The group is circling back on its collaboration with the talent. Image credit: Karl Lagerfeld/Chris Colls Fashion label Karl Lagerfeld is partnering with an influential cultural figure once again.
Following the success of the fall/winter 2025 From Paris with Love campaign, the brand is ushering in the initiative’s next chapter. American socialite and entrepreneur Paris Hilton returns as the face of the endeavor, lending her looks to the maison’s trilogy of spring/summer 2026 collections.
Aristocratic touch
Shot by New York-based fashion photographer Chris Colls, the promotional materials place the talent inside Karl Lagerfeld’s Parisian headquarters.
Ms. Hilton shares the screen with American model Sean O’Pry, who represents the seasonal selection’s menswear offering. The duo appears in a series of stylized stills and a short film, with the latter bridging the gap between the socialite’s pop culture dominance in the 2000s and her transition to social media influencer in recent years.
Karl Lagerfeld presents “From Paris with Love”
Mr. Colls’ photography is split into three sections, each representing one of the three assemblages highlighted within. Ms. Hilton and Mr. O’Pry appear in black and white for the main Karl Lagerfeld portion, reflecting the label’s traditional luxury feel and monochromatic signatures (see story), while the other two segments, which promote the Karl Lagerfeld Jeans and Karl Lagerfeld Paris, feature bursts of color for a distinctly springtime aesthetic.
“Shooting the campaign at 21 Rue Saint-Guillaume was incredibly inspiring,” said Ms. Hilton, in a statement.
“Stepping into Karl’s world felt personal and true to the DNA of both Karl and the brand,” she said. “It wasn’t about looking back but being present in a space where his legacy continues to evolve.”
The K/Autograph selection is at the center of the promotional imagery. Image credit: Karl Lagerfeld/Chris Colls
Meanwhile, the corresponding short films merge the three concepts together. In the first 30-second placement, Ms. Hilton speaks about her relationship and shared love of fingerless gloves with the company’s late founder and namesake.
While discussing her history with the designer, the visuals transition from fish-eye lens, VHS cameras – which were popular during the model’s rise to fame in the early 2000s – to modern, HD angles from both professional-grade cameras and cell phone recordings. Another entry focuses entirely on the vertical video, with the socialite seen making Mr. O’Pry wait for her to get ready while she takes glamour shots on her personal device.
Karl Lagerfeld’s spring/summer 2026 men's and women’s collections are available now online and in-store.
Marketable locales
While the title of the campaign, “From Paris with Love,” mainly references its central figure, it also reflects the city it was shot in and is one of the inspirations for the apparel selection overall.
With this double entendre, the brand joins a group of luxury houses taking inspiration from specific locales with their spring/summer releases.
Italian cashmere label Loro Piana leans on the French village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, as well as several other French locales, for its seasonal marketing (see story). Meanwhile, Tod’s creative director Matteo Tamburini took cues from the Amalfi Coast for the Italian fashion brand’s endeavor (see story).
Mr. O’Pry is the face of another such endeavor, appearing in the latest chapter of U.S. footwear brand Stuart Weitzman’s celebration of New York City (see story).