French menswear season to feature 35 shows, with two Paris debutantes, and Balenciaga return

This January’s French menswear catwalk season will feature 35 live shows, including two Paris debutantes, and at least 32 presentations, including a surprise return by Balenciaga

Scheduled to last six days from Tuesday, January 20 to Sunday evening, January 25, the season will welcome debut Paris shows by two noted young brands: Jeanne Friot and Magliano, according to the official calendar released Thursday by the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), French high fashion’s governing body.
 
Though the season’s most anticipated shows will be the debut of Grace Wales Bonner at Hermès, the return of Jacquemus, and the second menswear collection by Jonathan Anderson for the house of Dior. However, the house of Saint Laurent, notorious for its erratic show dates, has gone missing again from the French calendar, after showing last June.

In terms of new arrivals, Jeanne Friot is a gender-neutral brand based in Paris founded by Friot in 2020. A graduate of the Duperré School and then the Institut Français de la Mode in 2018, Friot cut her teeth at several fashion houses, including Balenciaga. Her show will open the season on Tuesday morning, in a busy opening day which finishes with Pharrell Williams’ fifth runway collection for Louis Vuitton.
 
Luca Magliano is a Bologna-born creator who first received recognition at the Who Is On Next? menswear awards in 2017. Six years later, Magliano nabbed the coveted Karl Lagerfeld award at the 2023 LVMH Prize. Last January he staged a dramatic show in Florence as Pitti’s guest designer, in a skilful and dramatic display that cleverly combined gender fluidity and quirky Italian tailoring.
 
Though the season’s hottest ticket will be Wales Bonner’s opening act at Hermès with a Saturday evening show, where she succeeds Veronique Nichanian after a three-decade-plus tenure. Jacquemus will climax the menswear season with the final show on Sunday night.
 
Anderson’s second Dior Homme menswear show will be staged on Tuesday afternoon, which ends with an evening show by Alexandre Mattiussi for his line Ami.
 
Balenciaga, which had previously presented menswear mainly in co-ed shows under designer Demna, will try out a novel format under his successor Pierpaolo Piccioli. The house will unveil its menswear online on January 15, when most buyers and press will be attending the Pitti menswear salon in Florence, before physically unveiling the collection on January 20 in its historic Paris HQ.
 
Elsewhere, Paris will also welcome back inventive perennials like Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons, Junya Watanabe, and Rick Owens. And feature shows by happening labels such as Willy Chavarria, Kidsuper, Sacai, 3. Paradis, and Kolor.
 
As noted, the house of Loewe has decided not to stage a runway show in the next menswear season in Paris in January. Instead, it will combine menswear and womenswear into a co-ed show during the next women’s ready-to-wear season in the French capital in March. While J.W. Anderson, the house of Loewe’s former designer Jonathan Anderson, who decamped to Dior, will also not stage a runway event.
 
In a busy week, four fresh arrivals will hold presentations: ERL by Eli Russell Linnetz from Los Angeles; Saudi label Kml; eco-friendly brand Sonia Carrasco; and Japanese minimalist label ssstein. While three other labels return after brief hiatuses: Charles Jeffery Loverboy, Maison Kitsuné, and Post Archive Faction (PAF).