Japanese designers have always loved showing their work in Paris. From poetic wardrobes to conceptual creations, they showed the full extent of their palette at Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2025-2026.
For Kenzo, it's time for renewal. While the streetwear king Nigo is still at the helm of style, the Japanese designer has enlisted the services of a design director, Englishman Joshua Bullen, who transferred from Givenchy. Mixed-gender shows have come to an end; the Kenzo woman is taking back her place after sharing it with the man for eight years. "We wanted to bring the worlds of Kenzo Takada and Nigo face to face," Bullen explained of the collection. "It's a mix between Nigo's pop and street culture and the joyful humor intrinsic to the brand."
The result: Little pastel or floral nighties are turned down, with drooping straps, over knitted panties; an ecru overcoat is embroidered with the team members' names; men's jackets accompany baggy pants tightened at the ankles... Little pink and blue stuffed rabbits give the wardrobe a childlike spirit. They can be found on slippers, in prints on T-shirts or piled up on a jacket. Yet the ensemble holds together, and Kenzo rediscovers its playful irreverence. Nigo's absence at the time of the final salute, however, raises the question of its future with the LVMH Group brand.
For Issey Miyake, whose design has been handled by Satoshi Kondo since the founder's death in 2022, the whole thing is more conceptual, both in the staging – contortionist dancers wrap themselves in knitted sweaters – and in the wardrobe. Inspired by the work of Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, it mistreats everyday clothing to evoke emotion in the spectator. Arms protrude from holes along sweater sleeves, the house's signature pleating is printed on simple white dresses, T-shirts take the form of paper shopping bags and tubes of fabric assembled together are slipped on like a dress or a light parka. The imagination is titillated, and it feels good.
In this exercise of reinventing the wardrobe, Rei Kawakubo is putting up a strong challenge. This season, the founder of Comme des Garçons is offering a succession of dresses in name only, totally exploded in an accumulation of layers of fabric creating uneven volumes on the silhouette. On some, we recognize the distinctive signs of a suit – the tennis stripes, the three buttons on the sleeves – while other models in tartan or small checks mix pleats, frills and bows in a profusion of curves. A lesson in style that was applauded for a long time.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.