BEAUTY: Clothing--Uma Wang

Much like Kml from my last post (here), Uma Wang is new to my orbit as well. And I am glad she is here. Just look at the offerings from this Spring Summer '27 collection lookbook presented as part of Paris Fashion Week. Apparently she looked to images of the late adventure photographer and writer Peter Beard for a sense of rumpled, dashing, global, on-the-go-and-living-out-of-a-satchel style. But it turns out it takes some effort to achieve the effortless.

Fashion journalist Giulia di Giamberardino for Vogue gives us the technical information:

"Wang began with an exacting study of fabric—all sourced in Italy, all produced by Tuscan mills. Lightweight yet durable cotton was washed and treated to appear naturally worn-in. Linen, stained and dyed almost as though painted by hand, carried a similarly lived-in look. Another fabric incorporated a metallic component that gave structure to the garments she made from it, turning printed shirts into ideal travel companions that can be packed into a suitcase without losing their form. Another print depicted poppies. It originated from a photograph taken in a field near one of the company’s production facilities, yet poppies are also the flowers Wang keeps in her studio in China, making them, in a way, an emblem of the meeting of two cultures."

But let's take a closer look at this linen, metallic fabric, and poppy situation. The details, including the stunning cuts and silhouettes, are breathtaking. The collection feels artistic, exciting, alive.

https://umawang.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Kml

The brand Kml has not been on my radar until now. This Spring Summer '27 collection shown at Paris Fashion Week is enthralling. Even though the color palette is a restrained black and white and grey affair, the silhouettes and cuts are lyrical, primal. The KML website's mission statement says "Kml is an exploration of the present. It follows a research-based design approach which looks into the history of how humans dressed and how it evolved and continues to evolve to come up with meaningful designs that are relevant to our collective human identity." Indeed, this sweeping, placid collection speaks to so many places, ethnicities, beliefs, time periods ... there is a bit of traditional / ancient Japan, Turkey, Sufi, India, Bedouin ... in a beautifully tailored and structured way. Creative director and brand co-founder Ahmed Hassan trained as an architect and that rigor shows in the garments. Truly impressive.

https://kml.com.sa/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Sean Suen

I really like what is going on at the waists of these looks from Sean Suen's Spring Summer '27 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Reminiscent of cummerbunds, these elements look to be in knit and may or may not rise up from the waistband inside trousers which are turned down into wingtips. And if not a knit cummerbund, then a fantastic corset belt.

https://www.seansuen.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Dries Van Noten

After Dries Van Noten's emotional 2024 retirement from his house of 38 years (see his final collection here), Julian Klausner is now Creative Director. And this Spring Summer '27 collection at Paris Fashion Week marks his third menswear collection for the house.

Klausner has actually been with the house since 2018 as the head of womenswear. He has said that the task of taking over the menswear division as well seemed daunting at first but he has proven himself a worthy successor to Van Noten. And for this collection, he actually brought a sense of womenswear to the fabric choices and garments. "We looked at the world of lingerie, thinking what lingerie can mean to menswear, and that informed a lot of the fabrication," he said. The result is a gorgeous assemblage of fluid, weightless layers and a sunset-inspired color palette. Diaphanous silk duster coats, crepe shirts, semi-sheer shirts and shorts, embroidered beaded camisoles, fluttering floral scarves as shirts or wraps ... and large paillettes that add shimmer. It feels like a collection you could live in all hot summer long.

https://www.driesvannoten.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--IM (Issey Miyake)

IM as it is now known is the continuation of the brand started by legendary Japanese designer Issey Miyake in 1970. Miyake (previously here), who died in 2022, was highly influential in clothing design and I honestly don't think we would have the likes of Rick Owens or Boris Bidjan Saberi or Damir Doma or Craig Green or even Haider Ackermann without him. The menswear division is now headed by a trio of designers--Sen Kawahara, Yuki Itakura and Nobutaka Kobayashi--who created a Spring Summer '27 show at Paris Fashion Week called "In Praise of Bamboo Shadows."

With references to a 1933 essay about Japanese aesthetics by Jun’Ichiro Tanizaki, the cultural and material significance of bamboo, and the ancient Japanese tale of Princess Kaguya who was discovered inside a bamboo stalk as a child but grows up to return to the night sky, this enchanting collection highlights the best of Miyake silhouettes and cuts. The first oversized coat is lovely, showing actual shadows of bamboo stalks on a white ground. And when not a literal presentation in the form of a hat or chest piece or shoes or the motif of woven bamboo, it showed up in the thread blend of garments, offering a silky texture and flowing appearance! The gradual shift to bamboo greens is so pleasing...

https://us.isseymiyake.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Songzio

Jay Songzio has called his creative perspective "oriental futurism" but he has also shown a penchant for mining silhouettes of times and centuries past. He has shown collections of garments that look as if they are based on Medieval and ancient Japanese armor. He blends east and west quite well. But for this Spring Summer '27 show at Paris Fashion Week, the armor has been softened, shaped into layers of ease with sheer materials. Quite the opposite of armor. But somehow he manages to retain an echo of the original purpose...

