Sportmax Spring Summer 2026 “A Collection with Bells On”. Story by RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Sportmax.
Inside the cavernous halls of Frigoriferi Milanesi, Sportmax staged a Spring-Summer 2026 collection that managed to balance the ethereal with the pragmatic. It was a dreamy proposition, but with its feet firmly planted on the ground—cut loose from excess to spotlight enduring beauty, functional design, and a measured sensuality.
About two-thirds into the show, fantasy met reality in the form of a minor hardware mishap: one of the collection’s rose-gold bells, which dangled from necklaces, earrings, bag straps, and bracelets, slipped from its model and landed squarely at the feet of Isabelle Kountoure, style director of How To Spend It. The trinket was later returned backstage, a fitting full stop to a presentation that was, bells aside, an efficient advertisement for why one might indeed spend it at Sportmax.
The clothing itself rested on familiar foundations, elevated through inventive cuts, layering, and fabrication. The opening sleeveless wrap coat, practical with side-seam pockets, carried a double-layered collar, as did the cream caban that followed. Trench coats appeared in various guises, long and short, with oversized storm flaps creating the illusion of false sleeves. Rendered in leather with chunky silver hardware, these leaned into biker territory without ever abandoning refinement. A standout was the full-length coat in panels of shaved baby-blue suede, its exaggerated lapels so wide they seemed to promise another garment altogether.
Tailoring was both sculptural and imposing: jackets with sharp, exaggerated peak lapels, often layered over other jackets or sheer organza outerwear. The latter was abundant—perhaps overly so—serving as a whispery counterpoint to the strong silhouettes. Dresses, in liquid silks, broke away from the predictable through irregular slits, asymmetrical cut-outs, and swooping armholes that redefined fluidity with a touch of distortion.
There were trousers too, though less convincing. Baggy, pleated jeans with a strangely spiraled drape around the left ankle created more questions than allure. A printed shift dress paired with an organza sheath carried an orange-and-black fern motif, the double layering producing a kinetic, almost filmic effect—a visual device Sportmax has used before, and effectively so.
Accessories expanded the narrative. Crescent moon bags, softened in suede and embellished with fringed and floral-cut leather, came punctuated with brassy S-shaped hardware. Footwear, mercifully, was practical: kitten-heeled mules that allowed models to glide rather than stumble, a refreshing reprieve in a week of punishingly ambitious shoe choices.
In the end, Sportmax delivered a collection that didn’t try to reinvent the wheel but polished it until it shone. It was a meditation on detail, a reconsideration of proportion, and yes—a ringing reminder that even the most carefully staged dream has its interruptions.
See All Looks Sportmax Spring Summer 2026
