What does it signify when you show your first five looks in darkness so inkily profound that all the audience can see is the barest underlit shadow of your brogue-trainers and bronze-capped, abstractly stitched formals? Answer: You are either atrociously, delusionally arrogant, or you are rather brilliant—and confident enough to know it. And perhaps you are the creative director of a brand rooted in shoes. Happily for the balance of critical karma, in this case the answer was the latter.
Where do the U.K. and Japan meet? “In a pleat,” rhymed Dean and Dan Caten, deadpan. “The samurai had these big skirts, with these big volumes; and then there’s the kilt and its pleated volume, and we’re matching the two worlds.”
Backstage before the show, over champagne and Red Bull—50/50 with ice—Philipp Plein said he’d decided to lean against his own reputation for showmanship a little: “I don’t want to blow everything up. I want to be Philipp Plein, but a bit more unexpected.”
Jeremy Scott’s Moschino is polarizing, but undeniably entertaining. His brand of humor is Pop-ier, wackier, more sugary than Franco’s, but that’s not a negative: Scott is a designer who hits the bull’s eye of contemporary look-at-me preoccupations.
i-D showing off model sensation Lucky B. Smith in a new fashion editorial captured by Matt Jones and styled by Deborah Watson (Walter Schupfer Management).
Andreas Kronthaler's “Body & Soul” brings Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2027 to Paris with exposed bodies, rebellious tailoring, draped silhouettes and gloriously unconventional menswear.
Tyler Maher slips into Jitrois stretch leather for P.L.A.Y., a colorful campaign mixing bare skin, graphic biker jackets, cutouts and provocative Parisian menswear.
Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez bring relaxed American sportswear, bold color and playful proportions to LOEWE Spring/Summer 2027 menswear in Paris.
Pierpaolo Piccioli brings couture thinking into the everyday for Balenciaga Spring 2027, loosening menswear through wide trousers, featherlight outerwear, washed denim and explosive color.