As the runways have shown us recently, there’s a hunger for beauty, glamour, and heart in fashion. With Wuthering Heights dominating pop culture, there was also a sense of romance rising on both the spring and fall 2026 runways: bustles and bustiers (like that at Bora Aksu and Anna Sui) were back in a big way, as well as sinewy lace at Simone Rocha and Cecilie Bahnsen. Drop waists of the Art Deco era also proliferated at Chanel, Marni, and Rabanne. Paired with the penchant for mood-boosting colors (from Auralee to Prada and Ferragamo), the fur-lined and floral-patterned silk robe of an era-gone-by fits right in with the moment.
The opera coat-style piece comes celebrity and street style-approved: Alexa Chung, Zoë Kravitz, Kate Moss, Jennifer Lawrence included. The opulent robe feels like a natural progression from the balletcore aesthetics of past seasons (graduating from the stage to the stalls) and a more refined update on the Almost Famous-y Penny Lane coat, moving the trend cycle fluidly from the ’70s to the ’80s. Lightweight and slinky, it’s a great transeasonal piece, too.
One of the most prominent fur-lined silk robes comes courtesy of London designer Conner Ives, who has dressed the aforementioned Lawrence, Moss, and Kravitz in his silk floral demi-couture coats. Tish Weinstock opened Ives’s fall 2026 show in a full-length silk coat made with repurposed vintage fur and lavish Qing Dynasty-era tapestries. The commitment to craft is on full display, and with its casual styling atop a tee and jeans, it’s surprisingly versatile. As Ives previously told Vogue, it’s the most expensive piece on his linesheet, but a bestseller.
London-based Bulgarian designer Viktor Gichev has bolstered the moment with his own antique-inspired take on the opera coat. As well as his own designs, Gichev runs the fabulous One Of A Kind archive on London’s storied Portobello Road, where he curates slinky, diaphanous Alexander McQueen and Galliano-era Dior dresses alongside Fendi furs, Chanel sets, and Tom Ford for Gucci’s statement-making outerwear. Alexa Chung wore his Poiret-style jacquard opera coat, crafted from floral curtains and repurposed mink fur. It follows the rhythm of his design aesthetic and narrative as a designer, which he has described as akin to “something discovered in an attic eaten away by moths.”
This coat is cut as a voluminous circular cape with no rigid tailoring, led by volume, drape, and fabric, and the fur is repurposed from vintage coats that the designer found on eBay, with a shell made from antique upholstery fabric. “There’s something powerful about giving these discarded pieces a second life—they carry memory and energy,” Gichev tells Vogue. “I like fabrics with history behind them.” Gichev was inspired by historical opera cloaks and early 20th silhouettes, with Paul Poiret and Romeo Gigli as references. Without wanting to feel too costume-y, Gichev sees his pieces paired perfectly with jeans and more modern style inflections: “It’s that paradox I like…worn in a way that's effortlessly messy, personal, undone.”
Diving into the archives provides plenty of references for the current moment. “I discovered the Galliano fall 1998 collectsion and it sent me down a rabbit hole researching robes,” says writer Alice Betts, “then Conner Ives really cemented it in my subconscious. My light blue floral one is a vintage find.” Indeed, vintage-hunting seems to yield the best results with these styles of coats.
“I think that the return of the robe that we are seeing can be attributed to our craving and desire for the past,” says vintage and antiques curator Lucia Zolea, “a desire for an intricately made piece that shows hours of time and love put into crafting it.” True, given every version of this coat—vintage and new—features opulent embroidery, florals, pastoral scenes, and appliques. It’s a certified fasttrack to artful, personality-driven dressing.
Recent online drops of Zolea’s sourced pieces include one buttery yellow, 1940s-era jacket made of pure silk floral fabric, adorned with a natural fur collar. “I think people are craving originality, and being able to have a piece that is unique to them and their taste,” she adds. “That is what makes my work so incredibly special to me—to be able to give someone that special piece and feeling.” That sentiment sees these fur-lined silky robes sit alongside other unique pieces in Zolea’s collectsion, like a ’30s-era Schiaparelli pink circus evening jacket with carousel horse embroidery and trapeze artists as buttons, brocade capes, and antique glass purses.
Samantha Lease of New York-based Jellybean Vintage also recently sourced a vintage Adrienne Landau kimono-style robe, which sold within minutes: a baby blue jacket with plush fox fur trimmings. She’s sold at least four different colored robes and cites a cult-like following for the style. “It’s such a statement piece, while being extremely easy to wear,” she says. “And being one size fits most, it’s easy to see why this style is so popular. It doesn’t even really need to exactly match your outfit, either, you just throw it on and go. I’m always on the hunt for this comfy couture-like coat.”
More independent designers are updating the classic, opera-ready design with contemporary elements. “The move towards that more opulent, ’80s-inspired silhouette feels right,” says Anna Carells, whose brand Carelli launched in 2025 and has quickly become known for its bold patterned faux fur coats and blazers. Olivia Dean, Peggy Gou, and Paige Lorenze have all worn the pieces. “It’s stronger, more feminine, more defined,” says Carells of the trending robe style. “Still expressive, but more refined than the softer, more playful Penny Lane styles we’ve seen before.”
Carelli’s ‘Rosa’ jacket, with furry lapels and a softly sculpted silhouette, has had a strong pre-order response. “People want both comfort [and] presence. Pieces that feel easy to wear, but still say something. That’s exactly what this silhouette does: it gives shape, adds confidence, without losing that effortless feel.” The brand’s new ‘Zelda’ jacket—a zebra-print jacket with a more tailored shape—has had similar interest: “It shows that our community is really drawn to statement styles.”
Gichev cites the robe’s ascension to the tension between the world we’re in and what people are craving emotionally. “In the age of AI and Chat GPT, everything feels so practical, clinical, and soulless,” he says. “I feel there is a real pull toward the romantic and escapist.”
Fancy slipping on a robe, yourself? There’s myriad of ways to style it. “You can wear it to a black tie dinner or just to walk the dog with joggers,” adds Gichev.
