Men’s Fall/Winter 2026 Fashion Week unfolded across Florence, Milan, and Paris in January with a sense of recalibration. At Pitti Uomo, the conversation was rooted in craft, trade, and function. Milan brought precision and polish, while Paris pushed ideas of future luxury forward. Across all three, the dominant mood was one of tailored sophistication tempered by practicality, a clear response to how men actually live now.
Designers leaned into softer tailoring, winter-ready outerwear, and utility-led details, signalling a move away from excess and towards purpose. What stood out most, however, was how accessories, particularly bags, became central to the narrative. No longer secondary, bags this season were treated as tools of self-definition: expressive, functional, and deeply tied to the wearer’s identity. The bags this season emerged as the most telling marker of how menswear is shifting.
Dolce & Gabbana
At Dolce & Gabbana, individuality was the starting point. The collection read as a manifesto in which each look functioned as a psychological portrait, shaped by memory, tension, and personal mythology. This sensibility extended seamlessly to the bags. Structured leather holdalls and crossbody styles were sculpted with a Renaissance-like depth, enhanced by dramatic light and shadow. Finished in deep blacks, oxbloods, and worn neutrals, they felt almost archival, yet unmistakably contemporary. These were bags designed to carry more than essentials. They suggested history, emotion, and intent. In keeping with the brand’s enduring 1990s codes, the silhouettes were assertive without being loud.
Prada
On the other end, Prada’s approach was more cerebral. Under the theme of “archaeology of thought”, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons proposed evolution through reconsideration. Bags here looked deliberately worked-in, almost provisional. Utility satchels, compact backpacks, and elongated shoulder bags were layered over tailoring, challenging the idea of polish as perfection. Nylon returned with purpose, leather appeared softened and creased, and fastenings felt intentionally exposed.
Dior
At Dior Men, Jonathan Anderson’s Fall 2026 collection played with contrast, refinement meeting rebellion. Inspired by Paul Poiret but filtered through a contemporary, lived-in lens, the bags followed suit. Slouchy leather totes, compact top-handle bags, and softly structured shoulder pieces appeared alongside faded denim and sharp tailoring.
Hermès
Hermès, in Véronique Nichanian’s final menswear collection for the house, offered a masterclass in restraint. The bags were quietly exceptional. Precise in construction, discreet in branding, and resolutely functional. Here, leather was treated as a material to be lived with. Totes, messenger bags, and travel pieces were refined to their purest form, reinforcing Hermès’ enduring philosophy that true luxury lies in longevity and use.
Across the season, the most striking shift was how men used bags. Totes were carried with tailoring, clutches appeared as legitimate daytime accessories, and crossbody styles replaced traditional briefcases. Men’s Fall/Winter 2026 proved that bags are no longer afterthoughts.
