Aries FW26 Drags Early-2000s Luxury Through Acid-Washed Corduroy and Snakeskin

Aries has unveiled its Fall/Winter 2026 collection, “Faded Opulence,” a season that puts luxury materials through the wringer and then treats the damage as the point. The London-based label frames the range around early-2000s excess colliding with derelict Baroque interiors, lush animal skins and the residue of it all, and delivers that idea through surface treatment rather than silhouette. Every rich texture here has been degraded in some way, sun-faded or washed or distressed until the polish reads as residue.

Denim carries the clearest statement. The Lilly jean returns with a lower rise and arrives in a washed snakeskin print, designated by the brand as the hero denim style of FW26. It anchors a broader run of animal-print work that includes distorted zebra graphics across knitwear and warped animal prints applied to Airtex and jersey hoodies and sweatpants.

The texture list is unusually specific for a streetwear season. Acid-washed corduroy, chenille knitwear and washed denim set the lived-in baseline, while sun-bleached jersey finished with diamantés supplies the glint of ruined glamour. Slick snakeskin, glossy leather and sheepskin raise the register at the top end, the three materials that push the collection furthest into what Aries describes as worn glamour.

Founded by Sofia Prantera on a diet of trash culture, outsider art and bold graphics, Aries treats its archive as working material rather than heritage to be preserved, and the FW26 artwork reads as a survey of that instinct. New iterations of Aries and Destroy, Smoking Tiger and Cave appear across Airtex and washed jersey, Weedie Pie meets J’adoro Aries on sweats and T-shirts, and a seasonal cherub motif softens the tone on washed jersey staples and fitted cap-sleeve T-shirts. Punk-inspired graphics on jersey and shirting keep the contrarian streak intact, while the label’s Central Saint Martins design ethos and Italian manufacturing explain how the same rail holds classic tailoring alongside an asymmetric leather bra closed with signature carabiner hardware.

That bra sits in an accessories run that treats hardware and hide as story material, joined by a curved sheepskin shoulder bag, an aviator-style sheepskin hood, wool scarves, mohair socks and towelling socks. Outerwear, meanwhile, goes to Alpha Industries, with Aries reworking the classic CWU-45 Heritage bomber and studding the hardware, roughing up the surface of a silhouette with genuine military lineage. Signature staples round things out in new seasonal colourways, including poplin shirts and boxers, the Lilly jean and the Temple T-shirt.

The FW26 collection is available online and in-store.