Men’s Paris Fashion Week wrapped on Sunday, January 25, as the City of Light readied itself for Couture Week. Designers this season appeared to be in an inquisitive mood, posing more questions than answers.
A perennial favourite, “Who is the modern man today, and how should he dress?” was at the forefront of many collections. Notions of masculinity continue to evolve and designers responded in a myriad of ways. Some stuck to their house codes, offering polished, wearable silhouettes. Others experimented boldly, showing that menswear can be both grounded and unexpected. The most compelling collections found a balance between expression and wearability.
Runway collections have always danced between concept and wearability, but this season these two forces felt more in-step. From prints to florals and bold hues to oversize outerwear, here’s an overview of what men will be wearing next season.
Prints at play: bold clashes on the runway
At Dior, Jonathan Anderson explored kaleidoscopic patterning while creating the Dior Homme FW26 collection. Clashing prints into cohesive yet unexpected compositions did not intimidate him; the result was bold yet controlled, giving birth to new punkish – but romantic – characters. At Dries Van Noten, Julian Klausner layered florals, stripes and paisleys with confidence. Patchwork coats mixed colours, materials, and seams running in opposing directions, reinforcing the brand’s long-standing mastery of prints and patterns. Sacai approached pattern clash as an expression of freedom. One standout look combined contrasting motifs into a single ensemble, capturing the brand’s signature balance between chaos and precision.
Saturated signals: yellow takes the lead
As menswear continues to move away from the neutrals of “quiet luxury”, bold, high-saturation colour combinations took over the runways. Yellow, in particular, was repeatedly paired with deep violet and shades of blue, creating striking moments of visual tension through colour blocking.
Willy Chavarria embraced hard colour-blocking, using solid, contrasting colours to create sharp, architectural breaks within his New York-inflected silhouettes. IM offered a softer approach, favouring hand-dyed gradients that transitioned fluidly from blue to intense yellow, producing organic, dip-dyed effects. At Kolor, colour-blocking emerged through styling instead, with a unified blue look punctuated by a lime-green accessory for a controlled pop.
“Skants” and the new masculine silhouette
The boundaries of traditional tailoring continue to blur as the “skant” (skirt-pants) hybrid takes stage this season. This trend is about adding volume, movement, and a layer of sophisticated subversion to the lower half of the body. By merging the structure of trousers with the flowing drape of a skirt, designers are offering a new vision of modern masculinity. Here is how the experts are layering up:
Sacai takes a “slice and dice” approach to the trend by deconstructing classic cargo pants and piecing them back together. These skants feature asymmetrical panels and layered fabric that create a cool 3D effect around the legs. Junya Watanabe Man takes a more heritage-inspired approach, blending the classic pleated kilt with punk-inflected tailoring. Using a traditional grey checked fabric that matches the blazer, the skirt portion creates a seamless, elongated line before giving way to slim-fit trousers underneath. At Dries Van Noten, the skirt-pants trend leans into effortless volume. The black over-skirt is worn high on the waist, featuring soft pleats that integrate perfectly with the trousers beneath.
Leopard print, any way you like it.
We were already aware of leopard-print’s confident return, boasting a timelessness that few other trends can claim. This season confirmed a broader animalistic moment in menswear – one that sheds clichés and adapts easily to different silhouettes, fabrics and attitudes.
KidSuper uses leopard prints on different statement fake furs, pairing them with tailored pieces. The animal print doesn’t disrupt the balance of the looks, instead serving as a powerful textural contrast to the clean, dark tailoring underneath. Lanvin offered a restrained, modern take, translating leopard into a softly structured jacket, where the pattern reads as texture rather than provocation. Willy Chavarria went bold and unapologetic instead, presenting leopard in a plush coat that amplified the designer’s ongoing exploration of power, presence and masculinity.
Flowers? For Fall? Groundbreaking!
AW26 menswear embraces florals with a bold, head-to-toe commitment. Groundbreaking? Maybe not at first glance – but in a season traditionally ruled by dark palettes and heavy textures, flowers feel deliberately disruptive rather than decorative. The ensemble-suit trend leans into full-look coordination, proving that botanical prints can be just as masculine as they are sophisticated when executed with intention.
Lanvin takes a laid-back yet refined approach. Instead of loud colour, the house opts for a quiet tonal floral, integrated directly into the fabric’s brushed texture, giving the motif a soft, tactile quality that feels autumn-appropriate. Sacai takes a more experimental route, embracing a darker, moodier botanical print. With asymmetrical layers and panelled fabric, the floral motif is pulled firmly into avant-garde streetwear territory. For those intent on turning heads instead, Juun.J provides the blueprint: high-contrast colour, sharp tailoring and exaggerated shoulders transform the suit into canvas. The vibrant violet-and-silver floral pattern isn’t subtle – and it doesn’t need to be.
When hats do the talking
From exaggerated brims to sculptural proportions, hats moved beyond function this season, acting as accessories that shaped silhouettes and set the mood of a look.
