Given his affinity for leather, hardware, and sturdy Japanese denim, Yigal Azrouël seems like he would thrive in the winter months. But Azrouël is at his best when he is made to innovate, adapting his house codes to the seasons, rather than letting the weather dictate his designs. For spring 2026, he developed a paperweight leather, which took the shape of jackets with contrast piping and a quarter-zip tunic, as well as a trench coat made in a light Japanese parachute cotton.

Azrouël approached this collection with a lighter touch. It served him well. In past seasons, the designer has incorporated loud, abstract florals into this work. For spring 2026, however, the only in-your-face pattern was a black and white moiré print. He focused mostly on solids, with occasional pops of color and barely discernible low-contrast stripes. “I’m trying to really create a more consistent story,” he said.

The choice allowed his construction to shine. Draped, backless maxi dresses with thigh-high slits featuring a tough leather buckle halter neck, and rounded sleeves added a feminine edge to leather jackets. Azrouël thrives in tension: masculine versus feminine, ’80s versus contemporary, beachy versus tough. Going forward, it would be exciting to see how necessity forces him to evolve these sartorial contradictions.