With his second show on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule in the books, Man About Town checks in with the Amsterdam-based designer, talking Rei Kawakubo, his industrial design degree and their latest show.
Four days out from his Autumn/Winter 2026 show in Paris, Camiel Fortgens either didn’t feel any nerves or was extremely good at hiding them. He was sitting in the corridor of his upcoming show space chatting to me on the phone, bundled up in a beanie, what he described as “white karate pants” from his namesake label, and a fitted hoodie from the latest collection.
Camiel Fortgens is one of the standout names in fashion right now coming out of the Netherlands, with his Amsterdam label garnering a loyal following for its uniquely imperfect take on unisex clothing. Seams are exposed, threads hang intentionally loose, and edges are left raw, creating handmade pieces for those ready to disrupt their everyday wardrobe with an eye for detail.
Autumn/Winter 26 marks his second show as a designer on the official Parisian calendar and, even though he’s been here countless times, he still feels the honour. “We’ve been doing [Paris Fashion Week] now for quite some years, two times a year. But to be on the calendar, it’s still quite special. Not that many people are on there,” says Fortgens.
It definitely wasn’t like this for Fortgens when he first set foot in the city of love as a fashion designer, rocking up to Paris with only his graduate collection and a dream. “I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know anything, I just wanted to start making a business selling clothes. So I rented a small Airbnb, took my clothes in IKEA bags and just emailed everyone with any info I could find. The first time, one or two store buyers visited [the Airbnb], one bought. The second time, five people came. So I just built up from there, and more and more people joined the brand,” he explains.
As he now stands at the top and looks back at the route that took him there, it feels right to say it was anything but conventional. Studying industrial design at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, it was only in his final year that he decided to pivot to fashion – without really knowing how to make patterns or sew all too well. He first attempted to make, as he puts it, “perfect clothes in a perfect collection”, but his lack of formal training and experience meant he fell short. “It was definitely a process to get to the point where I thought, ‘Wait a minute. I actually like the mistakes.’ You can’t plan for them. You can design something that’s thought out, but things can happen by accident; sometimes they’re the best surprises,” says Fortgens.
The beauty in surprises rings especially true when he recalls not recognising one of fashion’s biggest names whilst sharing a room with them. “I really didn’t know any designers. I was doing an internship at Too Good in London, and we were in the showroom in Paris. Rei Kawakubo came into the showroom, and everyone was like, ‘She’s here, she’s here.’ And I was like, ‘Who is that?’ Up to that point, I didn’t even know her.” Quite ironic in hindsight, considering Kawakubo’s design philosophies of anti-fashion do quite align with his own ethos, along with other designers he cited as inspirations, such as Raf Simons and Martin Margiela.
The past two seasons have seen the Dutch designer explore themes and time periods within fashion as the centre point of the collection. Autumn/Winter 2025 took us to the British countryside, where familiar garments like quilted coats and hunting jackets featured asymmetrical finishes and exposed edges to spotlight the contrasting lining. Even a classic cardigan flipped on its head with faded silk knit paired with an overly-cropped body and slim, elongated sleeves, along with a flouncy ’70s collar and roughed-up stitching throughout.
Vintage Americana and workwear were the big talking points for Spring/Summer 2026, putting his spin on archetypal classics like Carhartt Detroit jackets with a nonchalantly oversized fit and a worn-in, acid-wash. Zip-ups were constructed with a heavy rib knit with inside-out seams and a crooked zipper closure, whilst twill pants reminiscent of Dickies 874s were given irregular topstitching and raw edge details for some wabi-sabi flair.
And now we arrive at his Autumn/Winter 2026 show. “It’s a sort of modern, city caveman climbing a mountain. It’s very cosy, layered, a bit dark, browny, and muddy,” he explains. “Part of the concept for the collection is sort of interior fabrics, what happens if you place interiors onto the body? I think the inspiration comes from heavily used fabrics, so clothes that are alive in a way.”
Set in an intimate Parisian apartment, the CF men this season prioritise comfort. They’re laid-back individuals who don’t really seek all too much attention and might even blend in with all the other NPCs when you’re having a stroll around the city. But then you’ll notice a loose thread hanging from their trousers, then another one, then the beautifully irregular fades on their sweatshirt or the shrivelled zipper on their jacket. They’re very clearly not your average Joe; they walk around slowly and observantly, scared of standing out and being amongst the metropolitan landscape. They don’t belong in rural habitats nor urban cityscapes, but somewhere in between.
Although this unfinished, almost DIY look is Fortgens’ signature, these so-called city cavemen are resourceful people, using anything they can get their hands on to build their daily wardrobe. Couch leathers are transformed into patina’d pea coats, curtain fabrics are upcycled into drapey, pleated skirts, and faded cushion fabric can be found in bags. “I really like the bags. It feels kind of fancy, but you have the lining leather sticking out, so it’s black on the outside and a brown leather lining sticking out on the sides. It looks normal from the front, but then it’s a bit of a blob from the side, it’s a rough, fancy bag,” he adds.
Fortgens pivoting from the roots of his education into fashion territory was undoubtedly necessary to get him where he is today, but the level of craftsmanship that goes into his creations is a clear aftermath of those early days.“I love to make a good product,” he explains, “a smart product that’s a little bit industrial, where I think of how to manufacture it or use certain materials for finishings in smart ways and re-work materials.” Like the collection’s not-so-simple t-shirt, one of his favourite garments of AW26. “It’s a dark blue t-shirt with an almost black print, almost everything is black printed. I love how on the edges the blue comes through, and it’s really subtle, I love it.”
Fortgens’ latest collection is far from perfect, and as we’ve come to know, that’s exactly how he wants it to be. “Maybe I find a little bit of importance in showing imperfections in a landscape of only perfect images and facades,” he says. “It’s hard to live up to that. And I think it’s nice that there’s also imagery or things that are imperfect to give a bit more space to imperfection; it makes it easier to live as a human. We’re all imperfect”. They’re clothes for people who appreciate the passage of time, finding beauty in wear and character. They understand that even imperfection takes time, going through multiple sets of hands to achieve a lived-in look that’s very much a labour of love. The results are garments that do feel alive and have their own stories to tell, too.
Looking towards the future, Fortgens is thinking big. As well as making the shows more grand and bringing his ambitious ideas to life, he also wants to build a community, helping up-and-comers in the industry. “Ultimately, I’d love to open a shop where I also curate other brands and designers. But also maybe share the network we have in production and sales, because building a brand is hard. There are so many talented people out there who have a hard time making it because they don’t have the network, or they’re not skilled on the business side. So I think it’s interesting to see and to work with other people as well.”
As we wrapped up the interview and began exchanging goodbyes, a flicker of unease crossed the designer’s face. He paused, then shared what had been weighing on him. “It’s weird that the interview is just with me because the brand is a whole team”, he starts. “We’re five full-time people working on the brand and the production, and I couldn’t have done it without them. So we’re definitely doing this together. Camiel Fortgens is my name, but it’s the whole team that’s making it happen.” A final reminder that what looks like individuality is, in fact, collaboration done well.
