PARIS FASHION WEEK MENSWEAR FALL/WINTER 2026: DAY 1

JEANNE FRIOT
review by VERONICA TLAPANCO SZABÓ

images courtesy of JEANNE FRIOT

We showed up and the energy was immediate. ‘We’re here and we’re queer’ is the rallying cry Jeanne Friot brought with Awake — a collection that looks straight at the mess the world is in. When the rights and bodies of LGBTQIA+ and racialized people are being systematically erased from institutions and headlines, Friot demands resistance and to be awake! Woke even!

The shooting of Renée Nicole Good by a federal ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month has been seared into the political consciousness, and that urgency carried onto the runway with ‘It’s never too late to fight fascism’ and ‘Revolution’ printed in bold on tees worn by performers who moved like insurgents out of a dream. Indeed Jeanne Friot turned the ballet de Lorraine collective into a community in motion over a runway this season. Movement in this show was used in response to contemporary efforts to freeze bodies into compliance and normalisation. Since the pandemic we’ve been yearning to imaginatively jolt ourselves into connection, into the possibility of something else.

That impulse is baked into how Friot stitches her stories together, from Love Is Love in 2022 to this year’s intensified codes. Think historic tartans splashed with sequins, deliberately oversized red coats and kilts stretched and widened into new shapes. There’s also a tender tribute here. This season is dedicated to her grandmother Micheline, the person who first taught Friot what it means to love clothing and to love fiercely. In that lineage, Awake is a revolution with love at its core.

AURALEE
review by MAREK BARTEK

all images courtesy of AURALEE

Auralee’s Autumn/Winter 2026 collection proposed winter defined less by heaviness and more by lightness, clarity, and comfort. Built around the idea of a luminous season, the collection focused on balance: warmth without weight, protection without rigidity.

Volumes were shaped by leather down blousons, sculpted vests, and compact outerwear, while lighter layers — silk georgette, padded wool, sheer technical fabrics — introduced transparency and movement. Knitwear and tweeds added texture, cashmere wrap skirts and silk fleece softened the silhouettes. Heavy winter materials were often paired with delicate elements, creating a consistent tension between strength and fragility.

Colour played a central role bringing out the positive spirit. A base of beige and pale blue was punctuated with vivid blues, yellows, reds, and purples, lifting the collection without overwhelming it. Rather than redefining winter, Auralee refined it — through fabric, proportion, and subtle contrast — delivering a collection that felt calm and optimistic.

LOUIS VUITTON
review by MAREK BARTEK

all images courtesy of LOUIS VUITTON

Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2026 show once again positioned Pharrell Williams at the centre of a wider cultural conversation, but this season the focus landed more clearly on the wardrobe itself. Staged around the DROPHAUS, a prefabricated home designed by Pharrell, the collection explored the idea of “timeless” dressing, in a sense of garments built to endure rather than expire when the next trend arrives.

The silhouettes mixed sharp tailoring with relaxed volumes, drawing on 1980s ideas of futurism filtered through contemporary sport and utility. Technical fabrics played a central role: reflective houndstooths, thermo-adaptive shells, aluminium-bonded textiles and trompe-l’oeil surfaces blurred the line between performance and illusion. Classic menswear patterns were reworked through innovation, while retro-futuristic colour accents cut through a base of heritage tones.

Music remained an integral part of the experience, with a soundtrack produced by Pharrell featuring collaborators across pop and rap, reinforcing his ongoing connection between fashion and sound. The result was a collection that balanced spectacle and construction, where cultural influence met technical experimentation — and where Pharrell continued to shape Louis Vuitton as much through his vision as through clothes.