1. Today’s signal starts with footwear
Published on 8 September, GQ’s fall forecast identifies substantial, usually black engineer boots as a shape poised to matter. Vogue Runway had already made the direction tangible at Berluti: a robust mid-calf boot shown alongside a recut Chelsea. Nino Cappello reads this as an invitation to compose a men’s skirt from the ground up, not as a demand for bulk at any cost.
2. Shaft height is architecture
The interval between hem and shaft decides whether a look feels settled or unresolved. A slim Chelsea with a clean toe keeps a knee-length pleated skirt urban. Beneath a longer utility wrap, the sole may be more visible provided the shaft remains neat. A mid-calf engineer boot calls for a hem close to the knee, allowing sock and leather to register as two controlled fields. A long skirt needs a sleek boot whose toe continues the line beneath the cloth.
A boot should not explain the skirt. It should give it secure ground.
3. Four cities, four exact equations
Milan combines camel, charcoal and polished Chelsea leather. Copenhagen sets an ink-navy utility wrap against matte lacing and a lug sole. Florence warms sand and olive with an espresso engineer boot. Paris closes an ankle-length black column with oxblood sock boots. Every front remains continuous and unmistakably a skirt; the footwear stabilises the silhouette without turning it into uniform or costume.
4. Socks connect rather than decorate
Socks are not an afterthought here; they bridge skirt and boot. Tonal choices lengthen the line: graphite with charcoal, deep grey with ink navy, black with midnight. Tobacco can mediate the warmer distance between sand cloth and espresso leather. Keep ribs fine to medium, remove visible logos and avoid a thick roll at the shaft. Even the strongest boot will then read as cultivated.
5. Men Can: grounded, never armoured
Dries Van Noten’s current menswear selection places a pleated wool kilt and leather sock boots within the same language of free dressing, while Thom Browne continues to list a tailored pleated skirt as real menswear. AP locates men in skirts within both a longer history and today’s mainstream. There is no single correct way to appear masculine. Nino Cappello chooses precise, positively masculine construction without diminishing feminine, queer or any other expression. Men Can means making your own stance visible.
Four hemlines, four boot profiles
Begin with the hem, then set shaft height and sole volume. Let the sock close the line—quiet, tonal and free of visible branding.
Camel double-breasted jacket + ivory merino + charcoal knee-length pleated skirt + graphite knee socks + polished black Chelsea boots.
Short forest wool blouson + oatmeal knit + ink-navy below-knee wrap skirt + charcoal socks + matte black lace-up boots.
Olive jacket + cream poplin + sand knee-length wrap + tobacco socks + dark-brown mid-calf engineer boots.
Midnight three-button jacket + black fine knit + long black pleated skirt + black socks + sleek oxblood leather sock boots.
Sources, briefly
GQ supplies the day-close footwear cue; Vogue, Wallpaper*, Dries Van Noten, Thom Browne and AP ground boots, pleated skirts and open menswear codes in current collections.
- GQ — The Next Big Men’s Fashion Trends of Fall 2026, According to GQ Staffers (2026-09-08).
- Vogue Runway — Berluti Fall 2026 Menswear (2026-01-22).
- Wallpaper* — Milan Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2026: live updates from the Wallpaper* team (2026-01-15 bis 2026-01-22).
- Dries Van Noten — Men Autumn Winter 2026-27 (A/W 2026 (ohne Datumsangabe)).
- Thom Browne — Spring 2027 Runway (2026-06-22).
- Associated Press — Milan designers go lighter in silhouette, if not materials, for next summer (2026-06-22).
- Associated Press — Gender-bending is now part of menswear. Paris runways show how mainstream it has become (2026-06-29).
Find your own stance
Discover modern men’s skirts, Italian construction and looks in which every step becomes part of the attitude.