agnès b. Makes Its Tokyo Return via Rakuten’s “by R” Project

On March 17, agnès b. presented its Fall/Winter 2026 collection at Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO, through Rakuten’s “by R” project. Following the Spring/Summer 2026 show held in Paris in October 2025 to celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary, this marked agnès b.’s first runway show in Tokyo in nearly ten years.

The venue, the French Ambassador’s Residence in the heart of Tokyo, was opened as a fashion show venue for the very first time. Steeped in French culture and history, and long a symbol of the friendship between France and Japan, the space lent the collection a quiet sense of occasion that felt entirely in step with the brand’s spirit.

Opening with a Performance by Aoi Yamada

The show opened with a performance by Aoi Yamada, a longtime collaborator of agnès b. Dressed in a striped jacket and capri pants, arms stretched wide as she moved down the runway, Yamada embodied the free, unrestrained spirit that has always defined the brand. It was an immediate declaration of the street-born, everyday aesthetic agnès b. has long championed.

Two Seasons, One Runway

The show comprised 52 looks drawn from both the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2026 collections. The first half centered on light pieces in linen and cotton, with a palette of natural beige and off-white. Tailored coats, linen suits, and suspender shorts offered fresh interpretations of the brand’s classic archetypes, while embroidered brooches and woven tote bags spoke to the French casual codes that Agnès Troublé has refined over decades.

Denim, too, made its presence felt. A full-length denim overall layered over a striped long-sleeve tee, finished with a denim jacket draped off the shoulder, brought a contemporary sense of volume and playfulness to a quintessentially French casual silhouette. The look, paired with white cat-eye sunglasses, was among the most striking of the collection. For the men’s, wide indigo denim trousers were paired with an art-inspired brushstroke-print shirt, projecting an effortless, understated strength.

Prints as Storytelling

agnès b. has long maintained a dialogue with art and photography through fashion, and that philosophy ran clearly through the collection’s prints. An open-collar shirt in abstract brushstroke print, a knit featuring a seascape graphic, a skirt rendered in photomontage — each piece felt like a canvas. A dress printed with a nocturnal forest photograph carried the weight of an artwork in its own right.

A sleeveless dress in a gradient wash of yellow-green to golden yellow stood out as one of the season’s most striking pieces, its digital precision and organic color movement shifting with every step.

Wool, Tartan, and the Return of the Suit

As the show moved into the Fall/Winter looks, the materials and palette shifted significantly. Wool jackets with suspender skirts, a striped tie over a white shirt, and a deep navy wool suit set — the French classic sensibility that underpins the brand came to the fore.

The most dramatic moment came with the royal tartan looks. Rendered in bold red plaid, the silhouette appeared in both women’s and men’s versions — a long coat with tapered trousers for her, a tailored jacket with slim trousers for him. The fusion of punk energy and traditional tailoring drew an audible reaction from the audience.

The suit remained central, as it always does in an agnès b. collection. A classic three-piece grey suit with a tie, a sharp navy double-breasted jacket with a white shirt, and an all-over logo-text printed black set-up — each one universal in spirit yet unmistakably the brand’s own. An all-black collarless jacket and wide-leg trouser combination made its case with quiet, minimal authority.

Finale: Between Light and Dark

Toward the close of the show, the tone deepened. A black puff-sleeve shirt paired with a satin skirt held glamour and shadow in equal measure. The finale arrived in the form of a gold sequin floral jacket worn with cream wide-leg trousers — dressy without affectation. That balance is precisely what agnès b. has spent fifty years perfecting.

Speaking ahead of the Tokyo show, Agnès Troublé said: “Japan holds a very special place in my heart. I admire the attention to detail, the respect for craftsmanship, and a great sensitivity to beauty. There is also a remarkable balance between tradition and modernity, which I find deeply inspiring.”

“Holding a show in Tokyo feels like a wonderful opportunity to speak to younger generations — those who may not know me very well yet — and to invite them to discover my universe in a rare setting. I am a bit like filmmakers who prefer not to explain their films. What I can say is that both those attending the show and those watching it online will recognize familiar elements, alongside new surprises. My universe will be embodied by women and men who are not so different from the people you might pass on the street. The street has always been important to me; it is one of my main sources of inspiration.”

The show’s soundtrack featured a special remix of “Sexy Boy” by French band AIR, whom agnès b. has supported since the 1990s. Guests received a limited-edition vinyl record created for the occasion, its jacket reinterpreted in a sakura-inspired pink tone echoing the color theme of the “by R” exclusive items. In every such detail, Agnès Troublé’s deep affection and respect for Japan quietly speaks.

Fifty years in, agnès b. continues to propose a kind of beauty that is free, unpretentious, and rooted in the everyday. This Tokyo show was a powerful statement — a fifty-year-old brand speaking directly to the next generation.

See all the looks from the agnès b. Fall/Winter 2026 collection in the gallery below.

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