Lagos Opens, Sneakers Stack Up, Wax Gets a Paris Remix

Today is day one of the main runway programme at the LagosFW Tents, Federal Palace Hotel, and the schedule reads like a state-of-the-nation address for African menswear. Ugo Monye, Emmy Kasbit and Bloke anchor the week alongside the womenswear headliners, with the 9 p.m. Saturday slot pairing Fruche, Ejiro Amos Tafiri and Ugo Monye.

The theme this season is CRAFTED: Heritage. Innovation. Circular Futures, and the street-style cues coming out of Victoria Island are unusually wearable. Think tailored suits and co-ord sets cut from Aso-Oke or indigo-dyed Adire, dramatic oversized outerwear over sleek fitted bases, and chunky gold jewellery or hand-carved leather bags as the finish.

For a wardrobe at home, the translation is simple: buy the tailoring first and let one crafted or textured piece do the talking. Relaxed proportions, straight legs and room to layer underneath are the through-line from Lagos to London to New York this week.

October 29 and 30 might be the densest two days of the autumn sneaker calendar. Today brings the Supreme x Nike Air Force 1 Low in Snow Camo, white, grey and black camouflage over the familiar AF1, at 11 a.m. ET via Supreme, and the Converse SHAI 001 Lace Up in Flare, a bright Sun Glow orange take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's signature shoe with traditional laces instead of the original zip.

Friday is the emotional one. The Nike Kobe 3 Low Protro Mamba Eterno lands at 10 a.m. ET, a Dia de Muertos colourway in Safety Orange with floral artwork hidden beneath the translucent cage, mismatched Hyper Grape and Emerald Green collars, and Eterno script on the outsole. The same morning, the Travis Scott x Nike Air Force 1 Low in Ice Blue, tonal ostrich-textured leather in Ice Blue and Celestine Blue, arrives at retail with pre-release pairs already asking multiples of its price.

The smart play is triage: the Supreme and SHAI pairs are today's decisions, the Kobe is Friday's alarm, and the Travis Scott pair is the one to enter every draw for and expect nothing from.

If one jacket explains autumn 2026, it is the waxed jacket, and this month it got two very good remixes. Barbour and A.P.C. revisited the Beaufort, the Spey and the longer Sugarlump Bedale in archival Premium Thornproof Wax Cotton, a denser weave in dark sage and dark navy, with denim-jacket pocket construction, wool collars instead of corduroy, tartan linings and D-ring hardware.

J.Crew and Barbour traded icons in the other direction: J.Crew cut the Beaufort in vivid Apple Green with a hunter green corduroy collar, while Barbour answered with J.Crew's Barn Jacket in Black Watch plaid waxed cotton. Both capsules treat wax as a living fabric, one that creases, fades at the elbow and gets better with wear.

Buying advice is unchanged and simple. The Beaufort runs longer and covers tailoring; the Bedale sits shorter with jeans and a sweater; the Ashby is the modern, slightly tailored take on the Bedale. Buy with room for a sweater underneath, and let the patina happen.

Under every coat this week is the same answer: knitwear with actual texture. Cable knits, fisherman sweaters, Fair Isle and chunky quarter-zips are leading the autumn edits, in oatmeal, cream, navy, charcoal and camel, with one personality colour like burgundy or forest green allowed in.

The quarter-zip deserves its own rehabilitation note. The version winning in 2026 is chunkier, looser and more tactile than the thin merino office version, with a collar that stands up when half-zipped, worn under a wax jacket or an overcoat with straight jeans or cords.

The styling rule from every guide this week is the same: let one texture lead. Half-tuck a chunky crew into a higher-rise bottom, keep the rest of the outfit slim and plain, and let the knit be the outfit.