Having spent the previous 24 hours queuing outside boutiques across Paris for the first drop of shoes from his debut collection, it seemed that all anyone in fashion could talk about after watching Matthieu Blazy’s second Chanel show parade through the Grand Palais were the dresses–dropped waists and shin-skimming hems–in metal mesh, abstracted knits and ribbons of silk chiffon. Yes, Demna had delivered the opposite in a skin-tight, ass-grazing minidress over at Gucci, but it was Blazy’s almost body-desculpting silhouettes that somehow felt most titillating.

Call it an ongoing case of Chanel mania, or simply a matter of timing. Spring, after all, is when the maxi dress re-enters the collective wardrobe as the ultimate one-and-done solution for daylight-saving dressing. Whether crocheted with the express intention of being worn on a beach, cut as a minimalist column, or fashioned into something altogether more attention-seeking–semi-transparent, or indeed extremely transparent–these are the five maxi dresses worth investing in as the mercury begins to creep up.

The Naked Maxi Dress

Barely there gowns are more popular than ever–on the runways at Paris Fashion Week and on the red carpets of awards season–as the ultimate bargaining chip to the attention economy. What’s wrong with wanting a little attention, anyway?

The Crochet Maxi Dress

Flared jeans, straw basket bags, and that oft-emulated French-girl fringe–but one Jane Birkin look you might be less familiar with? The crochet dress she wore to the Union of the Artists gala in Paris in 1969. It captures everything about her: ease, insouciance, sensuality, summer. And, even in 2026, it still feels timeless.

The Minimalist Maxi Dress

The release of Love Story, and the renewed fixation on Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s wardrobe has created the perfect conditions for a revival of ’90s minimalism. The style leading this particular sartorial renaissance? The LBD.

The Sheer Maxi Dress

Consider this Chanel dress, embroidered with floral appliqués that distract the eye from the body beneath, as proof that nearly sheer dresses needn’t amount to impropriety. Though the trick, here, could also be to wear them with comfortable, rib-high underwear.

The Color-Drenched Maxi Dress

It was while watching Anthony Vaccarello’s spring/summer 2026 presentation for Saint Laurent that I decided to go big or stay home. And while those enormous, elaborately ruffled parachute gowns might not be something for everyday use, their high-dosage shade of tangerine certainly will be this season.