PFW: Hermès imagines urban summer, KidSuper creates a fairytale and Ziggy Chen lightens with linen

Paris – Faced with the sweltering heat in Europe, French fashion house Hermès proposed a lightweight style for men spending summer in the city on Saturday; trousers were favoured over shorts, with clever designs to combat the heat.

Trousers and a jacket made of finely braided leather strips, reminiscent of a summer chair, were a particular highlight in this refreshing spring/summer 2026 show, held at the Palais d'Iéna in Paris.

"Braided leather outlines a shoulder, the chime of trousers, it unfolds in a full version on checked shirts," explained the designer, Véronique Nichanian, in the show's production notes.

The colours were characteristic of the house: caramel, coffee, vanilla, mint green, burgundy.

The jackets "are not entirely bomber jackets, nor entirely windbreakers," the production notes stated. Although there were also thick, teddy-style bomber jackets and calfskin overshirts.

The trousers were wide and cropped, the sandals reduced to a bare minimum, with just a thick rope outlining the sole.

Scarves were worn knotted very wide over the chest, or casually around the neck. Huge bags, ready for travel.

"Because I'm small and I love big bags," the designer explained with a smile.

KidSuper’s ‘the little prince’

American brand KidSuper's designer, Colm Dillane, a streetwear specialist, made his presentations at Paris Fashion Week a spectacle.

On this occasion, he arranged a giant children's storybook reminiscent of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 'The Little Prince' at the Museum of Decorative Arts, within the Louvre.

'The Boy Who Jumped the Moon' was the title of the story, from whose pages emerged models in clothes overflowing with colour and fantasy.

Dillane offered a comfortable collection full of pop culture references: denim trousers covered in stickers, burgundy biker suits and a fun belt with small characters.

The show included pieces for women, such as a cream evening dress with a square neckline that transformed into a frenzy of tulle on one side.

As the models walked, a voiceover narrated the story, and the pages turned. When the trip to the moon suffered a mishap and the protagonist had to return to Earth hastily, a slightly scorched jacket and brown trousers appeared. In his hand, a broken suitcase.

A restless and playful designer, Dillane surprised until the very end with this SS26 collection, which featured a short, semi-transparent orange synthetic jacket with matching glasses and bag.

Dillane has also presented his shows as plays, or collaborated with acrobats.

Oversized elegance in neutral tones

Chinese designer Ziggy Chen presented a lightweight collection, with very loose-fitting linen trouser/shirt ensembles, to the point that the trousers were sometimes only held up by thin braces.

Skirts, aprons and shirts with collars that reached the ears completed this oversized wardrobe, accompanied by leather sandals worn with socks and some newsboy caps.

All in a palette of neutral tones: beige, light grey, black and even sand.

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