There’s a particular kind of woman CAMILLA AND MARC return to time and time again – one who doesn’t announce herself, but arrives with undeniable presence. For Pre-Fall 26, that woman feels sharper, more emotionally exposed, and entirely uninterested in performance. Presented in Sydney last week through an intimate dinner and immersive ten-look showcase, the collection unfolded like a study in quiet authority: structured tailoring softened by fluid draping, oversized outerwear wrapped close to the body, silhouettes that protected as much as they revealed.
Set against a softly draped backdrop and underscored by nostalgic 80s references woven through a soundtrack curated by Mikkapedia, the evening drew together friends of the brand, creatives and cultural tastemakers including Maddison Brown, Jessica Gomes, and Victoria Lee. But beneath the polished setting – crystal glassware, silver mirrors, plum lips and textured hair – was a deeper meditation on power, and what it means for women to inhabit it on their own terms.
“Power is about being yourself,” Camilla and Marc Freeman-Topper explain of the collection’s emotional core. “We wanted to create pieces that would allow women that sense of grounding and allow her to move through the world with a quieter kind of confidence. The clothes are structured and strong, but there’s also softness and ease to them.”
That duality runs throughout the collection. There’s a tension between concealment and vulnerability – between garments that cocoon and a woman who remains emotionally visible within them. Oversized coats fall around the body like armour, while draped fabrics move with a kind of sensual openness. Rather than contradiction, the collection suggests the two can coexist.
“Yes it was,” Camilla and Marc say of the deliberate push and pull. “There’s a lot of wrapping techniques, oversized outerwear and draped silhouettes that almost cocoon the body, but emotionally the woman is very open and self aware. She’s strong, but she’s also human. That tension felt really modern to us.”
The accompanying campaign film leans heavily into the visual language of corporate 80s America – legal thrillers, postmodern interiors, masculine excess – worlds historically defined by power as performance. But when placed inside them, the CAMILLA AND MARC woman doesn’t adapt to the environment; she quietly redefines it.
“True female empowerment, in any era or context, is a theme we wanted to showcase through the film as a central arc,” Camilla and Marc explain. “It was important that the character, Susie Batton, was not trying to prove anything – she is completely unwavering, steadfast, self-assured and powerful in her expression. When you place a woman like Susie into an overtly male dominated context, you realise that true power is not an act, it is an embodiment and that is where true equality lies.”
That idea – power as embodiment rather than spectacle – feels especially resonant now. In a moment where fashion often mistakes excess for confidence, CAMILLA AND MARC instead lean into restraint. The collection doesn’t demand attention. It holds it. And maybe that’s the point: the strongest woman in the room is no longer the loudest one.
