Fur, velvet and elbow-length gloves: what the autumn campaign is selling and how much of it actually reaches us

This year's seasonal campaign for autumn and winter 2026/2027 has Adriana Lima as its face, but what makes it unusual is not the model. Instead of the finished result, what has been published are frames from the shoot itself - Lima on a rooftop terrace before sunset, sitting in a director's chair with her own name on it, hair and make-up moments with the crew. An industry that spent decades selling a flawless illusion is suddenly showing the shoot. That is not candour, it is a new tactic.

What is actually being sold is a handful of specific pieces. Tailoring returns as the pillar of the season, and not only for the office. A black tuxedo-style suit with satin lapels and wide-leg trousers - the same piece works for work and for an evening out. That is the old, proven wardrobe calculation: one item, two lives.

Textures are the other half of the story. Among the key pieces is a fur coat in a warm chestnut brown with a raised collar, and faux-fur coats in camel and hazelnut shades. The most unexpected is a burgundy leather jacket with a glossy finish, worn over a semi-sheer lace top. We usually imagine autumn as a row of dark, dull pieces - this is an attempt to break that.

For the occasion line there are short dresses with large sequins in olive green, finished with feathers at the cuffs, and black velvet dresses with cut-outs and necklines trimmed with stones. Among the subtler combinations are a midi skirt with artistic detailing, a fine-knit jumper in navy and long leather gloves that come up past the elbow.

Long gloves past the elbow, fur, velvet, sequins. Every season a decent share of these proposals ends up on somebody with the budget for them, and the rest filters down into cheaper versions within two or three months. The Balkan reader knows this by heart - same cut, different fabric, a tenth of the price, in a shop window by the end of November. The question is not whether the trend arrives, but in how diluted a form.

The campaign lands just as the chain behind it becomes an official sponsor of Madrid fashion week, in partnership with the city and the fair's organiser. The stated reasoning is support for local design, growth for domestic brands and greater visibility for Spanish creativity abroad. Few retail chains invest in the runway out of pure goodwill - but few domestic designers can afford to refuse that kind of visibility.