Paris Men’s Fashion Week is well underway, and attendees— from press and buyers to celebrities— are seemingly still struggling to adjust to the season’s jam-packed schedule amidst the city’s heat and stifling humidity. But that didn’t stop A-listers from showing up in full force to Kenzo’s Spring 2026 Menswear show, which closed out the third day of runway festivities in the City of Lights.
Set inside the iconic Maxim’s— a five-star restaurant nestled in Paris’s beaux quartiers— guests were scattered across dining tables and perched along the bar, framed by velvet banquettes, mirrored walls, and ornate moulures au plafond. You might have found yourself sharing a table with Mia Khalifa, 2 Chainz, J.I.D., or UFC fighter Ciryl Gane, depending on which of the restaurant’s two decadent floors you found yourself on. Overheard: the late Kenzo Takada, the house’s founder, was once a regular at Maxim’s.
Just a day prior, creative director Nigo unveiled Kenzo’s most recent collaboration with American artist Futura— a partnership that felt so intuitive it barely needs explaining, merging street energy with high fashion finesse. That same spirit carried into Friday’s presentation, where the codes of luxury were reimagined in every which way.
Color led the charge—unapologetic and exacting—injecting a jolt of vitality into an industry often muted by its own restraint. Saturated reds, electric blues, and vivid yellows cut through the air like punctuation marks, signaling, again, Kenzo’s signature refusal to blend in. Instead, the house leaned all the way into contradiction—pairing clownish platform shoes with razor-sharp tailoring, cartoon-bright motifs with haute construction, and punkish irreverence with an unmistakable sense of control.
Models moved between tables and champagne flutes, weaving the collection into the crowd as much as they presented it. There were ’90s-coded belt buckles shouting WOOF, tiger-striped faux fur coats with playful tails, tie-print knits, and frogged jackets nodding to military uniforms—sometimes real, sometimes spoofed. A collage of eras and influences pulsed through every look, stitched together with the kind of self-aware confidence only Nigo can pull off.
At Maxim’s, where ghosts of old-world glamour still haunt the chandeliers, Kenzo offered something defiantly new: fashion with its tongue in cheek, its edge intact, and its relevance undiminished. It didn’t just challenge what luxury looks like—it reminded us that it can still surprise.
Keep scrolling for some of our favorite looks:
