The next destination on the Fashion Month tour is none other than the hub of couture and luxe, Paris. Following Milan Fashion Week, we find ourselves under the bright Parisian sun, as Men’s Fashion Week reaches its conclusion in Paris. In the mystical city of lights, ateliers light up the city as collections and designers sew together the gown of Parisian culture.
This Paris Fashion Week men’s season holds much anticipation as Jonathan Anderson debuts his first collection for Dior. Although the fashion industry is stirring around the recent news of Anna Wintour’s departure from Vogue as the editor-in-chief, a position she has held for the past 37 years. She marked a revolutionary era for Vogue as she single-handedly pioneered celebrity covers and highly unconventional editorial covers that shattered the previous standards.
While Anna Wintour’s departure has been met with much uncertainty about Vogue’s next steps, our eyes are still on Paris Men’s collections that are rolling out a new season of visionary debuts, unexpected collaborations, and boundary-pushing narratives that remind us the future of fashion doesn’t pause, it reinvents. From Jonathan Anderson’s cerebral reinvigoration of Dior to rising voices reimagining elegance on their own terms, this season isn’t just about who’s at the helm, but how boldly they steer.
Saint Laurent – Paris Fashion Week
Anthony Vaccarello’s Spring 2026 Men’s collection captures a suspended moment, a moment lost somewhere between Paris and Fire Island. A place where elegant escapes become a reality and a new language of desire emerges. The collection pays homage to the lost generation, the artists who curated a voice and name to the unknown desires. Of course, the ultimate homage is paid to Yves Saint Laurent, who sought refuge in 1947, where he created a new world of timeless mastery.
The show unfolds around the Clinamen installation by artist Céleste Boursier- Mougenot in the rotunda of the Bourse de Commerce art museum. In the center of the space, an 18-meter basin of water resonates with the sound of a calm aquatic symphony. The water becomes filled with the sky, reflecting the blue silk of the ocean that in itself is a reflection. Atop the still basin sits delicate porcelain bowls drifting around, occasionally colliding as chimes ring out.
The venue serves as a reflection of Vaccerllo’s vision of clarity, as it is both organic and full. A deliberate rupture of dry light fills the space as a geometry of exposure, which then exposes the collection. The glow of light that fills the space does not show or highlight, but instead holds.
Saint Laurent
As each sound rings throughout the show, the collection’s quiet ambience and sophistication ripple, revealing its quiet opulence. The designs consist of exaggerated shoulders with a sculptural presence paired with ’80s-inspired multipleated trousers. Trousers and shorts with paper-bag waists accentuating the midriff, mending the two pieces while creating structural equality.
Snuggled into the show program is a black-and -white photo of founder Yves Saint Laurent playing tennis in the 1950s. The photo depicts the designer sporting jaunty shorts with his leg poking out. As an homage, shorts reminiscent of the ones worn by Yves Saint Laurent make appearances throughout the collection.
This season’s Paris Fashion Week collection is all about freedom within form. Just as the porcelain bowls in Clinamen drift freely, the garments suggest free movements. Models move through the installation with hands in pockets, sunglasses obscuring their eyes, and silhouettes that hug without clinging. The casuality projects the contained sensuality of the Saint Laurent man.
Louis Vuitton
Pharrell Williams has been bringing the heat every Paris Fashion Week, and this season is no exception. The Louis Vuitton team immersed themselves as they traveled through New Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur, absorbing the intricacies of local textiles, embroidery, and street style. The result becomes a cultural reverence as the show holds a conversation between Indian aesthetics, honoring them. Colors, textures, and artisanal depth pulls from India as a spirit that mends Indian culture with Louis Vuitton’s heritage.
For this show, Louis Vuitton collaborated with Studio Mumbai, transforming the show into a game of Snakes and Ladders. The runway, designed by Studio Mumbai, is constructed entirely by hand with wood and hand-painted designs. The Indian game becomes magnified into a life-sized simulation, reframing the classic game.
