The much-anticipated Men’s Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter, took place from Jan. 20-25 in Paris. The 35 shows and 32 presentations spanned over six days, featuring a myriad of fashion brands, all showcasing their fall and winter 2026 menswear collections.
The major shows featured the usual industry leaders, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Dior and Comme des Garçons Homme Plus. Louis Vuitton began the week with a show designed by Pharrell Williams and Hermès featured what is speculated to be the final collection of designer Véronique Nichanian.
Even though this year’s PFW Men’s had the same regimen, many shows had a complete departure from the established look of menswear. Instead of emphasizing the male physique, numerous designers took a new route and obscured the silhouette.
Presenting blocky, engulfing shapes that pull attention away from the shoulders and chest, these collections introduced menswear that doesn’t enhance masculinity, opting to instead subdue the visibility of the pedestaled male figure.
A collection that made this trend shift evident came from designer Rick Owens. He displayed longline forms that diminished the torso. The use of heavy, draped fabrics and exaggerated shoulders also contributed to hiding muscular features and figure definition.
Rick Owens was not the only collection to highlight these methods. Comme des Garçons Homme Plus stayed consistent with recent collections and unveiled looks full of distorted silhouettes. This collection exhibited garments that draped over the body instead of sculpting around it. Pants that ballooned out and loose skirts were also used to create these subtle, male silhouettes. Some designs took classic shapes and reassembled them to be reimagined and fresh.
Brands like SACAI, Hed Mayner and Lemaire jumped on the train of deconstructed shapes and warped silhouettes as well. SACAI presented denim looks that combined casual workwear with long, unfitted profiles. Hed Mayner followed suit with jackets draped straight over the model, no emphasis on the waist or torso and tops extended below the usual proportions.
A slightly different approach was taken by Lemaire. In some looks, the use of light, soft colors and contrast styling centered the emphasis on the shape of the clothes, not the body.
Overall, PFW Men’s often experimented with classic, polished tailoring and brought more oversized, eclectic shapes to the table. Numerous designers dissected archetypal silhouettes and rebuilt them, blurring the lines of the typical masculine silhouette in fashion.
These shifts are a part of a broader men’s fashion movement beyond just experimenting with silhouettes, draping and shapes. These looks are actively questioning the definition of what men’s clothes are. They are refusing to adhere to the idea that clothing needs to affirm “ideal male physical forms” by taking focus away from the body and emphasizing the garments. This allows room for more experimentation and different methods of self-expression.
Menswear is continually evolving and these collections suggest that, in the future, menswear won’t focus on putting strict confines on men’s clothing, it will instead push the envelope and expand the possibilities of what masculine dressing can be. Paris housed depictions of menswear that is full of self-expression and fluidity, which is actively reworking the traditional ideas of what masculinity looks like when dressing in the modern year of 2026.
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