Pharrell, Anderson and Jacquemus Lead Paris Fashion Week as Balenciaga Drops Demna

Paris is getting ready for its summer men’s fashion marathon, taking over from the Italian Pitti Uomo and Milan fashion week. The French capital’s fashion week, which will take place from June 24 to 29, will bring together 70 brands with 40 fashion shows and 30 presentations. The edition will be marked by strategic returns, new names, ephemeral spaces, side events and maximum expectation around the debut of ex-Loewe Jonathan Anderson as creative director of Dior Homme.

The Irish designer will take the reins of the LVMH men’s flagship next Friday at noon, in the most anticipated fashion show of the season. The show, which is announced to be highly exclusive and of which some teaser images of the creative’s inspiration have already transcended (which also include a new lowercase logo change), promises to rejuvenate the maison ‘s image with a more relaxed and contemporary aesthetic.

Relieving the British Kim Jones at the helm of menswear at the house led by Delphine Arnault, Jonathan Anderson will sign his first collection since he also assumed the creative direction of women’s and haute couture, becoming the only creator in recent history to concentrate all of Dior’s design.

The calendar will officially start, however, with the collective parade of students of the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), and will conclude on Sunday afternoon, 29th, with the Jacquemus mixed fashion show at the Orangery of the Palace of Versailles. The same closing will also see the debut of Kartik Research, the label of Indian designer Kartik Kumra, semi-finalist of the LVMH prize, which debuts on the official calendar after three seasons in presentation format.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week will bring together long-awaited returns and new bets

Five important absences will mark this edition: the former winner of the LVMH Prize S.S. Daley, 032c, the Japanese Sacai, who opts for a presentation, the British Paul Smith who has chosen to show in Milan. Daley, 032c, the Japanese Sacai, who opts for a presentation, the British Paul Smith who has preferred to show in Milan and Lanvin, in the midst of the economic crisis and the possible sale of some assets in its portfolio, which postpones its next collection to the women’s calendar in September.

On the other hand, Paris has six returns. The maison Saint Laurent will officially return to the men’s calendar after years of traveling presentations, Dries Van Noten, owned by Puig, will return with Julian Klausner as new creative director, Etudes Studio will reappear with a new approach after restructuring its management, and Craig Green, Wales Bonner and Marine Serre will also return. Returning to the presentation program are Bode, Bed j.w. Ford and Namesake.

Jonathan Anderson will be the only creator in recent history to concentrate all of Dior’s design.

Among the debuts, will highlight the Spanish proposal of CamperLab, piloted by Achilles Ion, the Dutch Camiel Fortgens, the Brazilian P. Andrade and parallel proposals as M/sa by Sakina M’Sa, with parade and conference day on sustainability, and Jah Jah, Afro-Vegan firm created by Coralie Jouhier and Daquisiline Gomis, which will parade on Tuesday at Dover Street Market Paris.

During the week, the Sphère showroom (organized by the Fhcm with the support of Defi) will bring together at the Palais de Tokyo emerging brands such as Mouty, Victor Clavelly, Cachí, La Cage, Lazoschmidl, Ouest Paris and C.R.E.O.O.L.E. Some, such as Jeanne Friot and Steven Passaro, will also be supported by the French Ministry of Culture and will parade in the Quadrilatère des Archives.

CamperLab and Juana Martín are the two Spanish names on the Parisian catwalks

The program will be completed with special presentations of brands such as Christian Louboutin or Berluti, dinners and parties of brands such as Hermès, Ami, KidSuper, Sacai or Phileo, anniversaries such as the ten years of Carne Bollente or L/Uniform and key exhibitions such as Rick Owens at the Palais Galliera, Demna’s ten years at Balenciaga at Kering HQ, Paul Poiret at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the new Acne Studios gallery at the Palais Royal.

Just a few days later, from July 7 to 10, Haute Couture Week will arrive, with a more compact edition of 27 shows, but marked by key moments on the luxury map.

On July 9, Balenciaga will hold its annual haute couture show. It will be Demna’s last before joining Gucci and will mark the end of an era. That same evening, Glenn Martens will make his couture debut with Maison Margiela, presenting his first Artisanal collection.

On the other hand, Dior will be absent this season, following Anderson’s appointment also at the helm of its women’s line. Jean Paul Gaultier will also take a break as he prepares to relaunch under creative director Duran Lantink. Other notable absences will include international names such as Alexis Mabille, Julien Fournié, Gaurav Gupta and Miss Sohee.

Chanel will show its last collection designed by its in-house team before Matthieu Blazy’s arrival next October. Also present will be Giambattista Valli, Zuhair Murad, Stéphane Rolland, Iris Van Herpen, Elie Saab, Viktor&Rolf and Giorgio Armani Privé, with a double runway show on July 8.

In addition, Celine will celebrate the debut of Michael Rider on July 6, the eve of the official week, with a show that has not yet been decided whether it will be for men, women or mixed. Patou, meanwhile, will present its spring-summer 2026 collection on the same day.

Paris will thus close an accelerated cycle where fashion becomes a mirror of its time. In full creative recomposition, with less fireworks and more strategy focused on commercial results, the city will bet on renewing without breaking and, who knows, if a new stage of design stability could result as a response to the agitated macroeconomic context.