Window Shop: Essentiel Antwerp’s Transitional Looks for Fall 2026

Bad news for anyone still emotionally attached to her Havaianas: the time has come to put them away. The September issues have landed, work and school have resumed, and the calendar is becoming rather insistent. Summer is packing its bags.

Fortunately, our editors love a change of season, and autumn is one of our favourites precisely because it begins without making up its mind. One morning asks for sandals; by evening, you are looking for a jacket. This is when we begin transitioning looks from summer into autumn: summer clothes mix with winter pieces, and the wardrobe becomes much more interesting.

For inspiration, we went window-shopping through the Essentiel Antwerp Pre-Fall 2026 collection. The Belgian label understands colour and the useful art of layering, especially when the weather tries to fit four seasons into one lunch hour. Here are four styling rules worth borrowing.

Transitional Looks Rule No. 1: Denim Is King

It is time to send the linen to the laundry and let denim earn its place in the wardrobe again. Jeans have survived every fashion identity crisis for a reason: as soon as the temperature drops, they make getting dressed easier.

Straight-leg jeans worn with pumps sharpen the whole look, even when the rest is just a shirt and good intentions. On days when trainers win, choose denim with enough structure to keep the outfit out of gym territory. One pair for pumps and another for sneakers? We have defended far weaker purchases.

Transitional Looks Rule No. 2: Layering Should Be Fun

A shirt over a T-shirt, a dress over trousers, or a short-sleeved tee over a long-sleeved one: autumn gives us permission to play with combinations that would look slightly unhinged in July.

Colour decides whether all those layers look clever or simply crowded. A blue striped shirt with a red top underneath is an easy place to begin. For more adventurous combinations, look to Prada, still the master of unlikely colour alliances: pink with green, purple with red, brown with pink, forest green with chocolate.

If a pairing looks a little wrong on the hanger, give it a chance on the body. Miuccia Prada has always understood that the colour you reject first is often the one that makes the outfit.

Transitional Looks Rule No. 3: Bring Back the Trench Coat

Yes, we are standing on classic ground. The trench coat returns every autumn because it solves several problems at once. It finishes a layered outfit, works beautifully over sheer fabrics and gives the silhouette a longer, cleaner line.

If your faithful beige trench has started to feel like visual wallpaper, look for a version that changes the familiar formula. The Essentiel Antwerp coat pictured here mixes two colours and two textures, which gives a sensible wardrobe staple a much more interesting life. Très chic, without trying too hard.

Transitional Looks Rule No. 4: Keep the Mini, Add Boots

There is no reason to let your summer tan disappear without a proper farewell. Keep miniskirts, shorts and sheer pieces in rotation, leave the legs bare and add knee-high boots.

The boots bring the outfit firmly into autumn while the bare legs stop it from becoming too sensible. And a small dose of grunge never hurt anyone.

That’s it. Bonne rentrée, and may the first cold morning find you already dressed.

All photos courtesy ©EssentialAntwerp