In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 movie Vertigo, Kim Novak’s emerald green dress is a striking visual motif of illusion and mystique. Grace Kelly, in her icy blue chiffon dress in 1995’s To Catch A Thief, was another ethereal enigma. These wardrobes, designed by Edith Head, were central to the Hitchcockian femme fatale, and inspired the cast of women in Jenny Packham’s spring 2026 collection.
“Putting all of the Hitchcock films’ leading ladies together, I saw such a beautiful color palette,” said Packham, who was taken with cinema’s transition from black-and-white to technicolor as seen through Hitchcock’s oeuvre, and how that impacted women’s costume. Packham is diligent and magpie-like with her references: previous collections have found their muses in trailblazing Chinese American actor Anna May Wong and the high-society ladies of Truman Capote’s infamous, lavish Black and White Ball. The sweeping color story of Hitchcock’s world was liberated across Packham’s collection, from sterling silver and amber to mint green, candy pink, and what the designer called “Grace blue.”
It’s no Jenny Packham collection without a boundless scattering of sequin, crystal, and beads. There was a slinky silver bias dress and a sparkling gold kaftan—the latter speaking to the more modest ideals of her expanding Middle East client base—and a shimmering, hand-beaded silver and gold ombré caped dress that fell into an onyx black skirt, as dramatic as a Hollywood opening credit. While impeccably tailored, structured crepe dresses and strong silhouettes continue to sell well for Packham, this season introduced more experiments with satin and chiffon, as well as a bright pink, cloud-like taffeta gown. The collection incorporated new ideas and what Packham called “remixes” of her bestsellers, recolored and refreshed.
More to come this year: exclusive capsule collections with Net-A-Porter and MyTheresa, as well as a pre-Christmas line and Ramadan collection. There’s awards season ahead with a long roster of V.I.P clients to service—of late, that has included an expansive cast of celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, and Emily Blunt, all with their own entry points into Jenny Packham’s lexicon of glamour. She is forging ahead with expansion in the U.S., working on a bridal party collection and cocktail line, and focusing on selling direct-to-consumer. “We just want to be anywhere where women love dressing up,” Packham said.
