WARNING: if you are coming to Paris this summer, be prepared to drop trou. I say this because, at the most recent Paris Fashion Week men’s, there was a distinct lack of trousers on the catwalks. Call it a ban on bottoms, or the mystery of the missing pants, but SS27 is officially the start of the trouserless trend in menswear.

The whole thing began early in the week, on Tuesday, at the Saint Laurent show. As expected, Anthony Vacarello’s collection featured lots of scowling men in smartly tailored suits, but some of the boys had also been sent out sans slacks, with only small leather briefs to protect their modesties. The following day, an Egonlab model graced the runway in nothing but a chore coat and flip-flops. On Thursday, Rick Owens’ models wore diminutive adidas briefs and budgie smugglers, only partially protected by inflatable tubes around their legs. Later on in the week, LGN – Louis Gabriel Nouchi took the trend to its extreme, with trench coats cropped high at the hips, and just a small pouch of underwear showing at the top of naked legs.

This season, there was barely a brand that didn’t show some version of boxer shorts as outerwear, too. At Pronounce, designers Jun Zhou and Yushan Li made theirs in translucent organza for a peakaboo effect. Knicks’ point guard Jordan Clarkson walked for Willy Chavarria wearing two double-stacked pairs – a pink check version over pearly white. Dries Van Noten’s whole SS27 collection was inspired by women’s lingerie, meaning practically every look had a pair of silky boxers for bottoms. Elsewhere, LVMH prize winner Soshi Otsuki showed multiple pairs beneath knitwear and trench coats, Japanese designer Taro Horiuchi made a plaid pair for his brand Kolor, and LGN also showed striped boxers alongside their barely-there briefs.

And it’s not just Paris that’s getting rid of its trousers either. Earlier in the season, Simone Rocha’s debut menswear show at Pitti Uomo was full of boxer shorts in gingham, silk and broderie anglaise. At Milan Fashion Week men’s, Tokyo brand Shinyakozuka sent out models in smocks with bare legs below, while Saul Nash’s sensual sportswear collection featured burly men in see-through cycling shorts.

This all begs the question: why has menswear suddenly dropped its trousers? The easy answer would be the weather. Europe is currently experiencing a heatwave for the ages, so it makes sense that men would begin to strip off in the sun. But though these designers are extremely talented, soothsayers they are not: these collections would have been finalised months before the extreme heat was forecast.

Then what about body politics? Could the trouserless trend be fashion designers’ reaction to a rising cultural conservatism that’s affecting the way we dress? What’s most interesting is that it’s not just the naughty brands doing it. We’d expect this from Chavarria, who has his own line of piss-stained pants, or Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, whose last show was a collaboration with OnlyFans. Outside of that, it’s some of the capital M “menswear” brands that are dropping their trousers too, labels like Soshiotsuki and Pronounce which have traditionally been less subversive. Maybe it’s a sign that menswear just wants to be free – and what’s more liberating than running around in your underwear?

Amongst all of these thoughts, though, let us not forget those who came before us. The pantless trend – a progenitor of this trouserless moment – captured women’s ready-to-wear in 2022, with people like Emma Corrin, Kylie Jenner and Kristen Stewart as figureheads of the movement. Then, shortly after, wearing men’s boxer shorts as outerwear became a go-to for It-girls across the globe. Men have always been a few trend cycles behind the girls, late adopters in comparison to their braver and bolder sartorial siblings. But now they’re back to reclaim the boxer shorts that are rightfully theirs (as if they didn’t have enough already).

But boys: a word of caution. Not to get all essentialist on you, but there’s a huge difference between a woman partaking in the pantless trend (chic, sexy, cool), and a random man in public in his underwear (scary, weird, someone call the police). If I were you, I’d stick to the versions from the brands mentioned above – which are heavier in weight and come with handy little pockets – rather than a pair of tighty whities from your local M&S. Good luck to you all.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page for SS27‘s trouserless trend