The fashion calendar moves quickly enough that a single season produces more news than a wardrobe can absorb. Rather than chase every headline, we keep a short list of the moves that actually shape what will be on the rail next. Here is this season's.
Jaden Smith becomes Christian Louboutin's first Men's Creative Director
The appointment that turned the most heads this year belongs to Maison Christian Louboutin, which named Jaden Smith its first-ever Men's Creative Director. In the role, Smith oversees four collections a year across men's shoes, leather goods and accessories — a scope that goes well beyond a cameo collaboration.
His debut Fall/Winter 2026 men's collection reframes the house's signature red sole within a younger, more sculptural wardrobe. It is the clearest example yet of a maison handing a generational figure real design authority, rather than a licensing deal — and it is likely to move the centre of gravity in men's footwear, a category we have written about at length.
The houses, restructured
Beyond the headlines, the season has been one of quiet consolidation. LVMH sold Patou back to its previous owner, Dilesh Mehta — a signal that even the largest groups are trimming labels that no longer fit the portfolio. Bally, meanwhile, entered a Swiss restructuring procedure with Regent reaffirming its turnaround commitment. The message for the season is that ownership is being reassessed as deliberately as design.
The categories to watch
A few directions have hardened into proper trends rather than passing fancies:
- Knitwear, again. The neo-knitwear boom keeps gathering — fine-gauge jersey cut into skirts, trousers and dresses, not only sweaters.
- Footwear, refocused. Between Smith's appointment and the season's thigh-high moments, shoes remain the loudest category. See our shoes collection for where we land on it.
- Bags, quieter. The unbranded leather tote continues to displace the logo'd It-bag — the stealth-wealth arc, extended.
- Sunglasses, larger. Oversized frames are back on the street-style circuit, a return our sunglasses edit already leans into.
What we take from it
The season's throughline, if there is one, is authority handed to people who will use it — a maison trusting a generational voice with its men's line, mills trusting their cloth to do the talking, and wearers trusting a smaller wardrobe to do more. That is a direction we recognise. Our men's and women's collections are built on the same bet.
