BEAUTY: Clothing--Dries Van Noten

After Dries Van Noten's retirement from his brand last year, the house has been helmed by Julian Klausner who joined the van Noten team back in 2018 as director of womenswear. He has worked alongside the master so is uniquely placed to continue the DNA of the house but with a personal twist. And this he has done for his first SS '26 menswear collection shown at Paris Fashion Week.

Van Noten was an absolute genius with color and pattern--and the mixing of color and pattern. No one else did it quite like him but unsurprisingly, Klausner has made a somewhat seamless transition. Look at the tones and shades of the colors and how they work together even though they might seem not to. The patterns are, as always with a Van Noten show, glorious. The florals are nearly abstract and I love them on looks #3 and #4, #26, #28, and #29. Stipes get thrown into this mix in ways that seem a bit retro, especially in the colorways seen here. The addition of sequins onto pieces that are heavily embroidered (see look #6 and #32) is a prelude to pieces that are just flat out awash in paillettes and bugle beads (the top in 333 and all of #34). Cummerbunds got sequined as well. And the thing I love the most in this collection: the sarongs. *sigh* Gorgeous.

https://www.driesvannoten.com/