When the warrior takes off his battle gear, there is repose beneath. I love the way these garments drape, puddle, flow. The skirts in Looks 12 and 20 that zip open are magnificent. I don't think I have seen a loose trouser better cut than the ones in Looks 10, 15, and 16. Yet Songzio's classic Roman gladiator sandals remain (click a pic to ogle). And the browns, mustards, and greens are a beautiful counterpoint to his often black and white palette. Stunning.

https://en.songzio.com/

BEAUTY: Set Design--Louis Vuitton

And here we are starting Paris Fashion Week and what a way to make a splash .. literally. For their Spring Summer '27 surfer-inspired collection (which I am not showing because, frankly, it is not that motivating to me), Louis Vuitton created a jaw-dropping set of an enormous breaking wave, consisting of real water cascading down a structure into two pools. The runway and showspace floor was completely covered in soft sand. Wow...

https://us.louisvuitton.com/

It's That Time Again ... June 2026

Regular readers know that twice a year, I blog about all the fascinating, beautiful, mesmerizing, strange, puzzling, outrageous, outstanding, unusual, artistic, inspiring sartorial creations coming out of the exquisite imaginations of designers, and down the runway. Regular readers may have also gleaned that I follow fashion the way some people delve into the art world. I think of "fashion" as "costume" or "performance"--as a way to convey an idea or a concept. I appreciate what some designers do the same way one appreciates what an avant garde sculptor or painter or performance artist does. And in a way, these designers are performance artists. For me, it is not about what is hanging on racks in stores, but what these artists are creating and the ideas and concepts they are working with as an influence on their marvelous creativity. It is moving sculpture. It is theater. Fashion and clothing at this level serve as a kind of visual shorthand. A piece of clothing in the hands of a designer can evoke a place, a region, a country, a specific time or an entire era, a work of art such as a novel or film or painting, a class of people, even a social, financial, or spiritual element... and the combination of such pieces of clothing, as well as their harmony or contrast, can tell a fascinating story.

Here is the season schedule (London is quite late this year)...

JUNE 2026 FASHION SCHEDULE -- FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2027

Pitti Uomo -- Simone Rocha is this year's guest designer
June 16 - 19, 2026
https://uomo.pittimmagine.com/

Milano Moda Uomo
June 19 - 23, 2026
https://www.cameramoda.it/it/milano-moda-uomo/

Paris Fashion Week Homme
June 23 - 28, 2026
https://www.fhcm.paris/

London Fashion Week
September 17 - 21, 2026
https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/

Now It's Time For You To Meet Sunrom

I am loving these tracks from Paris-based electronic artist Sunrom (the nom de musique of Romain Nouhi) off his new EP entitled "Everlight."

https://www.instagram.com/sunrom/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Issey Miyake

On this eve before the start of National Poetry Month, here is clothing as poetry. Issey Miyake FW '26-'27 women's collection. Exquisite.

https://www.isseymiyake.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

Regular readers know that when I share haute couture, I generally post coverage of men's clothing during Fashion Weeks, and only houses that are on-calendar, with a few exceptions. But this ethereal FW '26-'27 womenswear collection my beloved Rick Owens just showed is amazing. And I need to share it.

Titled "Tower," it is the companion show to his menswear show of the same name (each season he titles his men's and women's collections the same). Feminine, yet savage--a pleasing combo. But I mean, come on...just look at the structure and volume.
Structure. And. Volume.

https://www.rickowens.eu/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Willy Chavarria

Paris Fashion Week wrapped yesterday and before I move on, I want to share a...it can't be called a fashion show, a runway show...it is performance art colliding with the art of costume. Willy Chavarria topped his beautifully heartfelt show last January, seen here, with this incredible concert / Broadway show / runway happening / film presentation for his Fall Winter '26-'27 collection. The showspace is enormous, the music fitting, and the clothes are on extras wandering around this city scene while a relationship plays out to a tragic conclusion. This is the power of art.

https://willychavarria.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Wooyoungmi

Madame Woo's eponymous brand has been officially showing at Paris Fashion Week since 2003 and was the first Korean brand to do so. No small feat. Yet she has always eschewed designs that touch on her culture. She usually sends out collections that feature impeccable suit tailoring, sweeping silhouettes, and Romantic and elegant touches.

But for this Fall Winter '26-'27 collection at Paris Fashion Week, she took inspiration from the golden age of railway travel in the winter. She thought specifically of the Gyeongin Railway Line which opened in 1899, connecting Seoul and Incheon. And these magnificent garments reflect the time period... and even a bit before. The regimental sense of some pieces made me flash on many decades earlier; several models look like they stepped off the set of a film adaptation of "Anna Karenina" (something about it all feels Russian, with long fur coats and exaggerated Cossack hats of fur and knit). There was a definite Dandy spirit at work as well, referencing the second Dandy era of Oscar Wilde, which she delivered in a collection from 2017, seen here.

Regular readers know that I love a sense of historical dress in a designer's collection, and this is truly lovely. I will take any of these pieces, particularly the suits with that very high stance, but I especially love the red 3/4 length coat in Look #12.

https://www.wooyoungmi.com/