Ah, Florence. A city where the walls breathe art and the tourists, mostly, just breathe heavily while climbing to the top of the Duomo. As the air thickens with the scent of freshly baked ego (garnished with a trace of niche oud), the annual ritual known as Pitti Uomo begins—a festival for those who treat savoir-faire less like manners and more like a metaphysical orientation. And in this climate of silk neckerchiefs and clinically curated beige, enters HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE’s SS26 collection. Although no, “enters” would be too crude—this collection levitated. It hovered, as if untouched by the banality of menswear and the bourgeois race for the weirdest sunglasses money can buy.
The real question here is not, “Should men wear pleated trousers?”—how quaint. No, the question is: “Does man still deserve such grace in form?” Issey Miyake doesn’t sell clothes. He sells textile experiences. Each piece in the SS26 collection reads like a haiku stitched from technical fabric—short in form, infinite in depth. HOMME PLISSÉ has long danced along the line between the functional and the metaphysical. It doesn’t merely dress a man—it offers him a framework for existing. And if you don’t understand that, you’re probably adjusting the cuff of a slim-fit blazer you bought on outlet sale.
Yes, there are pleats—but not those tragic folds you remember from a prom tux or a tired office suit. These are pleats aware of their own presence. They’re not decoration. They are philosophical structure. To move in HOMME PLISSÉ is not to walk, but to engage in kinetic dialogue with space. This isn’t fashion to wear—it’s fashion to experience. And for that, one needs at least a glimmer of aesthetic sensitivity. Which, frankly, not everyone possesses.
The color palette of SS26 makes no attempt to please. Saturated violets, cerebral shades of celadon, and the kind of deep indigo that says, “I’m aware of Pantone, but I exist beyond it.” No seasonal Pinterest mood boards, no half-hearted nods to TikTok trends. Color here is a result of contemplation, not consultation with marketing.
The silhouettes? Relaxed, sure—but with mathematical precision. They’re sculptural—as if someone extracted a man from a single sheet of pleated matter. These garments don’t “fit well.” They reshapethe body. This is fashion that has no interest in being liked. It doesn’t flirt with normcore, nor with recycled vintage clichés. This is fashion that knows it’s superior—and sees no reason to apologize.
And more than that, the entire collection seems to whisper: You’re not ready. And truly—most aren’t. HOMME PLISSÉ doesn’t dress the crowd. It’s not a brand chasing likes or tracking its value in units sold on Farfetch. It’s contemplative, almost monastic fashion—demanding focus, silence, and… significant financial detachment. Preferably old money.
In a world where menswear too often settles for perfect chinos and minimalism at the “I-own-one-white-shirt-from-COS-and-think-I’m-aesthetic” level, SS26 from Issey Miyake arrives like a revelation. A collection not for those seeking approval—but for those pursuing articulation. For men who can ask themselves: “Does my wardrobe reflect the state of my inner being?”—and not laugh at the question.
Photos courtesy of ©Launchmetrics/spotlight
No comments:
Post a Comment