At Wooyoungmi, oversized beanies in chunky knits and faux fur sat atop models’ heads, injecting a sense of play into winter dressing. At Doublet, experimentation extended to materials, with garments made from CO₂-derived yarns. A deliberately oversized fedora dominated look 06, its transparent brim remaining fully see-through.
Meanwhile, Juun.J revisited the Parisian beret, reworking it in black leather or denim. Repeated across multiple looks, the accessory added a graphic, slightly subversive edge to the Seoul-based brand’s sharp silhouettes.
The rise of playful ties
The corporate uniform is getting a much-needed dose of irony. This season, designers are reinventing the most traditional symbol of “serious” menswear – the tie – by stripping away its formality and replacing it with a sense of humour and tactile wonder.
Sacai takes the classic necktie and treats it like a mixed-media sculpture. By covering the fabric in an array of decorative safety pins and metallic studs, the brand bridges the gap between rebellious punk aesthetics and high-fashion craftsmanship. Known for his whimsical approach to French chic, Jacquemus reimagines the “polka dot” tie with a surrealist twist. In this look, the colourful dots appear to leap off the fabric, creating a vibrant, three-dimensional effect. A brilliant example of how a simple accessory can inject a sense of joy and movement into a monochrome winter silhouette.
IM continues to play with proportion and geometry. This look features an elongated, oversized tie that defies traditional dimensions, dropping well below the waistline. With its subtle pattern, the tie becomes an extension of the suit’s silhouette rather than just a finishing touch. It’s a masterclass in how to be “playful” through minimalist exaggeration.
Oversized armour: outerwear as statement
The cold season’s key item was of course the coat – long, tailored and meant to be noticed. However, if you’ve ever wanted to bring your duvet to work or hide from your responsibilities entirely, this season’s extreme outerwear has you covered (literally).
Following the theme of “Formless Form”, IM’s floor-length puffers explore the endless possibilities of a single piece of cloth wrapped around the body. The silhouettes feel light and effortless, as if created with a simple gesture, yet it relies on intense fabric experimentation to achieve its sculptural shape.
Dior offers a more dramatic take on the trend, with an expansive, olive-toned cape that features a luxurious fur lining. Jonathan Anderson surely had his fun with volumes and proportions, as the design uses massive amounts of fabric to create a protective, tent-like volume that feels both regal and incredibly cosy.
Combining urban utility with the shelter trend, this quilted, hooded parka from White Mountaineering provides a literal refuge. Its oversized, rounded proportions and functional details prove that extreme volume can be both a practical survival tool and a modern style choice.
Face card: nowhere to be found
This season, the face is no longer the focal point. Designers actively obscure features with avant-garde masks and architectural headwear, redirecting attention toward silhouette, materiality, and narrative. Identity becomes secondary and the garment takes control.
At Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, models appeared in Hannibal Lecter-style face cages. The aggression of the hardware was deliberately offset by monochromatic looks adorned with delicate ruffles and frills, creating a charged tension between brutality and softness. Echoing the idea of concealment through construction, IM presented knitted hoods that enveloped the head and neck entirely. The result transformed the body into a fluid, sculptural entity. LGN introduced a darker, more sensual interpretation with intricate, web-like black masks crafted from braided elements. Paired with stripped-back silhouettes, these coverings injected a futuristic, provocative edge without overwhelming the garments themselves. Pushing the concept to its extreme, Rick Owens concealed models beneath dramatic, floor-length fringe veils. Styled with oversized faux-fur coats, the looks dissolved the human figure into an abstract column in motion.
Heritage meets street: key AW26 partnerships
The runways became a collaborative playground where heritage tailoring shook hands with street-culture icons as well. These partnerships reaffirm that high fashion is often at its strongest when it borrows a dose of “cool” from the brands we already love and wear every day.
3.Paradis x UGG: The collaboration integrates UGG’s iconic silhouettes into the poetic universe of 3.Paradis, grounded in shared values of craftsmanship and storytelling. On the runway, exclusive UGG SS26 styles delivered confident, “swag-meets-serious” looks that balanced comfort with narrative depth.
Sacai x Vibram: Aligned with Chitose Abe’s ongoing exploration of the “beauty of destruction”, Sacai partnered with Vibram to anchor its intricate, deconstructed skirt pants with high-performance soles.
Willy Chavarria x Adidas: Drawing from his Mexican-American roots, Chavarria reimagines the Adidas Predator football boot in bold iridescent finishes and heritage colourways. Styled with oversized tracksuits and World Cup-inspired jerseys, the show transformed the runway into a powerful, unapologetic barrio.
Junya Watanabe Man x Stüssy: Junya Watanabe Man transports California surf culture to 19th-century Paris, embroidering Stüssy’s iconic eight-ball and crown motifs onto blazers and khakis. This vision of “remixed heritage” proves that even the most relaxed streetwear codes can coexist within a sophisticated, tailored framework.
Text Giulio Polverigiani
