At Saint Laurent's Spring/Summer 2026 menswear show in Paris, the ties were tucked and the backs were broad. Again. But different.

The French maison's latest collection was a glamorous, nostalgic offering. Further honing in on an '80s power-dressing uniform, creative director Anthony Vaccarello cannot get enough of room-commandingly boxy blazers, pleated pants, and spacey specs.

Greased hair and equally glossy shoes aside, though, the SS26 version of throwback businessman felt decidedly softer.

In shades of mustard, burnt orange, and aubergine, the clothes were architecturally tailored to perfection, yet swayed ever so languidly down the poolside runway, monochromatically matched or carefully color-blocked. 

The show's set, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s “Clinamen” exhibition of swimming bowls, helped cut through the cinched severity of some of those hourglass silhouettes, as did the occasional stripe pattern, sheer shirt, or ruffled waistband.

A confident continuation, yes, but not regurgitation of previous hits.

This effort sees Vaccarello move on from those viral overknee boots, even though the public has barely caught its breath from when Alexander Skarsgård flaunted them in Cannes a few weeks ago. 

Don't think the Belgian designer just up-and-abandoned his kinkiness, though. Not at all.

Rather than with patent leather stompers, Vaccarello fearlessly channeled his racy side with sculptural latex-like anoraks, flasher-ishtrench coats, and shorts so cropped they'd even sit above those thigh-high boots they replaced. 

Vaccarello's definitely in his zone here.

And has been: podium mainstay-status on Lyst's hottest brands index, as well as growing luxury homeware, furniture, and costume design side hustles all attest to Vaccarello's quiet rise to the top of the fashion pyramid, almost a decade into his gig at Saint Laurent.

Over the course of the past few seasons alone, the 43-year-old's crafted a modern-day Saint Laurent man.

He is so distinct and modern, yet so evocative still of the late Yves himself, that he lacks only peers to compete with. 

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