by Ada Maria Francesca Romeo
Boloria’s Spring/Summer 2027 debut collection, Le monde flottant, introduce a new Antwerp-based maison through deconstructed tailoring, Gothic romanticism and a vision of delicate, ephemeral beauty that blurs the boundaries between menswear and womenswear.
A runway immersed in a poetically dark atmosphere, illuminated by cold theatrical lighting, marked Olivier Theyskens‘ return on the eve of Haute Couture Week. The Belgian designer unveiled Boloria‘s runway debut with its Spring/Summer 2027 collection, Le Monde Flottant (The Floating World), a universe where delicacy and ephemerality become the guiding thread of the entire narrative.
Boloria is a newly established maison based in Antwerp, founded by Belgian entrepreneurs Manu and Michiel Beers, the creators of the world-renowned electronic music festival Tomorrowland. To shape the brand’s identity, the brothers brought together two of Belgium’s most influential creative figures: Olivier Theyskens as creative director and photographer Willy Vanderperre, who shot the house’s debut campaign. Captured in black and white, the images immediately establish a distinct visual language suspended between experimentation, minimalism and austere elegance.
The maison takes its name from the Boloria butterfly, an orange species distinguished by delicate dark lines and silvery markings. A creature that appears only briefly before disappearing, yet leaves behind an unforgettable impression, much like the fragile, fleeting beauty that permeates the collection. The opening looks evoke the silhouettes of the 1930s and 1940s, reinterpreted through a romantically Gothic lens where nostalgia and modernity coexist in perfect balance.
The initial darkness gradually gives way to a palette of white and neutral tones, dominated by deconstructed tailoring that subverts the conventions of traditional sartorial design. The silhouettes are built through asymmetry and unexpected volumes: dramatic panier skirts constructed only at the front, outerwear worn off one shoulder, shirts intentionally left unbuttoned, and loosely knotted ties with their ends emerging from beneath knitwear.
Gender distinctions dissolve entirely. The dialogue between menswear and womenswear makes every garment interchangeable without sacrificing elegance or character. Balancing the structured tailoring is a subtle sense of sensuality, expressed through long, lustrous dresses that glide effortlessly over the body, reinforcing Theyskens’ vision of a beauty that is delicate, elusive and destined to leave a lasting impression.
With Le Monde Flottant, Boloria does more than present its debut collection, it establishes the foundations of its creative universe. Olivier Theyskens returns to the themes that have long defined his work, fragility, romanticism, memory and sensuality, translating them into a contemporary language in which deconstruction never exists for spectacle alone, but always serves emotion. Rather than relying on dramatic impact, the maison’s first outing is built on a clear and recognisable identity, suggesting the emergence of a new voice poised to carve out a distinctive place within the landscape of contemporary fashion.