Playing the Pyjama Game
Review of Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2026 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Bedtime stories, chic slumber, day-to-day-bed
Paraphrasing the world-renowned trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort (who may be little-known outside of fashion forecasting circles, but is considered one of the true oracles of futures predicting) who once said ‘we will all return to the bed’, she not only suggested – in a pre-pandemic time nonetheless!! Who could have known, only Edekooort – that the bed would be where we would not only sleep, but also live the majority of our lives, from working, to socialising, and of course resting. This prediction, made around a decade ago, has come to fruition many times over as we have sought refuge in our inner sanctuaries.
Dolce & Gabbana carried forward that thread, of the ultimate way to practice self-care, with a spring 2026 show centred around the bedroom – or what we wear to bed. Presenting a nearly 100-strong collection of varying iterations of the official uniform of the boudoir – the pyjamas. Striped, embellished, tipped, cropped, double-waisted or playing peek-a-boo under a trenchcoat. Flipping the idea of the walk-of-shame on its head, the Dolce & Gabbana models instead looked as if they had merely slipped out for a pint of milk.
The spring season of the brands menswear arm is consistently producing more cohesive, desirable clothing which has outshone their women’s collections of late. Collections which seem to be in a holding pattern, waiting for a shift in direction or at least an update of the Italian Glamazon or Glam-mama. Today there was a lightness of touch in the palette of neutrals and soft pastels, as well as an unexpected, but welcome, move away from the polished perfectionism we have become accustomed to, towards a decadently dishevelled finish in the form of ‘Just-rolled-out-of-bed’ crinkled PJs. The pyjamas were undoubtedly the star of the show, but there was no sense of repetitiveness as the duo presented a million ways you could style a striped set, acknowledging the likelihood that the customer who purchases one of them is unlikely to wear them together 80% of the time, So, we were given options for parka and pyjama, slouchy suit and striped shirt, vintage cabana boy, prep school rebel, or part-time playboy, all of which could be layered up or down for entertaining behind closed doors or out in the real world.
It is unlikely that a collection called “Pyjama Boys” is a commentary on the wider world-at-large, but rather a very luxe suggestion that the Dolce & Gabbana man take his TLC seriously and may just forgo partying hard for a season (or two), because when loungewear is this inviting why would you want to be anywhere else.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Lighter touches are emerging as key themes on only day 2 of Milan Men’s with designers taking to lightening the load of getting dressed for a world in chaos, and taking it further the Dolce and Gabbana duo asked why the need to get dressed at all. Not when the humble pyjama – touted as the ‘protagonist of the collection’ according to today’s show notes – can be updated as a versatile option for everyday life. Out is the need to for perfect cuts, in is a softer, crinkled silhouette, perfect for taking life at a leisurely pace. And if the occasion calls for it, then why not invest in one of the numerous premium crystal embellished iterations which graced the runway for the statement-making finale tradition.
