Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris has unveiled details of its new trend book, Very Middle Ages, which sets out the creative directions for Spring-Summer 2027 collections. The publication will be officially presented during Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, taking place from 2 to 4 February 2026 at the Paris-Le Bourget Exhibition Centre.

Developed against a backdrop of geopolitical instability, social pressure, digital acceleration and shifting markets, Very Middle Ages looks to a reinvented past as a way of understanding the present. Rather than nostalgia, the concept uses an imagined, digitised Middle Ages as a metaphor for contemporary tensions, reflecting a world marked by protection, conflict, magic and augmented identity.

Directed by Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris artistic directors Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud, the trend book is the result of collaborative work involving stylists, designers, writers and artists. The central question guiding the project is how to continue creating in a world that increasingly doubts its own capacity to imagine. The response takes shape through four creative narratives, each exploring a different friction point between reality and expectation.

The first narrative, Digital lordship, examines the power of modern digital empires. Fashion expresses both protection and control through layered, highly functional silhouettes, heavy fabrics, textile-like armour, rigid ribbed knits and metallic finishes in steel grey, charcoal black and silver holographic accents.

Nuclear sorcery offers a softer but illusory universe, where technology is perceived as artificial comfort. This direction is characterised by velvety, protective materials such as iridescent organza, translucent fabrics, foamy knits and second-skin jerseys, with colours ranging from spectral purples and carmine reds to opaline tones and radioactive greens.

Speculative crusade draws on humanity’s enduring appetite for domination. This darker, martial theme features armoured, combat-inspired silhouettes and hybrid materials, expressed through visceral textures and a palette of dark reds, browns, textured blacks, military khaki and burnt chrome.

The final narrative, Data inquisition, imagines a society under constant surveillance, where individuality is absorbed into the collective. Clothing becomes an interface and an extension of the digital self, with adjustable garments and interchangeable modules presented in an icy, algorithmic blue aesthetic.

Each of the four creative universes is supported by detailed moodboards and colour palettes built around three key colours and six complementary shades. The themes will be showcased within the trend forums in Hall 2 of the fair, where visitors can experience immersive displays featuring looks created from selected materials and finished products. Gérin will also present the full scope of the work during a dedicated conference, offering creative guidance for the Spring-Summer 2027 season.

Texworld Paris