Celebrating a decade of sports-sensibility-meets-sartorial-elegance in true, Wales Bonner style, the beloved British brand served up superfine nostalgia on a sequin-trimmed platter with its SS26 menswear collection, presented yesterday in Paris. A love letter to inheritance, memory and soulful dressing, the designer called it Jewel, an apt title for an offering that felt like digging through an old box of keepsakes in pursuit of that long-lost treasure. This season’s character? A soulful traveller with a taste for elegance and a wardrobe full of meaning.

A collector of eclectic souvenirs, that traveller is a storyteller – moving through crisp linen field jackets and soft, lived-in denim before slipping into wing-tip silk shirts and leopard opera shoes with crystal buckles. Think 1930s glamour meets British prep, filtered through a distinctly Afro-Atlantic lens.

Elsewhere were polo shirts in soft cottons, tartan hotpants and a standout tailcoat made with Savile Row’s Anderson & Sheppard – classic, but with a twist. Irregular buttons and mismatched collars gave everything a subtle sense of mischief.

Wales Bonner’s Adidas Originals collaboration made yet another comeback, this time with Yohji Yamamoto‘s Y-3, reviving satin souvenir jackets, technical tuxedo trousers and Y-3 Field trainers and woven Adidas Originals by Wales Bonner Karintha Los that balanced sport and ceremony.

For that added dose of ‘30s-era glamour, adornments appeared on tailoring – feathered crystal brooches peppered lapels – and around necks – mother of pearl dangling from interlinking gold chains.

Set to a dreamy soundtrack by James William Blades and closed by harpist Ranie Ribeiro, the show was a soft celebration – less about looking back, more about carrying everything forward. Here’s to another 10, Wales Bonner!

walesbonner.com