In the Garden Where Midnight Blooms: Miguel Vieira’s Nocturnal Elegy with Raul on the Runway

Japanese star Raul walked the runway at Miguel Vieria's elegiac show. Cover picture and photograph above: Jay Zoo for DAM 

At the Fondazione Sozzani in Milan, amid the minimalist interiors, Portuguese designer Miguel Vieria presented Garden in the Night, a midnight-hued, evocative collection that whispered rather than shouted and was all the more powerful for it. Yet it wasn’t all restraint: among the most talked-about moments of the Spring/Summer 2026 show was Japanese idol and fashion star Raul, who walked the runway sending waves of excitement through the audience and drawing crowds of devoted fans to the venue long before the show began. While the scene outside was chaos, inside on the runway, it was poetry. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Jay Zoo

Lustrous black with fine draping 

and gleaming fringes which move 

with the wearer.

MIGUEL VIEIRA carved a more introspective path with his new collection, exploring a palette of black that was not merely a colour but a concept, an atmosphere, a state of being. It cloaked sharply tailored suits, swept across columnar dresses, and enveloped coats and sculptural separates with a sense of hushed confidence. 

For both men and women, the silhouettes were streamlined yet precise, and with sleek leather lilies and roses pinned to lapels, it was all suggestive of a garden at midnight: secretive, waiting to bloom. 

With only faint glimmers of silver and whispers of white breaking through the dark hues, the feeling was meditative rather than mournful. Rather than relying on prints or ornamentation, Vieira allowed structure, drape, and texture to do the talking. 

The designer created a collection that unfolded like a visual sonata, with dresses falling in graceful swathes or cut short and sharp, while men’s outerwear introduced volume, especially in the form of oversized jackets with a subtle architectural slant. The second movement: softness, sheer overlays, delicate leather fringes, and draped shoulders, hinted at fragility beneath the surface. Every piece was meticulously constructed, a nod to Vieira’s commitment to technical excellence, but nothing felt rigid. Instead, there was a rhythm to the collection, one that moved between concealment and revelation, austerity and emotion.

Raul's presence on Vieira’s runway symbolised more than star power; it spoke to the brand’s evolving narrative, one that welcomes global voices into its cloistered, finely tailored world

Raul modelled a silvery, mesh

top that glimmered in the light. 

And then came Raul: a presence that changed the alchemy in the room. Already a household name in Japan thanks to his work with the group Snow Man and a breakout star in cinema and modelling, Raul brought a worldly resonance to Vieira’s vision. His first look, a minimalist silver top paired with gleaming, black trousers was designed to be like a flash of moonlight across the collection’s otherwise dark landscape. 

Later, he returned in one of the show’s most memorable pieces: a voluminous black quilted jacket with a single leather rose blooming at the collarbone. It was as if he had stepped out of the collection’s imagined garden, not as a guest but as its most elusive flower. With his striking height, distinctive walk, and presence, Raul embodied the Miguel Vieira ideal: elegant, composed, enigmatic.

Outside the venue, a throng of fans, many flown in from Tokyo, Paris, and beyond, called his name and crowded the entrance holding flowers, underscoring Raul’s magnetism. But inside, the atmosphere was hushed, reverent even. The collection commanded stillness. The audience, seated beneath pools of light, leaned forward not out of spectacle but curiosity. Who are these figures dressed for night? Where are they going? Who are they meeting? Vieira gave no answers, only suggestions.

Raul’s inclusion in the show wasn’t merely about celebrity casting, it was a statement. At 21, he represents a new generation of talent unbound by borders. Venezuelan and Japanese by heritage, raised in Tokyo, and now modelling internationally, he bridges cultures, disciplines, and aesthetics. His presence on Vieira’s runway symbolised more than star power; it spoke to the brand’s evolving narrative one that welcomes global voices into its cloistered, finely tailored world.

Every piece is meticulously constructed but nothing felt rigid, rather there was a rhythm to the collection, one that moved between concealment and revelation, austerity and emotion

Voluminous, gauzy draping

added a note of romanticism

to Vieira's collection. 

While many designers this season have leaned into nostalgia, hyper-femininity, or flashy revivalism, Vieira’s approach stood apart. The Garden in the Night was modern but appeared timeless, emotional but composed. Black here was never flat ~ it shimmered, moved, and breathed. 

Vieira manipulated it with such control that it felt like another language. Even the rare injections of white, seen in a sequined singlet top or a diaphanous blouse, felt less like contrast and more like an inhale before plunging back into darkness. In the closing looks, Vieira introduced movement with full-length coats in billowing silk, worn open over stark black. 

At the finale, the models walked out as a group to upbeat, exhilarating music, the sheen of the black fabrics catching the light before they disappeared backstage. It was a fitting metaphor for a collection that asked us not to look everywhere, but to look closer. The Garden in the Night was not about grandeur but gravitas, not about commanding attention, but holding it.

