Going Out? Dress Down

We all love to go out. To get all dressed up at night in our most glam looks and make a statement. This season, eveningwear has taken two different routes: ultra-glam, and refreshingly casual, but not in the most obvious of ways. For the recent Cruise 2027 and Fall/Winter 2026 shows, we’ve seen both approaches materialize on the runway, but the dressed-down version has caught our eye in particular of late.

Chanel and Dior both experimented with these themes for Cruise 2027, which isn’t surprising given the house codes and design sensibilities of both Matthieu Blazy and Jonathan Anderson respectively, who are both often finding new ways to rework denim through a luxury, evening lens. Here, at Chanel, Blazy offered up a Canadian tuxedo covered in transparent sequins to great the illusion of a denim weave—back to his old Trompe l’oeil tricks—while Anderson created slouchy denim jeans with slashed knees and embellished threads that caught the light as models descended upon the runway.

Over at Saint Laurent, it was all about reworking the smoking suit and tuxedo through a looser, more modern lens for Anthony Vaccarello, who offered both in slouchy, relaxed cuts for Fall/Winter 2026 in Paris, and in Milan at Prada, 15 models wore four-layer looks, which would be periodically stripped per exit to symbolize shedding layers from day to night. The night looks were creased and disheveled and ultra-compelling, with see-through silk tops and nylon shorts, knee high socks and cotton blouses tucked into embroidered evening skirts.

There is a sentiment of rebellion in these looks, especially coming from luxury houses that are steeped in elegance. With a new guard of designers who are redefining what certain dress codes mean, these ideas of marrying casual elements with eveningwear has emerged on the red carpet too, specifically with GapStudios’ Zac Posen, who dressed Kendall Jenner for the 2026 Met Gala and used cotton t-shirt material to create her sculptural gown. 

So, are you wearing a T-shirt or jeans to the function?