Nicole Kidman at Chanel and koalas on the runway in Paris

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Their most recent store openings were in Mykonos, Nice and Abu Dhabi but Australian label Zimmermann made it clear to the front row at Paris Fashion Week that there’s no place like home.

It was the most dinky-di moment in France until hours later when Nicole Kidman, 58, arrived at the Chanel show with daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, 14.

At Zimmermann, glinting above the signature floral and floaty dresses that have captured the attention of Rihanna, Rosé, and Emily Blunt were earrings with koalas clutching to lobes for their lives and eucalyptus leaf necklaces.

Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, Nicole Kidman and Faith Margaret Kidman Urban at the Chanel show.

Zimmermann spring/summer 2026 at Paris Fashion Week.

While other Australian fashion exports leave their accents at the airport along with their thongs, creative director Nicky Zimmermann proudly lets her homeland inform every collection.

“As Australians we’ve always been a bit scared of where we fit culturally,” Zimmerman said, before the first model set foot on the runway at The Carreau du Temple. “I just see it as beautiful. It can be super elegant and sophisticated, but there always has to be that underlying sense of humour.”

Zimmermann spring summer 2026, Paris Fashion Week.

If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Zimmermann, a sense of humour is the first thing you notice, thanks to the type of laugh usually reserved for schoolgirls (the ones who make their uniforms shorter, except Zimmermann would most likely add a puffy sleeve).

Discipline is a close second. You don’t build a billion-dollar brand without blood, sweat and silk. Both were on show on the runway where tiered halter-neck floral dresses vied for attention with harem pants, tie-dye strapless dresses gathered like jellyfish off Bondi Beach and cargo jumpsuits.

The starting point for this collection was the creative enclave that emerged from the harbourside idyll of Lavender Bay in Sydney. Pinpointing the influence of specific artists such as Brett and Wendy Whiteley, Margaret Olley, Norman Lindsay and Peter Kingston is deliberately more difficult than spotting those dangling koalas.

“The idea of people coming together because they’re like-minded in an environment that inspires them I think is fantastic,” Zimmermann says. “It’s a vibe, but I’m not drawing on specific artist’s work.

“You find these communities all over the world.”

With 78 standalone stores around the world, from Hamburg in Germany to Shenzhen in China, Zimmermann is becoming an authority on international vibes, but local views in the Southern Hemisphere remain her guiding star.

“The colour in Australia is unique,” Zimmermann says. “It’s made us as a brand not scared of colour. Colours are the first thing I notice when I come home.”

It’s enough to raise a tear for the homesick faster than the opening strains of I Still Call Australia Home in a Qantas commercial. Playing the Peter Allen classic in the background of the show would have been more kitsch than a gum leaf earring. Instead, Zimmermann enlisted Lana Del Rey to recite her 2023 poem What Happened When I Left You.

The poem contains the lines: “In Zimmerman with sandals on one summer dress to choose. Three girls, eyes rolled, loud laughter.”

Del Rey captures the mood perfectly, but with Zimmermann only one girl is required. Her laugh is loud enough on its own.

Del Rey could have been referring to the three girls, well, two girls and one woman, in the Chanel front row, where Kidman made her surprise appearance.

Kidman was there to witness the most eagerly awaited show at fashion week from Karl Lagerfeld’s latest successor as creative director at Chanel, Matthieu Blazy.

Rather than opt for a revenge dress in the spirit of Princess Diana, Kidman kept it casual, wearing a white dress shirt and jeans from the storied label.

This wasn’t just a family outing, following the Oscar-winner’s separation from singer Keith Urban. Kidman had just been announced as an ambassador for the label, more than 20 years after she appeared in an advertising campaign for Chanel No.5 directed by Baz Luhrmann.

“As someone who has such an appreciation for haute couture, I am so looking forward to witnessing Matthieu’s vision for the oldest haute couture house still in operation and having the opportunity to wear what I know will be gorgeous creations,” Kidman said in a statement to WWD.

Kidman’s lucrative new role – last year actor Timothée Chalamet was reportedly paid $US35 million ($53 million) to appear in a commercial for the fragrance Bleu de Chanel – explains her absence at this week’s Balenciaga show. Kidman had been working as an ambassador for the label and walked on the runway for Balenciaga in 2022 with Kim Kardashian. Now Chanel is back in fashion for the Babygirl star.

Driving the Australian spirit home were two First Nations models on the Chanel runway, Tatyana Perry and Latahlia Hickling.

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