For Spring 2026, Junya Watanabe MAN trades utility for opulence, and patchwork grunge for floral grandeur. What unfolds on the runway is a collection in two acts, opening with baroque-inspired tailoring and closing with the loose, layered freedom of the street. It’s a study in contrast: refined but unruly, historical but not nostalgic.
SPRING SUMMER 2026
Watanabe opens with a quiet nod to 18th-century formality. Floral prints channel vintage upholstery, and jackets mimic the structure of old-world court dressing, but nothing here feels like costume. The tailoring is clean, the silhouettes sharp, and the prints vivid enough to pull them into the now. The textures, rich embroideries, jacquard knits, painterly motifs, add depth without losing clarity.
There’s drama in the restraint. Compared to his previous work rooted in distortion and utilitarian patchwork, these looks feel almost cinematic. He’s still working with the body as a site of composition, but this time through precision instead of chaos.
As the piano soundtrack gives way to house and jazz, the collection shifts too. Tailored polish loosens into layered silhouettes: fringe coats over denim, asymmetric hems, wide-cut trousers in movement. Chains and accessories add energy, never overtaking the clothes but pushing the mood into something more self-made and instinctive. The transition feels natural, not a break, but a slide from elegance into something messier and more alive.
What defines this collection is Watanabe’s ability to hold opposites in balance. He doesn’t abandon the codes of his past, he evolves them. There’s still individuality here, still that sense of freedom that makes his work feel personal. But this season, he offers a different kind of power: less about resistance, more about presence. It’s clothes that carry history without being trapped by it.
Watanabe’s Spring 2026 collection offers a fresh perspective on what menswear can be when it dares to shift gears. Romantic, detailed, but never soft, it’s a reminder that elegance and edge don’t cancel each other out. They sharpen each other.
