The Fall 2026 Menswear Shows I Can’t Stop Thinking About

This is an edition of the newsletter Show Notes, in which Samuel Hine reports from the front row of the fashion world. Sign up here to get it free.

By the time I found myself deliriously laughing at a frowny-face handbag on the last day of Paris Fashion Week, I knew that I had seen enough clothes for one season.

The bag was courtesy of earnest but irreverent Japanese label Doublet, a sendup of Celine’s optimistic Luggage tote, the one with a side zipper that curls into a cute smile. It was soon followed by a couple more anthropomorphized accessories: one bag mimicked the crying laughing emoji, while another vomited a strip of green leather out of its unzipped mouth.

In a way, it was fitting that the fall 2026 men’s shows culminated in a surreal showcase of pure fashion brainrot. Over the course of five days in Paris, all of the prevailing menswear trends went out the window. Some designers proposed skinny jeans; others pushed ginormous pants. The preppy renaissance that’s currently hitting stores? That felt quaint as the catwalks swarmed with nuanced characters who couldn’t be so easily defined. It was enough to make your head spin as the vibes ping-ponged between chastity and sex, elegance and punk, formality and leisure.

To be clear: I loved it, even if it felt overwhelming. But I’d rather that than be underwhelmed.

The menswear shows can sometimes strike only one safe note, as if men don’t have the imagination to think beyond cashmere overcoats. But this season the collections felt alive to the many different ways men can be in 2026. They were not all great; some brands are stuck in cruise control. But with so much uncertainty ahead, the best designers took unexpected detours. They challenged themselves to think differently, embracing the chaos in the air and inviting their audience to sink their teeth into bold new ideas (and maybe a little brainrot, too).

You can find all my coverage from the season here, and read my reviews of the shows that squarely nailed this moment, including Dior Men’s, Prada, Auralee, and Rick Owens.

Now, with so much interesting menswear out there, I wanted to highlight the best of the rest.

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus

Peter White/Getty Images

Backstage, a woman standing next to the sphinxlike Rei Kawakubo was sobbing uncontrollably. We had just seen a powerhouse Comme collection. Titled “Black Hole,” it was a funereal procession of fantasy formalwear, mostly in black, the models’ faces obscured by horror film hockey masks, like a bunch of Tim Burton characters had escaped from the asylum. It was unsettling and a little kinky, with some jackets shortened to expose a flash of pale midriff. The only hint at what Kawakubo was after was painted on leather derby shoes: “Wear Your Freedom.”