Unless you’ve been living under a very cold rock lately, you’ll know that Europe is burning. The entire continent has been baking under historic high temperatures the past week, forcing fashion show attendees to get creative or risk withering from heat exhaustion before they can ever hope to make it to their assigned seat. 

By conventional logic, you’d assume this would mean that (1) the hotter the temperature, (2) the shorter the shorts. But when have fashion people ever stuck to convention — or, for that matter, to logic? On the streets of Milan and Paris, plunging inseams are running rampant, proving that no matter the temperature, the summer of Long Shorts Supremacy is going strong.  

I don’t need to get into specifics or mental imagery, but there is nothing more humbling than dressing without checking the weather, only to shlep around in blistering heat with a blanket of pants fabric enveloping you from ankle to ass. 

Long shorts, by my own twisted logic, fulfill the best of both worlds when it comes to summer dressing: there’s enough airflow to keep your undercarriage ventilated, yet enough fabric to protect the slim pins from crisping under the unrelenting UV rays. For pale people like myself, who struggle not to wear long sleeves and pants year-round, becoming a below-the-knee shorts convert has been freeing (and not just to my circulation). 

In the halcyon days of April, as Justin Bieber punctuated his chillmaxxing Coachella set with a pair of absolutely massive LU'U DAN shorts, we declared 2026 to be the summer of extremely long shorts, noting that Bieber's outfit “looked easy, looked comfortable, and looked enviably cool. That’s the entire point — long shorts have an aura that short shorts will never match.”

The point has now, two months later, translated into an abundance of pin-protecting shorts. The best street-style looks of Fashion Month thus far have paired bermudas with leather loafers, giant camouflage cut-offs with strappy heels, and giant jorts with luxed-up Birks.

Fashion brands may be looking toward tomorrow’s trends with collections that feature a ton of sheer fabric translated into see-through pants and shorts, but today, outside, it’s the high-circulation, low-hemlined shorts that reign supreme.

Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER page and subscribe to the newsletter for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.