The Japanese shine in Paris with Junya Watanabe, Mihara Yasuhiro, Comme des Garçons, and Kenzo

Fashion Network

3 days ago

Japanese designers once again captivated in Paris, where they unveiled inventive and sophisticated collections during this year's Men's Fashion Week dedicated to Spring/Summer 2026. Like Junya Watanabe Man, who revisited tailoring, Maison Mihara Yasuhiro, who celebrated everyday fashion, Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, which reinterpreted the suit, and Nigo at Kenzo, who mixed genres with a zest of madness.
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After last winter's deep America and lumberjacks, Junya Watanabe Man this time looked to more refined shores, brilliantly interweaving styles and eras. A Chopin waltz on the piano plunged guests into a chic, baroque past, where men sourced their clothes from the finest weavers.
The classically tailored jackets were made-to-measure in sumptuous brocades and damasks, precious fabrics, and striped velvets. Most were upholstery fabrics sourced from antique markets. Jackets were worn shirtless with slightly flared pants and jeans, sometimes with a sailor shirt. Dark glasses add the finishing touch to this new dandy style. The same fabrics were used in denim jackets worn over his peasant overalls.
"This time, I was interested in something old but seemingly new, or something new, born of the reproduction of old objects," said Junya Watanabe in his note of intent, who also multiplied collaborations as with each of his men's collections, calling on Camper, Lee, Levi's, New Balance, and Tricker's, among others.
The music suddenly turned jazzy, while the rebel vein showed its nose in tweed suits with tight, knee-length pants constructed like biker pants and paired with little camel trench coats. Long, loose-fitting white bib shirts hybridized with chunky metal chains, ties, or silk scarves, which were also found embedded in jeans.
A series of superb jacquard sweaters closed the show with soothing bucolic images, while in the final looks jackets and coats reproduced tapestry-like views of Venice and Florence.
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Tailoring was also at the heart of Comme des Garçons Homme Plus' collection for the next summer. The suit was revisited and reinterpreted in two contrasting versions. In technicolor or black and white, in masculine fabrics or harlequin fantasies, classic or unstructured cuts.
The first part of the collection featured a series of suits in cheerful prints with graphic and colorful patterns, composed of straight, tight pants and frock coats inflated at the sides and draped at the back. This was followed by models in black fabric with exploded construction. Sleeve tops unravel as they fall to mid-arm, ruching ribbons escape down trouser legs through zipped slits, and hips take on volume via whalebones.
"I feel like we could really use someone powerful like a shaman to bring us back to peace, love, and brotherhood," commented designer Rei Kawakubo in a note, who also interpreted the Bermuda suit in black or white cotton piqué with short jackets and fluctuating pants.
Then everything seemed to blend together. The fluid jackets of light-toned pleated suit-tailors were enhanced by XXL collars and lapels in brightly colored felt. Long, multicolored vests slipped over double-breasted banker suits or micro-check suits, sometimes adorned with ruffled collars. Models presented themselves with long hair waving down their backs or tied in thick braids, a giant double-cuffed cap screwed onto their heads, and boots and fishnet socks on their feet.
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In these times of war, Mihara Yasuhiro viewed her new collection as an ode to ordinary people and the everyday wardrobe. Her fashion seems to be built from the smallest of elements, a veritable eulogy to simplicity, as illustrated by this crocheted cap. An old tracksuit, a worn-out sweater, or a pair of faded pants were plucked from the back of the wardrobe and put together in a totally improvised way. A bit like the percussive music that accompanied the show, whose musician was none other than a child tapping and rubbing on a table with two pencils.
A few playful accessories underlined this everyday life, which could suddenly turn out to be extraordinary. These included a banana worn as a pendant, a tube of toothpaste threaded through a metal case suspended from a chain, and a paper bag-shaped handbag containing a wand and a bouquet of flowers. And let's not forget the patches scattered across pants and shirts, where the letters of the slogan "ordinary people" were displayed in disorder in the fun graffiti of Navinder Nangla, the dyslexic street artist from Northampton. "Don't tag me" also appeared in large letters on some of the T-shirts.
As usual, Mihara Yasuhiro mixed different pieces together, playing on stratifications and surprising constructions with dual identities, front and back. The shirt came in a striped poplin on the front and denim on the back, while the khaki nylon jacket on one side became a silver bomber on the other, and the canvas pants were nothing more than tracksuits seen from behind.
Other facetious garments included double-collared shirts, three-in-one hoodies, jackets worn by two or tops with two pairs of sleeves in two different sizes. Very practical.
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Mischievous humor also ran through the Kenzo collection, where creative director Nigo resurrected the joyful, playful spirit of founder Kenzo Takada with an energetic runway show at Maxim 's, an emblematic address in Belle Epoque Paris, transformed for the occasion into a nightclub, where girls and boys raided their wardrobes to create the craziest looks.
The collection's eclectic mix-and-match of styles and influences, from Kenzo Takada's 1970s studio to Nigo's streetwear community and Andy Warhol's Factory, was a mix of retro inspiration, Japanese culture, subversive punk, pop, and couture.
Silk shirts were tied at the collar with a lavaliere-style ribbon. Tuxedo jackets were offered in vibrant colors and ended up as satin-trimmed kimono jackets. Proud red officer or hussar jackets were also available. Archival prints, such as big flowers and tiger stripes, took over many pieces, including shirts, pants, and hooded jackets with teddy bear ears. Pants were loose and baggy.
Accessories were not to be outdone, with hotel slippers, vertiginous platform bowling shoes, bags, and caps covered in patches, colorful straps falling down the sides, long glamorous knitted gloves. A collection rich in ideas and references. Perhaps a little too much.