Sure, there were bigger shows. Yes, there were weirder runway moments. But Camiel Fortgens' Fall/Winter 2026 presentation, only the Dutch designer's second one on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar, was perhaps the most memorable, especially if you were there.

Highsnobiety was among the tight crew sitting on folding chairs and windowsills in a tastefully decked-out Paris apartment. Models, some in socks, padded around like houseguests, a befittingly intimate presentation for Fortgens' intelligent wearables.

These clothes wouldn't really make sense pedestaled on a theatrical catwalk because they are not fantasy. They are aspirational but only in the sense that they make you want to dress better, to help these funky shapes and refined forms reach their full potential. We live in apartments and we wear clothes. Fortgens' clothes (and this Paris apartment) are simply that but better.

His fleece vests, hooded work coats, generous pleated slacks, and boxy knit cardigans are recognizable as new spins on old favorites and they don't need to be dramatically reworked each season. Sure, there's newness afoot — Fortgens is making leather look good with some tremendous, full jackets — but Fortgens proposes clothes, not spectacles. They're best appreciated close and best worn every day in an unpretentious manner reflected by his chosen venue.

Speaking of: showing in an apartment circumvents all manner of runway complications, like guests getting a good seat: everyone's front row when there's only one row. But what to do about music? This Parisian abode isn't fitted with a sound system. Fortgens brought everyone in even closer by giving his models portable speakers, the same technique he employed to great effect last season.

Again, this makes it all feel personal, small, warm. Audio swelled and fell due to distance and swaying hands, dynamically shifting focus as the tunes drifted around the space. It made you want to lean in, not just to catch snatches of sound but to better get to know the individual items and the people wearing them.

The human touch is a big part of Fortgens' practice and presentation. On his website, clothes are modeled by friends and staff in his studio, fabric scraps sometimes visible on the ground. Prior to showing on the PFW calendar, Fortgens held funky presentations in his showroom surrounded by acquaintances — once, he held an ad hoc runway show casted with industry pals like Evan Kinori.

It's all about an attachment to the individual, the people wearing the clothes, the people who dreamed them up, and the people who made them, their handiwork visible in Fortgens' signature raw hems. It's a reminder that these clothes have a soul. And this show in an apartment was a reminder that they exist in real life, like all good clothes.

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