BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Week just ended and here are some miscellaneous details from the Spring Summer '26 collections that caught my eye:

Kévin Nompeix and Florentin Glémarec of Egonlab paid tribute to Glémarec’s late grandfather, René, who passed away last November aged 90. He had been a great early supporter of Egonlab, appearing in the brand's creations at every outing. Glémarec’s grandfather and family are from Breton so the duo used motifs of that region, including lace, to pay homage.

3.Paradis, Emeric Tchatchoua's brand, showed a collection inspired by the classic children's book (for grown-ups too!), "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Little One showed up on a sweater and a camp shirt, but references to other parts of the book surfaced: the plane flown by the pilot, the doodle of a snake swallowing an elephant, the flock of wild birds that carried the Little Prince from his home planet, and more abstractly, pieces in gloriously saturated colors of a desert sunset as well as desert camouflage (models walked a runway heaped with white sand!). The idea of travelling made Tchatchoua reflect on the idea that time seems to slow when one is on an adventure and this manifested in a pattern of analog watches...there was even a wild moment of a trench coat adorned with actual watches!

For the new Issey Miyake branch IM Men (the Issey Miyake brand decided to retire their Homme Plissé runway show from the Paris schedule--although the line still continues to be produced--and replace it with the new IM Men), designers Sen Kawahara, Yuki Itakura and Nobutaka Kobayashi looked to the 60s and 70s pottery pieces of celebrated ceramicist Shoji Kamoda for pattern and shape. The opening of the show is quite dramatic. Take a look.

Wooyoungmi showed a fun Mary Jane sandal with sheer socks and garters...

https://egonlab.com/
https://www.3paradis.com/
https://us.isseymiyake.com/
https://en.wooyoungmi.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Jacquemus

To close Paris Fashion Week, Simon Porte Jacquemus brought his brand to the Orangerie at the Palace of Versailles for his SS '26 collection. Called "Le Paysan" or "The Peasant" in English, the lyrical yet powerfully simple collection was inspired by his birthplace and family roots in Provence in the south of France. He comes from a long line of farmers and growers so his moodboard was covered with pictures of people tending fields or selling their green produce at roadside stands--but one sweet picture was of his grandmother dressed all in black with three large baskets of her harvest.

Jacquemus says that his family were always very supportive of his dream to be a fashion designer even if it meant leaving the land he was born on--and into--to achieve that dream. Fittingly the show opened with a little boy, an obvious stand-in for his own child self, opening a massive door to let the models into the show space. Knowing all this makes the sentiment of the show quite touching. The garments themselves possess an unadorned dignity, and I love that what seems like a skirt is actually a multi-pleated apron. Jackets are divested of lapels, and classic espadrilles lace up the leg like they do in the south of France. But it was the accessories that tied the narrative together: farm boxes full of cherries, strawberries, and tomatoes, all crafted from leather; a string of garlic hanging from a waist, also in leather; and a clutch made to look like a large leek. It is quite moving to see a heartfelt, authentic tribute like this to family, history, and the land.

https://www.jacquemus.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi

Louis Gabriel Nouchi, founder of his eponymous brand, relies on books and their narratives to provide inspiration for his collections and this SS '26 lookbook released during Paris Fashion Week was based on the Philip K. Dick short story "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" which was in turn made into the classic 1982 Ridley Scott film "Blade Runner." I am not sure how much the book influenced Nouchi because these garments seem to visually borrow from the film as well. Suiting has certainly made a triumphant return to the fashion world (seen this season!), a move I applaud; enough with insipid "athleisure" wear. And here Nouchi presents some amazing looks cut in 1940s-esque silhouettes possibly via the retro-future costumes from "Blade Runner" (I am thinking of Rachel's shoulder pads in her first appearance). And I think the idea of a "replicant" is at play here as well.

