He may be new to the title, but Julian Klausner is no stranger to Dries Van Noten (DVN). After working at Thom Browne, Kenzo, and Maison Margiela, the Brussels-born designer joined the house in 2018. When Dries Van Noten stepped down in June 2024 after leading his namesake label since 1986, Klausner was named his successor. Six months later, he officially took the reins, overseeing both men’s and women’s collections.

His menswear debut arrives with A Perfect Day, a Spring/Summer 2026 collection inspired by a man in love, walking the beach at dawn after a long night out. It explores the space between formality and spontaneity.

Photography by Ulrich Knoblauch for Dries Van Noten

Classic DVN tailoring is softened, with double-breasted jackets worn open over ribbed cycle shorts and evening shirts layered under wrapped vests or styled with sarongs. Looseness runs throughout, in rolled-up sleeves, paréos at the hip, and casually placed embroidery. Proportions shift from sculpted to relaxed, with duchesse coats, darted sleeves, cropped trousers, and boatneck tops shaping silhouettes that move freely between masculine and feminine.

Fabrics mix cloqué jacquards and glossy satin with pointelle knits, slinky jerseys, and striped motifs that feel like vintage pajamas. To draw the eye, sequins and embroidery show up often but never feel like too much, scattered across tank tops with intention. Even the more tailored elements, like hook-and-eye closures and turned-up cuffs, stay true to the collection’s sense of ease—a feeling echoed in the use of color, which runs through every look in deep reds, mauves, satin greens, and cyan, adding a richness that reflects the mood.

Courtesy of Dries Van Noten

For accessories, necklaces made from shells and twisted gold wire feel like mementos from a perfect summer. Bags come in two styles: the Arch, compact and casual, and an elongated duffel that mimics the shape of DVN’s signature sneakers. Those sneakers are back in satin and suede, joined by soft leather shoes with sporty laces that keep things grounded.

Threaded through it all is the spirit of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day — a reference Klausner doesn’t overstate, but lets settle gently into his menswear debut. In doing so, he captures the feeling of getting dressed in the afterglow of something unforgettable, carrying the joy, the stillness, and the chaos, and letting it shape how the moment lingers.

Photography by Ulrich Knoblauch for Dries Van Noten