The menswear shows always stage inspiring, envelope-pushing fashion, but these days the backdrops are just as spectacular — crucial tools for conveying a message, vibe or point of view for a collection and creating online buzz. Brands like Louis Vuitton, with its veritable house of glass, and Prada, which recreated a decaying palazzo, put on a bigger, more creative show each year. And specialist design agencies like Bureau Betak have emerged at the forefront of a new industry of space-making. Here are our favourites from the Fall/Winter 2026 shows.
Villa Necchi, Tod’s
Pietro Portaluppi’s rationalist marvel was completed in 1935 for the Necchi Campiglio family and became a beloved landmark in Milan, eventually serving as a backdrop for director Luca Guadagnino‘s cult drama I Am Love. Tod’s creative director, Matteo Tamburini, presented timeless classics like the signature Gommino, as well as cashmere sweaters and jackets in the house’s new Pashmy leather and suede — all against the villa’s cinematic ground floor.
Fondazione Prada, Prada
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, co-creative director of the house, stripped back their show space inside the Fondazione Prada’s cavernous Deposito to reveal the bones of a decadent palazzo that has withstood 30 years of showcasing. Designed by architecture firm OMA, a longtime Prada collaborator, the space reflected codes from the Fall/Winter 26 collection titled ‘Before and Next’. Models walked through pastel ruins in skinny overcoats, giant handcuffs dangling from blazers, fisherman hats, capelets attached to jackets and intentionally damaged garments, evoking Prada’s spirit of surprise.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton
A collaboration between Pharrell Williams and the Japanese lifestyle brand Not A Hotel turned Louis Vuitton‘s F/W 26 show space into their mid-century architectural ideal. Dubbed DROPHAUS, the prefabricated set resembled a glass-walled country house decorated with bespoke, site-specific furnishings under the name HOMEWORK. Built within the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton, it benefitted from the surrounding gardens and Bois de Boulogne location. Models moved through the gardens and into the ‘house’, embodying Williams’ vision of functional fashion: sharp, comfortable tailoring demonstrating the deeply intertwined foundational principles of design and fashion.
College des Bernardins, Issey Miyake
As the backdrop for his IM F/W 26 men’s show, Issey Miyake chose the medieval arches of College des Bernardins, renovated in 2008 by architecture studio Wilmotte et Associés. Inspired by the quiet stillness at dawn and dusk, the presentation featured models in sculptural silhouettes, KASURI-woven jackets and artisanally dyed garments walking through the 13th-century academy — now a Christian arts hub — in Paris’s 5th arrondissement.
Institut National du Judo, Willy Chavarria
Willy Chavarria and Bureau Betak transformed a judo arena in the 14th arrondissement of Paris into an urban setting reminiscent of a New York street. The space featured zebra crossings and phone booths, a true visualisation of how his F/W 26 menswear collection would appear in the wild. Models strutted around corners wearing sharp suits and bomber jackets in front of 2,000 guests. And performances by the Latin boy band Santos Bravos, Colombian singer Feid, Puerto Rican artist Lunay and singer Mon Laferte turned the event into a musical extravaganza (Chavarria has always drawn inspiration from the Latin American diaspora). Though the primary-coloured fabrics were attention-grabbing, the staging was the reason the show went viral.