I really like the limited color palette he employs here: black, tan, brown, with a bit of white. And the additional skirt elements are fantastic.

https://www.louisgabrielnouchi.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--John Alexander Skelton

I have been a fan of John Alexander Skelton for many seasons now. Regular readers know I love clothing that has an historical sense, which can manifest in the silhouette, the patterns and cuts, and of course in choices of color and materials. It is why I love the work of Westwood, Yamamoto, Anne Demeulemeester when she was head of her own house, the swashbuckling collections of Galliano, even Armani in his refined luxury with hints of the past. But the work of John Alexander Skelton is extraordinary. Skelton (previously here--please do take a look at some incredible past collections), who was awarded the Sarabande scholarship granted by the Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation and graduated from Central Saint Martin’s with an M.A. in fashion men’s wear in 2016, references Dickensian/19th-century/Victorian/Edwardian menswear such as frock coats and high-waisted trousers. Because of my past New Romantic heart (here and here), I am of course wild for the Romantic and historical references in his collections, and a signature detail of his is the plethora of buttons on shirts, waistcoats, and jackets. Skelton says he sees buttons as the simplest form of decoration, as a kind of jewelry, so he applies them liberally to pieces. I feel his love and respect for antique English clothing just like Westwood.

Skelton bounces back and forth between live shows and lookbooks, and for his Spring Summer '26 collection, he gave us a fun lookbook photographed entirely in in Ireland’s County Mayo which inspired the collection. He has family roots in the area and feels a kinship. So much so that he and his photographer William Waterworth simply plucked locals from the area to model the garments. The results are atmospheric, picturesque, and so wonderfully Skelton.

https://www.johnalexanderskelton.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Junya Watanabe

Wow, what an incredible array of coats, jackets (and suits) Junya Watanabe sent out for his SS '26 collection at Paris Fashion Week. They resemble tapestry and jacquard materials from various time-style periods past (Rococo, Baroque, and Romanesque) with one presenting an illuminated Latin manuscript. There were also cut velvet stripes, fleur-de-lis, and large florals. Later in the show, the cut of the jackets became more casual--worker, biker, denim--but sported images of cities like Florence, Venice, and Bruges. Each one is a work of art.

https://junyawt.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

I don't think there is a designer more relevant, more independent right now than Rick Owens. Regular readers know I am a huge fan, here, (I even made a pilgrimage to the NYC Rick Owens store last summer). So for this SS '26 collection at Paris Fashion Week, the maestro of alien/dystopian fashion put on a spectacle to rival his spectacle from 2024 which he referred to as his Peace Army.

This show sees his menswear outside in the courtyard of the Palais du Tokyo for the first time. And instead of walking around the fountain, he chose to have his show in the fountain. Watch the video below to see each model dive under the water, and the finale on the scaffolding is a sight (turns out there is a reason several of the models sported harnesses and carbiners). So is the addition of a reworked platform Larry boot into a sort of bag boot, fringe (!), jackets cut so short as to be shrugs, and keep an eye out for a screen print of a row of urinals in a men's room.

Here are his show notes:

