When Two Gazes Meet: Inside Valerian Hughes’ “Regards Croisés”
Courtesy of Valerian Hughes. Photo credit: Donald Schultz
For Valerian Hughes, every encounter begins with a gaze. Presented in New York, the Parisian fashion house’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, REGARDS CROISÉS, draws inspiration from the fleeting moments between strangers—the curiosity, attraction, recognition, tenderness, and instinct to connect that can pass between two people before a single word is spoken. Shaped by the designer’s travels and observations across continents, the collection considers the gaze as a universal language, one capable of creating proximity across differences in identity, culture, and place.
Courtesy of Valerian Hughes. Photo credit: Donald Schultz
At the center of REGARDS CROISÉS is the body itself. Hughes moves between fitted silhouettes and more generous unisex proportions, balancing short and oversized jackets with a dressing approach that places comfort alongside elegance. Drawing on lessons from his time at Yves Saint Laurent, the designer returns to the idea that clothing should enhance the person wearing it rather than overpower them. Structured linen and denim create architectural forms around the body, while chiffon and pleated details introduce transparency, softness, and movement. As the garments shift with the wearer, they become less like static pieces and more like extensions of the body.
Courtesy of Valerian Hughes. Photo credit: Donald Schultz
That tension between structure and fluidity carries through the collection’s visual language. Masculine and feminine codes meet without being confined to either, while movement and proportion soften the tailoring. A chromatic rhythm of tonal blues, white, orange, and red adds another layer of individuality, allowing each silhouette to take on a different character depending on the wearer. Rather than prescribing a single identity, Hughes leaves space for mood, personality, and desire to shape how the clothes are experienced.
Courtesy of Valerian Hughes. Photo credit: Donald Schultz
Presented at AP Space Gallery during New York Fashion Week, REGARDS CROISÉS feels particularly at home in a city defined by its constant intersections of cultures, identities, and perspectives. For Hughes, the collection is ultimately less concerned with defining the individual than with exploring what happens in the space between people. Before language, before borders, before differences, there is the moment of recognition: a gaze meeting another gaze. Through clothing, REGARDS CROISÉS transforms that moment into a celebration of universal proximity, where difference becomes dialogue, and fashion becomes a means of connection.
For the show, as VIP/Celebrity PR manager and Coordinator, Mickey Freeman was able to secure and feature an incredible group of talent, including Dominique Jackson, Jelani Alladin, and Shahadi Wright Joseph. Brazilian television host Patricia Poeta closed the show!
Courtesy of Valerian Hughes. Photo credit: Donald Schultz
VIP & Celebrity Guests Manager Press Coordinator: Mickey Freeman
Designer by Valerian Hughes
Executive Producer & Artistic Director La Renaissance Paris / Iconic Frame Productions by Jamila Sangare
Executive Producer by Janisa
Buyers, Logistics Coordinator & Casting Manager by ShowroomSEVEN
VIP & Celebrity Guests Manager Press Coordinator by Mickey Freeman
Beauty Direction by Marcello Costa
* Dominique Jackson’s Makeup by John Mendez
*Images Courtesy of Valerian Hughes
Tearsheets by Daniel Lopez, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
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