Sean Suen presented his Fall Winter 2026 collection at Paris Fashion Week, continuing the Beijing-based designer’s exploration of masculinity as a state of constant evolution. Titled “Second Skin,” the collection meditates on vulnerability, transition, and what remains after protection is no longer needed.
Casting: Global Perspectives on Masculine Form
Casting director choices placed the collection on an international trio that embodied Suen’s vision of languid, contemplative masculinity. London-based Hamaam Pelewura, represented by Society in New York, Premium Models in Milan, and Elite Models in both Milan and London, brought a commanding presence to the sculptural silhouettes. The Nigerian-born model, who emerged from Lagos agency 90s Model Management, has become a fixture on international runways and appeared on industry Hot Lists.
Tokyo-based Oleg Sedantsov, signed with WEST Management Tokyo, offered a different energy, more introspective, suited to Suen’s meditative approach. Zhengwu Zhao, represented by Bananas Models in Paris, CREW Model Management in Milan, and Paras Talent Management in Shanghai, completed the cast, his presence bridging the collection’s Chinese origins with its Parisian presentation.
Together, the three models demonstrated the universality of Suen’s proposition: that the process of shedding, of existing between states, transcends geography and background.
Clothes: Architecture of Transition
Photographer Jiaji Jin captured the collection in stark black-and-white imagery that emphasized silhouette over detail. Stylist Evan Feng layered the looks to reinforce the “second skin” concept -crinkled leather jackets over elongated shirts with curved, overlapping hems; voluminous bombers swallowing the frame; sharp-shouldered blazers with scalloped front panels creating tension between precision and fluidity.
Hair stylist Han Bin kept styling minimal and textured, hair falling across faces or cropped close, reinforcing the collection’s mood of transition and anonymity. The models become vessels for the garments rather than personalities, their features partially obscured, their bodies held within fabric.
The palette stays restrained throughout: whites, creams, blacks, textural contrasts between smooth and crinkled surfaces. Wide trousers pool at the floor or tuck into substantial boots. Everything suggests a body in the process of emergence or retreat.
Philosophy
Suen’s accompanying text reads as poetry: “Second skin is not a new form of protection. It forms when protection is no longer needed, by the body itself. A form held for too long becomes tiring. The pace slows. Movement reduces.”
The collection exists in the space between “a skin that has completed its task, and the next one not yet ready.” It’s fashion as biological process, molting, metamorphosis, the vulnerable interim.
Sean Suen founded his label in Beijing in 2012 and made his Paris Fashion Week debut for Spring/Summer 2016. His work consistently treats garments as wearable design objects, drawing from art, cinema, and architecture to articulate what he calls “languid masculinity.”
“Fabric on the outside. The body is held. Descent. Shedding. Second skin remains after.”
Credits: Designer: Sean Suen Photographer: Jiaji Jin Fashion Editor/Stylist: Evan Feng Hair Stylist: Han Bin Models: Hamaam Pelewura at Society NY / Premium Models Milan / Elite Milan & London, Oleg Sedantsov at WEST Management Tokyo, Zhengwu Zhao at Bananas Models Paris / CREW Model Management Milan
Discover more of the collection in our gallery:
