“Newness is not what you see, it is how you are.” Olivier Rousteing delivered this observation during a preview for his spring 2026 womenswear collection in Paris earlier this month. This collection was its close menswear companion, and similarly signified a new expansion of the designer’s Balmain practice.

Rousteing said that when he began to manifest it, “I was in my free place. Where I do my meditation every day on the beach. It might be in Italy, the south of France, the Middle East… somewhere where I can see the landscape, see the sky. This collection is an exercise in self-reflection, challenging myself, and even after 15 years at Balmain continuing to be a force for newness and disruption.”

Here that translated into a masculine counterpoint to the sumptuously boho version of Balmain we saw at the Hotel Intercontinental, shot show-style without an audience. Many of the pieces were shared freely between the two; there were the same gorgeous action-pocketed weathered-leather blousons, the same papery wide-mesh knit in terracotta, an adapted version of the terry-towel skirt into a robe with matching pants, and the same endless summer, Bali surf-pro chest-piece made of wooden beads and shells.

Other points of connection were the bags garnished with shells, the fluid wraps of silk in conch pink and other paradise tones, and the occasional harem pant, albeit not quite as drop-crotched as the women’s. For more formal moments during this barefoot Balmain reverie, there were many great beaded sandals.

Deconstructed combat pants, strong shouldered field jackets, and loose rib knits added up to a mellow military perspective. There was a strong dose of wide-lapeled tailoring, often styled with tucked in jackets. Both tailoring and militaria were sometimes embellished with more organic craft; shells, beads, and stones—very chilled, softened, and relaxed descendants of the hyper-tight, hyper-luxe Faberge-fabulous collections of Rousteing’s earliest seasons at this house. “To me, real luxury today is freedom and enjoyment,” said Rousteing of a collection whose texture, tactility, and looseness exemplified the designer’s enlightenment.