Luke Azzopardi reimagines Maltese għonnella in Paris showcase

Maltese couturier Luke Azzopardi presented his 2026 collection, SALOMÉ, at the Musée national Gustave Moreau on Monday night, in an off-calendar showcase held during Paris Haute Couture Week.

The collection drew on Salomé, the biblical figure later reimagined in art and literature as a symbol of seduction, spectacle and female power, alongside the għonnella, the traditional Maltese hooded veil long associated with womanhood.

Through this dialogue between concealment and exposure, Azzopardi invited audiences to reconsider the traditional Maltese garment in a living contemporary context.

The show was staged in Gustave Moreau’s own atelier, a space where the French symbolist painter repeatedly imagined the figure of Salomé more than a century ago.

Maltese couturier Luke Azzopardi (right)

The event also featured a live performance by mezzo-soprano Marvic Monreal, who performed music from Richard Strauss’s opera Salomé alongside the collection’s Maltese cultural references.

The Embassy of Malta in Paris first approached Azzopardi with the idea of bringing Maltese couture into one of Europe’s most storied cultural institutions. The initiative later developed into a full-scale cultural diplomacy project titled Visions of Malta, Language of Couture, delivered through the Cultural Diplomacy Fund of the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs.

The Permanent Delegation of Malta to UNESCO also joined as a project partner, contributing through funds made available by the Ministry for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

In a statement, the embassy said the event highlighted the depth of Maltese and Gozitan creative talent behind the showcase, including Malta-rooted teams working across hair styling, make-up, millinery and event production.

The embassy also thanked a number of stakeholders for their support, including Arts Council Malta, the Malta Crafts Foundation, KM Malta Airlines, Manolo Blahnik and the Musée national Gustave Moreau.