SS26 TEMPLE MEN’S
THURSDAY 26 JUNE 2025
PALAIS DE TOKYO, 13 AVENUE DU PRÉSIDENT WILSON, 75116 PARIS

THIS MEN’S COLLECTION IS NAMED ‘TEMPLE’, AFTER MY RETROSPECTIVE, NAMED ‘TEMPLE OF LOVE’ (‘LOVE’ IS A WORD REALLY WORTH PROMOTING RIGHT NOW), WHICH WILL BE OPENING IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RUNWAY SHOW AT THE MUSÉE PALAIS GALLIERA RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. A RETROSPECTIVE SUMMONS UP THOUGHTS OF PEAKING, FINALITY AND DECLINE AND I WAS DELIGHTED TO LEAN INTO THAT.
THE EXHIBITION TRACKS THE PURSUIT OF GLAMOUR AND SLEAZE THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR ON HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, AND EVENTUALLY, IMPROBABLY, ENDING UP IN A PARIS MUSEUM. I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF WHAT I DO AS A FASCINATION WITH THE DENSENESS OF EUROPEAN AESTHETIC SOPHISTICATION SEEN THROUGH A FILTER OF AMERICAN BLUNTNESS.
THE BLUNTNESS HERE IS IN THE FIELDS OF FLESH SHOWN BETWEEN GAPS OF BLACK LEATHER.
STUDDED STRAPS FROM HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD ARE DRAPED AND SWAGGED TO RECALL GARLANDS HELD BY NYMPHS TO TRAP A SATYR IN WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU’ S SYLVAN NEOCLASSICAL PAINTINGS. STRAPS ARE ALWAYS A GOOD EXCUSE FOR MEN TO COMFORTABLY INDULGE IN SELF ADORNMENT THAT ALSO PROVIDES A WHIFF OF ACTION.
HEAVYWEIGHT LEATHERS VEGTANNED IN SANTA CROCE SULL’ARNO, TUSCANY, ARE ALSO SLASHED, FRINGED, SPIKED AND ZIPPED TO MOVE, SWAY AND BREATHE.
VOLUPTUOUSLY PROPORTIONED FLIGHT JACKETS AND PARKAS ARE RENDERED IN EITHER SILK TAFFETA, OR INDUSTRIAL NYLON CANVAS WOVEN IN THE COMO REGION OF ITALY BY A FAMILY OWNED MILL FOUNDED IN 1952. THE NYLON USED IS GRS CERTIFIED WHICH ENSURES A REDUCTION IN WATER CONSUMPTION , EMISSIONS AND HAZARDOUS WASTE, LESSENING THE DEPENDENCE ON NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES. THESE ARE WORN WITH VOLUMINOUS COTTON CANVAS SHORTS PAIRED WITH OPEN TOED VELCRO-STRAPPED PADDED ORTHOPEDIC FOOTWEAR WE CALL BURRITO SNEAKS.
I HAVE DONE A COLLABORATION WITH SUICIDE, THE NEW YORK PUNK BAND PIONEERING THE USE OF MINIMALIST ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTATION DURING THE 1970S. VOCALIST ALAN VEGA AND MUSICIAN MARTIN REV’S RAW, DISTURBING SOUND MIRRORED THEIR DESTROYED AND DECONSTRUCTED LEATHERS WHICH WE HAVE TRANSLATED HERE INTO JACKETS MADE FROM HEAVY HIDES TANNED AND PRODUCED IN HYOGO PREFECTURE, JAPAN.
TERRY-ANN FRENCKEN, WORKING WITH CASHMERE UNDER THE NAME TOTALKOSTER, WAS OUR FIRST SHOWROOM MODEL IN 2002 AND, INDULGING IN THE SPIRIT OF SHAMELESS NOSTALGIA , I ASKED HER TO REPRODUCE SOME OF HER FAVORITE KNITS FROM THAT TIME.
POLAROID IMAGES I TOOK OF HER 20 YEARS AGO ARE AMONG THE FIRST PAGES OF THIS EXHIBITION’S CATALOG.
THE SOUND TRACK IS KLAUS NOMI, ONE OF THE LEGENDARY WEIRDOS WHO HELPED LIBERATE THE WEIRDO IN ME, SINGING ‘DIDO’S LAMENT’ FROM DIDO AND AENEAS BY HENRY PURCELL.

THY HAND BELINDA; DARKNESS SHADES ME,
ON THY BOSOM LET ME REST,
MORE I WOULD, BUT DEATH IN VADES ME;
DEATH I SNOW A WELCOME GUEST.

WHEN I AM LAID IN EARTH,
MAY MY WRONGS CREATE
NO TROUBLE IN THY BREAST;
REMEMBER ME ,
REMEMBER ME ,
REMEMBER ME ,
BUT AH! FORGET MY FATE…
DING - DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

https://www.rickowens.eu/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Amiri

Well, it looks like the last time I posted anything from Mike Amiri and his eponymous brand was in 2019, here. I am not sure why other than the fact that I post what I have a gut reaction to, and perhaps what hew as doing for the last years did not reach my gut. No matter, because this SS '26 collection at Paris Fashion Week was a lot of fun and did touch my gut.

Like his SS '20 collection I posted which was all about a certain 60s-70s L.A. hippie-rock n' roll vibe, this collection takes a look at another cultural subset from the same time period: the L.A. film studio/record label dude. In his imagination, Amiri created a fictional hotel based on Chateau Marmont, called of course, Hotel Amiri. These moguls hang around, walking the grounds, going to their next meeting or scoring coke. You can even spot the old-style hotel room key (the thick plastic diamond shape with a key and maybe a tassel) attached to belt loops, hooked to the handles of bags, or hanging from lapels. And he has nailed the silhouette (Angel Flight suits, and the cut of a leisure suit...Google it, kids-and I even love the pajama and smoking jackets!) and the color palette with resorting to costume...somehow it all feels now (a glittery polo shirt!) even though it looks then. Love it.

https://amiri.com/