Francisco Cancino always has something to say about Mexico. He did so in Los primeros mexicanos (spring 2024), when he explored the country’s origins, and in La Última Ciudad (fall 2025), when he turned his attention to Tlatelolco. The Chiapas-born designer has often looked to history, memory, and sometimes his own inner world to build his collections. But with El Abrazo del Amor del Universo (The Embrace of the Universe’s Love), his spring 2027 collection, Cancino looked to capture Mexico as it is today. He also imagined it beyond its borders.
His starting point was the atlas, those “universal books that describe the geography of places,” as he explained backstage after the show. Together with his team he set out to create his own, drawing on the words, names, characters, and objects that make up the country’s everyday landscape. “We imagined that if you looked at Mexico today, you’d have to include a prickly pear, a braid, a woman making gorditas, an apron, a hat from Papantla,” he said. All of these references found their way into the collection, though never literally. Instead, they were translated into tailoring, pleats, headpieces, volumes, and colors.
The opening look featured a white shirt, wide-leg striped trousers, loafers, and a tailored vest with asymmetrical draping, a very Cancino touch. At first glance, it seemed to explore fashion’s eternal tension between the masculine and the feminine. But there was another way to read it: balance. Structure and fluidity often appeared side by side in the same outfit: a simple T-shirt was paired with an exquisite skirt, while aprons found their place in tailoring.
There was something deeply earthy about this collection. The neutral tones, checks reminiscent of work uniforms, and handmade headpieces and three-dimensional appliqués created in collaboration with Mexican textile artist Alejandro Rincón helped bring Cancino’s vision of Mexico to life. An olive-green suit adorned with an oversized flower in vibrant colors seemed to carry a little piece of nature on the body. The jewelry came courtesy of Phoebe Stephens of Anndra Neen where Cancino has joined as co-creative director.
El Abrazo del Amor del Universo may well be Cancino’s best collection yet, both in terms of quality and its ability to translate a deeply conceptual narrative into desirable, commercially appealing clothes. In finding a balance between his commercial instincts and his more personal passions, particularly tailoring, he raised his own bar.
