Lagos Closes, New York Dresses Up: Menswear's Big Monday

The final on-site day of Lagos Fashion Week belonged to menswear with feeling. Ugo Monye closed the runway shows on October 31 with architectural, voluminous menswear silhouettes, and the night turned viral when Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu walked the runway in a piece from the collection.

Across the week, the softer direction was unmistakable. British-Nigerian brand Holy One paired bold stripes and cascading frills with structured two-piece tailoring and leather, explicitly pushing menswear toward softness, while Pillz n Poizn kept its menswear relaxed and Sisiano showed sheer fabrics, fringe and relaxed silhouettes in hand-printed cloth.

The through-line was craft over costume: hand-printed fabrics, crochet partnerships, kente and reworked textiles, all under a season theme that put heritage, innovation and circular futures at the centre. For a buyer or a dresser, the takeaway is simple: volume up top, ease everywhere else, and texture doing the talking.

If Lagos was about craft, the global drop calendar was about codes. Palace and Nike opened the week with Manor Place FC, a capsule marking one year of their South London community space, built from early-2000s football silhouettes in black and teal with orange accents and a custom club crest.

Eyewear went full deconstruction. Maison Margiela and Gentle Monster's fourth collaboration spans 68 pieces, distorting familiar frames into high-volume shapes and leather-encased Second Skin profiles, backed by an Alex Prager short film and pop-ups in eight cities.

And the outdoors kept its grip: BAPE by Kazuki Kuraishi's Expedition on Spaceship Earth pairs Digital Tiger Camo and Maze graphics with three-layer powder outerwear and fleece, landing October 31. The message across all three is the same: the most desirable menswear right now borrows a uniform and rewrites it.

Pharrell Williams's Spring-Summer 2027 men's pre-collection for Louis Vuitton, titled Whatever the Weather, is built for a traveller crossing climates and dress codes in one suitcase. Rainwear archetypes return in luxury materials: shiny calfskin fisherman slickers, a mini-Monogram jacquard puffer, belted suiting and fleece blousons that pack into their own front pocket.

The trick is that the weather is not just resisted, it is depicted. Leather is printed to read as grey sweat-shirting across hoodies, Keepall 50s and Speedy 30s; a silver-coated denim jacket feigns saturation; spongy rubber spray mimics mud on jackets, the LV Trainer and the LV Ranger boot.

Bags carry the same story: weathered Monogram Reporter canvas in faded blue and yellow on cognac suede, a Keepall 35 with 3D-printed glossy raindrops, and a Monogram bag shaped like an umbrella. It is dandy tailoring with a forecast attached, and it lands just as real November weather makes the argument for it.

Kith's Winter 2026 collection, released October 30, is the week's most complete cold-weather wardrobe: Corey, Midi and Maverick puffers, a wax cotton Darcy cropped hunting jacket, a reversible knit Jaysen bomber and a shearling patchwork Becker jacket, layered over pure cashmere hoodies and cardigans.

The casting does half the work. Kit Harington fronts the campaign in the English countryside, in fringed leather, shearling and tailoring, and the Jon Snow shorthand writes itself. Around him, the details stack up: a debut SEVEN BY SEVEN capsule in washed Japanese indigo and antique-finished suede, and &Kin tailoring made with Giorgio Armani.

Footwear is the quiet headline. Ronnie Fieg's Timberland shearling boots, the adidas Originals Classics Program in premium suede and leather, and Clarks Originals 8th St's Laddow Shearling and beaded Rossendale 2 give the whole collection somewhere solid to stand. AW26 street style agrees: long coats, big scarves and all-black texture are the season's uniform.

Tonight's CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History, hosted by Keke Palmer, are a referendum on what American menswear is right now. The menswear nominees span the whole argument: Ralph Lauren's enduring American polish, Thom Browne's grey-suited theatre, Todd Snyder's accessible tailoring, Willy Chavarria's Chicano-rooted volume, and the return of Public School New York, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne's label, back after nearly a decade away.

That spread is the story. One side of the category sells heritage and polish; the other sells identity, community and a sharper silhouette. Public School's nomination, after winning the award in 2014, adds the wild card: a comeback narrative against four established positions.

Whatever wins tonight, the red carpet is the real trend report. Expect the long coat, the tie worn with attitude rather than obligation, and the boot that means business, all of which AW26 street style already voted for. The winners will be known after tonight's ceremony, which had not taken place at research time.