There weren't any arched eyebrows when AURALEE, on day one of Paris Fashion Week Men’s Fall/Winter 2026, sent suede apron derbies and buttery leather loafers down the catwalk. Nor when Our Legacy sent out almond-toed oxford shoes, or Junya matched Stüssy suits with patent brogues, or Yohji animated his poetry in motion with hefty rubber-soled hiking boots.
These designers have always offered more than mere casual shoes. But then, again, where were the casual shoes? At Louis Vuitton, split-toed moccasins for a chic commute. At Acne Studios, boxy dress shoes ready for a time-warp disco. At Rick Owens, tactical knee-high boots that said ACAB. New Louboutin creative director Jaden Smith, who really loves its famous red, almost stuck solely to classic shoes, albeit with impish twists.
Which is to say, sneakerheads looking forward to fashion week's usual deluge of collaborative sneakers would’ve been left scratching their actual heads. The post-sneaker society, soothsayed by Highsnobiety, is here. And the fabric of this society is leather, in all its buttery-soft, oil-slicked, well-creased beauty. “Ain’t nothing better than a boring shoe,” wrote editor Teo Van Den Brooke in his latest newsletter. And to be sure, sneakers were the lesser-spotted shoe of the season, sighted more at showrooms than the typical tentpole presentations.
Of course, that’s not to say that sneakers were totally flung out of the Paris Fashion Week rotation. Pharrell did bring back the Buttersoft (but then, they are crafted from supple cowhide) and quietly debuted a new sneaker called the LV Drop. Kenzo danced to the tune of the ballet sneaker. Dries Van Noten offered up new iterations of his much-loved low-top sneaker, the only non-dress shoe to hit his brand’s FW26 catwalk. Off the calendar, sportswear behemoths like Salomon, On, PUMA and adidas tried their level best to show Big Leather who’s boss with collaborative sneakers and activewear pop-ups. Norda debuted a running shoe with Gnuhr. Saucony took Parisians jogging on morning run clubs. You can’t exactly beat your 5K PB wearing Lemaire’s freshly-debuted, contrast-stitched slippers. Or could you?
This dress-shoe-supremacy ties into the maturation of streetwear, which has seen flex culture swap out rare logos in favor of fine leather footwear, epitomized by the stylings of back-to-classic menswear labels like MFPen and Sage Toda Nation’s reborn YMC. For the last few years, every wannabe it-boy has been wearing grandaddyish penny loafers (and, now, even boat shoes) with washed blue jeans or baggy trousers as a way to infuse looks with sartorial flair. The word “Weejun” isn’t jargon anymore, it’s common parlance for anyone remotely interested in footwear. Paraboot obsessives are, at this point, practically ready to name their first born “Michael.”
But now, as menswear finds its way towards an increasingly elegant wardrobe, brands even slightly inclined to wear something smarter are downplaying sneakers and going hell to leather, equally reflected in COMME des GARÇONS' two-piece disjointed lace-ups and Willy Chavarria's louche loafers. Even off the runway, the Hedi boys' point boots and the beefy boots inspired by former Balenciaga overseer Demna are going through a boom time.
The Main Character Sneaker is over. But that that doesn’t mean you should yeet your Salomons out the window. Sneakers will play a supporting roles to leather shoes. Everything in rotation. But the Paris shows are clearly proposing 2026 is the year that loafers, brogues, boots and derbies become truly vital, the truest demonstration of modern good taste. In this new game of hide and seek, sneakers are only going to get harder to spot.
