Camiel Fortgens was the topic of discussion on the internet soon after their presentation in Paris, for obvious reasons. For Spring/Summer 2026, the Dutch label skipped the typical Paris Fashion Week venue in favour of the streets themselves. Models wove through traffic and crowds, each carrying a portable speaker playing a fragment of the show’s soundtrack. Sometimes, a cyclist would pop by, others crowds of onlookers joined in. Only at the finale did the scattered sounds merge into a single composition — much like Fortgens’ work, which often finds unity in the unpolished.
Inside a nearby gallery, the presentation continued with models on treadmills walking steadily against a desert-lit backdrop. The setup offered an up-close look at how the clothes move: naturally, subtly, and with intention.
Drawing on the familiarity of American vintage staples, like worn-in jeans, washed-out work shirts, and shrunken tees, this season has an easy, tactile elegance. But nothing is quite as it seems. Logos fade in and out like sun-bleached signage; prints fall across the garments like shadows. Fortgens treats the sun not just as a theme but as a tool, using it to mimic wear and evoke memory.
The collection spans womenswear and menswear, styled with a knowingly offbeat mix: rain boots, flip-flops reworked with tape and stitching, bags punched through with holes, and Asics sneakers that bring an unexpected athletic edge. As always, there’s a strong sense of DIY: raw seams, exposed hems, hand-scrawled tags, and even messy, ill-placed wigs, all speaking to the designer’s ongoing fascination with process over polish.
That fascination becomes explicit in a new research capsule developed for the show. Here, garments are intentionally left unfinished: stitched and unstitched, reshaped mid-thought, like notebooks made of cloth. Using archival and vintage bases, Fortgens cut and collaged to explore form and feel without finality.
With SS26, Camiel Fortgens leaves the pieces intentionally in an open-ended state, challenging traditional fashion formats and offering a style that’s completely a deeply personal vision.
Discover the collection here.
photography. Yanni Caloghiris
words. Gennaro Costanzo
