Awakening from a dream is not always about simply opening your eyes to reality—it’s about entering a mystical world softened by mist, where sunlight peeks through the trees as komorebi and the gentle chirping of birds twines with a light breeze, providing a tranquil soundtrack that enhances the experience. This is precisely where Julian Klausner’s Dries Van Noten Men’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection begins. Held at the Tennis Club de Paris, Debussy’s airy notes transported the models to a sunlit forest, as they floated leisurely down the runway in the liminal space between sleep and waking.

The core of the collection stems from Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem “L’Après-midi d’un faune,” where a mythological half-man, half-animal is caught between reality, memory, and dream. Fused with a sense of gentle unreality, Klausner intertwines nature and imagination. Delving into sensuality, he offers loose, delicate, and billowing silhouettes in silks, chiffons, nylons, and sheer fabrics that erotically caress the body and reflect the light.

Trench coats are crafted to be transparent, safari jackets are reimagined as sleeveless, and pongé silk parkas seem to levitate behind the models. Sequined short shorts and tunics ripple like sunlight on water, while cargo pants become languidly romantic in washed silks, viscose, and acetates. Resembling lingerie, silk charmeuse tanks are edged with delicate lace, while ballet references appear in spaghetti straps and ballet flats that lace up the calf. Projecting a suggestive intimacy, necklines hang low, while delicate, thin-chained charm necklaces lift off bare chests as models carelessly grasp oversized bags.

Dominating the collection is a spectrum of peachy neutrals, earthy blush, sunset orange, and the blue-green shadows of the forest floor, which seamlessly fade into one another as if foliage. Gradient prints and tie-dye techniques are featured on silk and chiffon garments, creating a gradual dissolve effect that provides an overall sense of fluid harmony.

Unveiling a whimsical fantasy, Klausner presents a softer men’s collection that embraces relaxation, indulges in sensuality, and embodies a spirit of wanderlust. In his vision, the Dries Van Noten man exists in a perpetual state of gentle drift, embodying a dreamy vulnerability.