create, and the Courage to Carry On.”
Robert Wun exists at the intersection between reality and fantasy. As a couturier designing in a league of his own, he strikes an ephemeral balance which turns clothes into carriers of dreams. After all, couture is fantasy made tangible. Each season, Wun brings his devoted audience out of the ordinary and into the beyond. While other couturiers seek inspiration from history’s footprints, Wun orbits the personal and the universal. He dares to look into the abyss, or toward the cosmos, with respect to its relationship to the human condition, unearthing questions of old and new.
For Spring 2026, the legendary cabaret-turned-musical-theatre, Lido de Paris, became the emblematic playground for Wun’s most ambitious and poetic collection yet. It would not be enough to call what we witnessed just another show. At full force, it was theatrical dramaturgy, bringing together the power of emotion and mythmaking under the sacred name of couture.
A three-part act began with looming typhoon clouds and ominous thunder cracking in the distance. Titled “Library,” the first nine ensembles unfolded in a series of monochrome looks carrying Wun’s couture codes with a haunting pull. Pure and sacred were these dream-like figures floating amidst the clouds. Sculpted silhouettes, sewn with tailoring of mathematical exactitude, gave the hourglass form a touch of surrealism. Debra Shaw was a vision in white as she opened the show in a floor-length dress with cascading sleeves and a pointed hat that reached for the skies in Look 1. Suited ball gowns paired with Western top hats appeared in both black and white in Looks 7 and 8, emulating the clean-slate philosophy of the first act.
Robert Wun Spring 2026 Couture: Looks 7, 8 (Images courtesy of Robert Wun)
The beauty in Wun’s work lies in his ability to always follow form with concept. Any grandiose idea stems from the simplest notion, made extraordinary through couture craftsmanship. The eerie becomes the most elegant apparition in the room. A blood-red and ivory-white dress, accompanied by a crimson crystal mask, was among the first to break the monochrome rhythm of the show in Look 10. The epic continued with the second act, titled “Luxury.” A parade of jewel-toned opulence graced the stage, paired with visuals of a saturated sunrise. Here, Wun embodied the essence of desire through deconstructed corsetry that accentuated, almost reshaped, the female form.
Robert Wun Spring 2026 Couture: Looks 10 (Images courtesy of Robert Wun)
From crowns and cascading pearls to sculpted hands worn as accessories, Wun revealed different facets of desire: its beauty and its danger. The climax, “Valour,” made a thundering introduction with a contoured anatomical figure micro beaded to exaggerate the human form. In this final act of Wun’s dramaturgy, we witnessed the full breadth of his imagination brought to life. Heroic figures, realized through exceptional craftsmanship, carried strength and precision. A standout look featured an actual suit of armor equipped with a sword, gliding down the stage with focus and tenacity, lending a mythological gravity to the atmosphere. As the thunderclouds slowly quieted and the storm passed, a creature in a fully beaded cosmic gown in thunderstorm yellow emerged as a fitting and captivating conclusion to Wun’s epic. It left a sense of awe, mystery, and, most importantly, courage in the hearts of the audience. Wun’s latest chapter answers a lingering question in the industry: is couture still relevant today? Spring 2026 demonstrates couture’s ability to evolve with the times, not against them. Creators standing at couture’s gates simply need the courage to dream—and to create.
Robert Wun Spring 2026 Couture: Looks 13, 14, 16 (Images courtesy of Robert Wun)