There is much discussion in Paris of getting back to the roots of things—of clothes, of fashion’s purpose, of craftsmanship, and so on—but Kévin Nompeix and Florentin Glémarec took it one step further. For spring, the duo sent out a message of love for Glémarec’s late grandfather, René, who passed away last November aged 90. For Egonlab fans, Glémarec senior was a familiar presence: As the young brand gained traction, he became a late-blooming fashion icon, dressing up in the brand’s looks and gamely posing for photos at every outing.
With this collection, the Egonlab boys honored the Glémarec clan’s Breton origins as well as that coastal region’s flavor and traditions. It was perhaps their most grown-up outing to date—well-shaped and plenty commercial. Yet nautical riffs abounded, from knotted metal belts and sail-like hems, to practical workwear-inspired details on trousers and trenches with monumental hoods, a not-so-oblique reference to bereavement. Here and there, handbags referenced the binioù (or Breton bagpipe).
And then there is lace, which once starched and bent into a coif becomes one of France’s most enduring sartorial symbols. On the runway, it appeared as a foil for shirts and strong-shouldered suits with dramatic wing-like cotton collars and cuffs that lent the clothes an extra sense of movement. It also morphed into a couture-meets-art finale of a sculptural shirt with fleur-de-lis details—an emblem of French royalty and of eternal love—made of a textile coated in resin and then fired in porcelain.
At nearly 18 pounds, that number, produced in collaboration with the multihyphenate artist Flávio Juán Núñez, is far too heavy to wear and labor-intensive to produce, yet it will not be at all surprising to see it crop up all over the place one way or another. It speaks neatly to this duo’s—and this generation’s—desire to focus on artisanal craftsmanship and avoid being defined by fashion alone.
On that note, a couple of women’s looks—a sharp beige suit with white-and-blue striped cuffs and a couple of compelling black dresses—more than suggested that Egonlab has its sights set on new horizons. Stay tuned for January 2026.
