The Smartest Looks at Paris Men's Fashion Week

The fashion circus just descended on Paris for the bi-annual men’s shows. Here are the highlights…

 The Smartest Looks at Paris Men's Fashion Week

There is something about Paris and style. The city is, and always has been, the home of fashion, and it is this allure that ensures it remains a crucial destination for many a design house. Paris has birthed a number of important tailors, couturiers, and style muses, from Cifonelli and Camps de Luca to Serge Gainsbourg and Francois Hardy. That many of the world’s greatest names choose to showcase their latest clothing collections here every year is testament to the city’s lasting appeal. This is true of the women’s shows, which dominate lifestyle pages in February and September, but also of the men’s, which take place in January and July. Indeed, last week Paris played host to the latest round of men’s shows, with the likes of Dior, Berluti and Louis Vuitton showing their AW25 output. As always, The Rake doesn’t slavishly follow trends, but it would be a mistake not to pick out a few highlights and things to look out for. 

Monochrome: Dior

Sleek, monochrome looks have always been cool. And there’s something inherently French about them, making Dior’s show apt. Limit your colour palette to black and white and things instantly become a little simpler. It eliminates the need to match complementary colours, and gives off a nonchalant energy that was often employed by the likes of Gainsbourg. It is also a technique that can be deployed across both smarter and casual looks, which is exactly what Kim Jones and his Dior design team did. There was all-black tailoring in the form of the house’s now signature double-breasted suits as well as long, flowing outerwear worn with tailored trousers. But black leather jackets, black knitwear and bomber jackets also showed how monochrome is effective with casualwear.  

Playful texture: Berluti 

Berluti is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1895 by Alessandro Berluti. While the majority of its history focussed on leather goods, it has more recently become a one-stop style destination for soft tailoring and casualwear, as well as shoes and accessories. Its AW25 collection furthers the quiet luxury ethos it has become known for, with a rich colour palette and a focus on softness and texture. Deep plum, claret and emerald tones are paired with sleek browns and greys. Velvet, cashmere and mottled wool outerwear complement signature leather bags and shoes, the latter of which span trainers, hiking boots and slim last Chelsea boots.   

Smartened up: Louis Vuitton 

Ever since his first collection at the helm came in 2023, Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton has been the hottest ticket in Paris. Pharrell has long been cresting the wave of the zeitgeist since his days revolutionising popular music in the early 2000s, so it’s no surprise his LV collections have been hot. So far he’s been tweaking and refining each year, straddling the worlds of luxury and streetwear and perhaps forever blurring their lines. But for AW25 there is definitely a smarter, more tailored focus. Highlights included a mid grey, herringbone wool, double-breasted suit with broad peak lapels and wide-legged trousers. That same fabric was also utilised for a tailored tracksuit, complete with funnel neck and worn with a classic black, unstructured overcoat. UPS brown was interspersed with camp prints and bright pink, while workwear was combined with boxy Americana in the form of bomber and letterman jackets. 

Short jackets: Kenzo, Paul Smith and Junya Watanabe

Autumn and winter might be months you associate with long, heavy-duty outerwear. And those will be necessary during the season’s darkest depths. But for other, less brutal times, short jackets should not be overlooked. At least that’s what a series of designers were saying with their AW25 collections. Kenzo, led by Pharrell’s long-time collaborator Nigo, certainly pushed out a few. There was a chore jacket blazer with large patch pockets, a hooded fur coat and best of all, a shearling version of a type II jacket. Elsewhere, Japanese label Junya Watanabe partnered with Filson on a series of workwear styles made famous by the US outfitter, and Paul Smith premiered a check wool Harrington that looked straight out of the ‘60s. 

Kenzo FW 2025.
Junya Watanabe w Filson FW 2025.
Paul Smith FW 2025.