Tailored Expositions: Eclectic Dries Van Noten Fall/Winter Collection 2026

Dries Van Noten tends to be experimental with shapes and volumes. His highly conceptual garments are always at risk of being deemed ugly or unappealing. The Fall/Winter 2026 collection did not shy away from its critics. Uneasy combinations of muted colors that immediately showcased technical prowess and imaginative creative drive flowed through the whole assemblage, which glided down the runway at Men’s Fashion Week in Paris at the pace of upbeat smooth jazz.

Called “Yo Ga Aketara,” meaning “When Dawn Breaks” in Japanese, the eclectic designs of Julian Klausner explore the concept of coming of age through praising the joy of new beginnings. He said that what he intended was to create a study of “the unfolding of possibilities; the naivety and the honesty of the first experiments with self out of the comfort zone”. The use of a fruity color palette and the, at times, incongruous placement of accessories, like scarves, chullos—a kind of Peruvian brimless headgear with earflaps—or oversized laundry bags, certainly achieves its purpose.

The display of complex textiles, from unzippable rib-knit cardigans to Fair Isle patterns made of beadwork, shows a phenomenal array of technical mastery, but the variety and originality of the set, with hooded coats and colorful parkas, cannot hide the fact that the collection makes the male silhouette look risible. A creative statement that wants to influence the rest, rather than produce wearable outfits, this proposition is Everything but the Fit.