The show took over the Place Georges-Pompidou in Paris, with the venue painted in sun-washed hues that echoed the collection’s palette of turmeric, cinnamon, and indigo. The models transform into pieces embarking on the journey of Snakes and Ladders as they move across the board. Traditionally, Snakes and Ladders represent challenges and setbacks along with progress. The model’s journey demonstrates the unpredictability of life as some climb ladders while others sneak past serpents.
Louis Vuitton
As dandyism continues to trend, especially after the Met Gala, Louis Vuitton continues to embrace its cultural significance. The collection reimagines the dandy, turning the stiff figure of tradition into a gentle traveler. The Louis Vuitton dandy is seen wearing robe coats, pajama stripes, and pleated trousers. Monogrammed shell suits and fleece-like blousons nod to Indian mountaineering culture. However, the house elevates the classic design with their signature monogram and opulent embellishments as they blend utility with dandyism.
The color palette reflects the subtle nuances of India as a purple blue hue replaces black, as light beige is reminiscent of camel. Denim fabric becomes something new as it is dyed to a coffee bean brown to ground the collection into an earthy representative. Subtle metallic yarns poke through checks and stripes, adding a hint of glimmer that captures light for all to see.
Louis Vuitton’s Speedy P9 bag made a return in exotic skins and sun-washed finishes. The bags came adorned with painted details, pearls, and hand-embroidery, transforming the classic design into a portable heirloom. Miniature steamer trunks make their way down the runway, encrusted with delicate stones. Bowling bags, gradient Damier backpacks, and transparent neon trunks shake up the collection, adding a hint of whim and futurism.
Dior – Paris Fashion Week
One of the most anticipated shows this season comes from none other than Dior, as their newly appointed creative director, Jonathan Anderson, makes his debut with the house. For his first collection with the brand, Anderson took the brand to new horizons as he strives to decode the house in order to recode it. In doing so, Anderson takes the brand to new levels as they embark on a new era.
Inside a tent outside the Hôtel des Invalides, Anderson pays homage to Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie, as he transforms it with velvet-lined interiors. Inside hangs two 18th-century still lifes by Jean Siméon Chardin; one of wild strawberries and the other a vase of flowers.
For his first Paris Fashion Week show for Dior, Jonathan Anderson celebrates the joy in the art of dressing. A joy that has withstood the test of time, as it is spontaneous, a collision of old and new, and a discovery of the past. He looks into the unattainable and undefinable idea of style. Style that has the power for one to hold themself and harbor quick and spontaneous decisions.
Dior
The show opens featuring a bar jacket in forest green Donegal tweed with a black faille collar. An hourglass silhouette is constructed with chest canvases as the look is paired with off-white cargo shorts. A necktie hangs delicately as athletic socks peek through sandals, setting the mood for the collection. A coherent juxtaposition takes over the runway as tailcoats slightly conceal bare chests, cropped tuxedo jackets reveal midriffs, and sophisticated morning coats pair with casual jeans.
Other codes known to the brand make an appearance this season, as Louis XVI–style frock coats hung from the shoulders, and high stock collars framed the head. A careful eye catches the delicately embroidered waistcoats as tweeds and velvets enhance the faille and moiré. Resting delicately lays latticed gold buttons while dainty silk evening scarves whisper throughout the collection.
Of course, it would not be a Dior show with their tote bags as Anderson reimagines the timeless design. The totes depict various book covers as Saint-Pères editions of Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote soften the bags. Roses appear throughout the collection as tonal appliqués and stitched motifs, softening the collection’s tailored edges with a whisper of romance. Diorette charms, inspired by the house’s jewelry line, are reimagined as Dior’s love for Rococo shines through.
As Paris Men’s Fashion Week is drawing to an end beneath the canopies of the summer sun, we reflect on the ideas of reclamation and reinvention. While this season was met with decoding and recoding, it comes time we decode and recode on our own lives. In the meantime, we wait in anticipation for Paris Haute Couture Week in the coming week.
