Returning to the Palace of Tokyo after exploring sonic worlds at the Institute for Acoustic Coordination and Research last season, Études Studios offered an immersion into the bowels of the iconic, monumental Parisian Art Deco building. A descent to the very foundations, and a welcome breath of cool air for an audience already wilting in the heat on Paris’s very first day of the season.
Above all, this raw-concrete setting proved ideal for the theme of the French label’s 29th collection. After paying homage to the masters of Land Art, Aurélien Arbet and Jérémie Egry drew inspiration for their spring/summer proposal from the work of Gordon Matta-Clark. The American artist, born to a Chilean father, developed the concept and seeded the “anarchitecture” movement—an irresistible proposition for Études’ art directors. Matta-Clark’s oeuvre—he died prematurely of cancer in 1978 at the age of 35—is marked in particular by large-scale incisions into buildings destined for demolition.
For this collection, the French duo focused in particular on Conical Intersect. For this work, Matta-Clark bored a giant conical void through two 17th-century buildings condemned by the construction of the Center Pompidou—an intervention immortalized in film and photographs. It’s a fitting nod for the brand, which presented its Autumn/Winter 2026 show just a few steps from the site. Études reproduced a photograph of the neighborhood seen through the perforated concrete as an all-over print on a silk shirt. But the references were most evident in a heavy canvas jacket, worn against the skin, with a circular cut-out applied to the chest panel and the back. A long duck-green coat paired with a café-au-lait-coloured shirt also received this cylindrical treatment.
These statement pieces conversed with a precisely calibrated wardrobe, unveiled to a rhythmic jazz score by Pierre Rousseau. The collection included half a dozen women’s silhouettes, notably a purple satin bomber with zip-off sleeves—which the model wore partially unzipped—and a pairing of a treated denim jacket with soft, flowing leather trousers. For Summer 2027, the menswear was distinctly urban: there were few shorts—more often Bermudas with a prominent front zip—worn with tone-on-tone shirts in caramel or crushed-grape hues. The designers’ signature fixations remained discernible (outerwear nodding to the outdoor realm, utilitarian detailing, intense washes and treatments on denim, and a play on trouser lengths) yet were deftly controlled in this collection, titled “Short Term Eternity”.
The expanded leather-goods line-up introduced new bag formats in beautiful leathers, while collaborations with La Botte Gardiane and Hereu for footwear, Chimi for eyewear and Agmes for jewelery completed the wardrobe.
“When I arrived in January, GregoryAurélien and I had many discussions about the need to maintain a clear through-line. Every designer has their strong seasons. Études’ vision is expressed most fully in winter. So rather than forcing the issue with a summer offer, they developed a mid-season concept. And the result is spot on. It’s completely coherent when implemented in-store,” said brice Gourlier, who took over as managing director at the start of the year and who—building on this creative groundwork and having assembled a team of seasoned luxury-sector professionals—intends to scale up the activity of the independent label, which now counts around sixty stockists, markedly more than a year ago.
The knitwear was luxurious, with precise work on openwork structures in cotton–nylon, jacquards and bouclé wool. Whether image-forward statement pieces or reassuring jumpers to wear tone-on-tone under a linen suit, the offer was compelling.
Chalk-white trousers, sand-coloured blousons and tailoring crafted from textured blends—virgin wool with viscose, and linen with washed silk—worn over. Tencel and organic-cotton shirts, charted the brand’s elevation as it moves away from its streetwear and workwear roots. Also noteworthy was an ensemble pairing a duck-green coat with fluid chocolate-brown trousers, drawn in just above the ankle with a slim drawcord. The look was finished with a large grained-leather Studio Bag, lending it welcome heft. As the brand continues its shift towards a contemporary universe, the designers’ hand preserved Études’ DNA, notably through initiatives such as thick belts inspired by the support belts used in the building trade.
“Our standout piece from last season is a virgin-wool bomber that retails at over €1,000. This symbolizes the brand’s potential. The quality of the materials we use is steering us in this direction, as seen in the final look featuring a leather jacket-and-trousers ensemble. And for this season’s showroom, we’re seeing very encouraging signs with the return of many key accounts,” said Gourlier, citing several leading international department stores and benchmark multi-brand retailers.
To build on this momentum, the CEO aims to embed, over time, the relationship between Études Studios and various movements and communities, keeping this interaction alive beyond the catwalk shows.
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