As the audience filed out into the humid Milanese summer morning, the crowds still waited outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Raul. But inside, those who witnessed the show left with something quieter, more lasting: a memory of shimmering black in all its luster, something expansive, mysterious, and exquisite.

Scroll down to see more highlights from Miguel Vieira's Spring/Summer 2026 show in Milan

Milan Fashion Week: Qasimi Spring/Summer 2026 ~ Memory and Materiality Amid Historic Cloisters

The evocative Qasimi collection was launched in the ancient cloisters of a former monastery in Milan. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn for DAM 

In a city known for grand fashion gestures, Qasimi took a quieter, more contemplative path for its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, staging its 10th anniversary show in the atmospheric cloisters of Sant’Eustorgio, a place steeped in centuries of Milanese history. Surrounded by Doric columns and soaring archways, the collection, designed by Hoor Al-Qasimi with a collaboration with artist Dala Nasser, was layered, textured and subtly powerful, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photography by Andrea Heinsohn 

The historic cloisters as a backdrop to the show

added another layer of meaning to the collection

AGAINST the honey-coloured stone of Sant’Eustorgio’s cloisters, Qasimi's new show unfolded as a meditation on memory and culture. 

The setting with its centuries of spiritual and architectural history added unexpected depth to a collection already steeped in thoughts about time, impermanence, and resilience.

Located in one of Milan’s most sacred historical quarters, the Cloisters of Sant’Eustorgio date back to the 13th century, when they served as the city’s first Dominican monastery. From the  Spanish-French conflicts in the 16th century to air raids in World War II, today they are restored and serene, the cloisters standing as silent witnesses to endurance.  

The designer brings nuance, political awareness and a poetic use of materials to the new collection

Nasser's installation infused the show with raw

emotion, weathered textiles catching the wind.

The collection, presented by creative director Hoor Al-Qasimi, was strong yet understated. There was no spectacle, no theatrics, just the swish of voluminous fabrics and silhouettes circling a central sculptural installation.

The installation, a ring of scaffolding veiled in weathered textile, was the work of Lebanese artist Dala Nasser, whose collaboration this season went beyond set design. Known for her site-responsive, material-driven practice, Nasser infused the show with a raw, textural sensitivity that shaped both environment and designs.

Grounded in Qasim's hallmark palette of sandy tones, clay browns, and sun-bleached pinks, the Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented a restrained but expressive range. The materials told the story as much as the shapes did, chief among them, 'memory nylon', a fabric that retains the folds and creases of its wearer before gradually softening, like memory itself fading with time. This concept of impermanence ran through the collection, most notably in outerwear and tailoring that looked aged, softened, and lived in.

The utilitarian ethos is softened by pocketed vests elongated into tunics, mohair knits decorated with stones and collarless jackets floating over pleated trousers

Long tunics had raw hems and loose

threads inspired by Dala Nasser,

Womenswear combined structured modular jackets with fluid, asymmetrical tunics and trouser-skirt hybrids. These layered designs appeared to evolve with the wearer, revealing Qasimi's continued interest in adaptability. 

For menswear, Al-Qasimi softened the brand’s utilitarian ethos: pocketed vests were elongated into tunics, mohair knits were decorated with stones and buttons like treasures retrieved from the earth, and collarless jackets floated over pleated trousers.

Nasser’s touch was most visible in the finishing details. Loose threads, doodle-style embroidery, and raw hems echoed the marks of time and erosion found in her artworks, many of which draw from Lebanon’s decaying landscapes and architectural ruins. These elements, woven into the collection with restraint, offered a tactile reflection on the fragility and strength of heritage.

Accessories continued the narrative. Crocheted keychains shaped like hybrid animals nodded to ideas of blended identities and evolving forms, while the incorporation of surplus materials underscored the brand’s growing commitment to sustainability and circular design. Every piece felt considered, not only in construction but in meaning, adding to the show’s intellectual tone.

Nasser’s touch was most visible in the loose threads, doodle-style embroidery, and raw hems echoing the marks of time and erosion found in her artworks

The palette of subtle colours in rose, sand,

cream and pale blue suggested the timeworn. .

The soundtrack, too, was carefully chosen. As the show reached its conclusion, the models gathered around the central sculpture while Issam Hajali’s Khobs played, its lyrics about shared memory and collective identity resonating throughout the cloister. With its granite columns and weather-worn arches as a backdrop, the moment felt suspended in time.

Since taking over the label in 2019 following the loss of her brother and Qasimi founder Khalid Al Qasimi, Hoor Al-Qasimi has brought a thoughtful direction to the house. Rather than relying on loud gestures, she continues to build a language rooted in nuance, political awareness, and a poetic use of materials. 

In a city and season often dominated by spectacle, Qasimi's Spring/Summer 2026 stood apart for its sense of stillness. The show didn’t need to shout. It whispered ~ across centuries, across cultures, and through each stitched thread.

Scroll down to see more highlights from the Qasim Spring/Summer collection in Milan