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Prada has released its Qixi Festival collection for 2026, live now across the brand’s regional sites ahead of the festival’s 19 August date, built around a short film shot at Aranya and starring actress Zhang Yifan alongside brand ambassadors TransfOrmProject. Barry Jenkins directs the accompanying film. Prada has run a dedicated capsule around China’s Qixi Festival for close to a decade now, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, often shorthanded for Western audiences as Chinese Valentine’s Day. This year the house has moved away from the festival’s romantic mythology towards something colder and more conceptual.
Last year’s version staged that legend fairly literally. Li Xian and Chen Haoyu crossed seven Shanghai bridges on camera until they found each other, a campaign built on nostalgia and physical reunion, right down to the postcard tie-in and the Xiaohongshu engagement mechanic that ran alongside it. The 2026 film drops all of that. Zhang Yifan and the five members of TransfOrmProject never share a shot. They move through the same circular space at different moments, tracked by mirrored camera work that keeps each within the other’s field of vision without ever letting the two parties actually meet. Prada frames the dialogue as one of affinity and perception.
The womenswear centres on a devoré technique applied to shirting, where sections of a compound poplin are selectively dissolved to expose a houndstooth weave underneath. The process is subtractive, not printed or embroidered, so the shirt reveals its own construction through carefully placed transparency, finished with detachable cuffs that let the piece shift between two configurations. A skirt in stiff matte organza brings architectural volume to the lineup, its structured silhouette softened by dimensional floral embroidery that sits raised against the fabric like a relief carving.
A satin dress carries graduated beading that thins from dense clusters to scattered points along its length, adjusting texture and shine without disrupting the dress’s clean line. The standout accessory is a limited edition Chérie bag, made specifically for this release.
Menswear works a different tension between wear and reinvention. A jacket in compound poplin is deliberately torn and worn through in places, exposing the fabric layer beneath. Cotton shirts borrow their proportions from vintage underwear patterns, then get pressed, dyed, and distressed until they look pulled from the back of a wardrobe that’s sat untouched for years. Court sneakers round out the lineup, the one piece in the whole capsule that could walk straight into a regular Prada drop without any Qixi framing attached.
Balenciaga put out its own QIXI 26 series in early July, weeks ahead of the festival date, and there’s no ambassador film attached to it. No short narrative, no director credit, no romantic conceit. The capsule reworks a run of house staples including T shirts, hoodies, short-sleeved shirts, gym shorts, denim jackets, button-fly miniskirts, drawstring skirts and caps, all carrying fresh artwork and lighthearted new logo treatments. A good number of pieces are cut so two people can wear matching or complementary versions at once, and that pairing mechanic is where the marketing effort goes. The capsule launched already priced and stocked, with the product doing all the talking.
Alessandro Michele’s Qixi 2026 campaign for Valentino was shot by Wing Shya, the photographer known for his long collaboration with Wong Kar-wai. It stars Friend of the House Lars Huang alongside models Yidan Huang and Zen Yue inside an atmospheric bookstore, the three of them drifting between shelves and tight passageways, sometimes crossing paths but never quite connecting.
The looks come from Valentino’s Pre-Fall 2026 collection, anchored by the Panthea and DeVain bags alongside signature Rockstud footwear. The campaign leans on anticipation rather than resolution, favouring the moments before contact over an actual meeting.
Burberry marks the festival this year under the banner “Love, On Repeat,” with Zhang Jingyi and Zhang Kangle fronting the campaign. The title points to repetition as a framing device, though full details on the film itself beyond the two leads haven’t surfaced widely yet. Product information has also been thinner than what Prada, Valentino or Balenciaga have published so far, with the rollout centring on the ambassadors and title first and the accompanying range following behind at a slower pace.
The collection itself holds up on its own terms regardless of the campaign concept around it. The devoré shirting, the graduated beading on the satin dress, and the limited-edition Chérie bag are available now through Prada’s regional sites and in select boutiques, with the full campaign film running alongside the product pages ahead of the 19 August date. Shoppers who care more about the clothes than the Aranya footage will find a properly strong lineup waiting for them, concept aside.
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