Are you shrekking in your relationship? Are Jacob Elordi and Kendall Jenner the perfect swag match? By the way, are people still talking about swag gaps? Forget people, can the runways have them too?
Confused? Here are some cliff notes: A “swag gap” is a viral term popularized last year when people began lamenting online about their relationship’s vast sartorial differences. As for Jacob Elordi and Kendall Jenner, two attractive lanky people who possess a penchant for quiet luxury and were recently spotted on a walk in Australia in matching gorpcore, yeah, it seems like a pretty good fit. And menswear? Well, it’s long been the also-ran in fashion, but observing the particularly funky men’s shows this season, I’d say that men’s fashion week might just be closing the swag gap with its flashier womenswear counterpart.
Ralph Lauren, spring 2027 menswear
Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com
There are a few key factors that have jazzed up this season’s collections. Reporting live from on the ground in Paris, Vogue Runway senior fashion news editor Max Berlinger chalks it up partly to accessories. “I’ve noticed a ton of small, quirky gestures like the anklets at Auralee, brooches at Givenchy and Dior, and lots of scarves,” he says. Sarongs, which first appeared in Julian Klausner’s Dries Van Noten menswear are here to stay: sarongs and shirts wrapped around the waist channeled a breezy California attitude at Julian Louie’s Aubero. Elsewhere, Ralph Lauren’s Polo portion dialed up the styling several notches, piling on RL camo corduroy hats with sweaters around the waist, with pocket squares with duffel bags, while bracelet stacks complemented—and never clashed—with instarsia knits. It’s refreshing to see such unabashed maximalism on men, and the best part is that it inspires at-home experimentation. There’s no excuse to be in a swag deficit, when the formula is in front of you. “It’s a low lift way to add some flair to an otherwise unassuming outfit,” Berlinger adds.
