Black and brown do go together.
If you’re into fashion, chances are you have, at any point, heard about the mythical fashion faux pas. “Don’t wear denim on denim, don’t combine too many prints, don’t wear brown and black…” Thankfully, the concept of policing what and how others dress has slowly waned in favor of fashion experimentation and simply minding one’s business.
Celebrating a genuinely good fashion moment, however, will be perpetually in; especially if said fashion moment does justice to a misunderstood color formula.
That’s exactly what South Korean stars and members of the K-pop sensation Stray Kids are doing this Fall/Winter 2026 fashion circuit.
Seungmin Updates the Brown and Black Formula in London
Burberry ambassador Seungmin kicked things off at the British brand’s show in Old Billingsgate Market. Returning to the London Fashion Week front rows for the second season in a row, the Stray Kids member refreshed what has been, for a long time, a polarizing color combination.
Seungmin’s take featured a slim fit suit in soot brown. The set carried a patterned fabric, resembling pinstripes and was layered under an unbuttoned black trench coat. Tailored and tonal, the look was polished but didn’t lack a dash of flamboyance courtesy of texture and pattern play. In addition to the subtle, almost imperceptible print on the suit, Seungmin’s outfit also included a red wine striped shirt and a skinny tie with Burberry’s signature check print, all of which channeled old-school tailoring and retro menswear sartorial codes.
The K-pop star and rising figure among fashion spheres tied the look together with a pair of black chunky-sole boots. A fringed bangs hairstyle that coincidentally matched the color of his suit brought the look to modern territories.
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Hyunjin Does Justice to the Brown and Black Color Scheme in Paris
Meanwhile, at Paris Fashion Week, Hyunjin made a strong case for brown and black color coordination at the Dior Fall/Winter 2026 show. In Paris for a second time in a row, the singer shattered preconceptions about wearing this color combination with an effortless look.
Hyunjin’s outfit for the front row kept things simple, but appropriately cool, mixing black trousers and a banded-collar white shirt with a chocolate-brown coat. Nothing about it was excessive or flashy, allowing the colors to blend nicely under the sunlight of the open venue (Jardin des Tuileries).
That doesn’t mean Hyunjin, ever the style maverick, didn’t add a stylish touch. Tapping into the rise of snakeskin footwear, the singer upgraded his look with a pair of snakeskin boots, first presented at Men’s Paris Fashion Week in February. He also wore a pair of angular acetate frames in a bright green shade that contrasted with his look, but matched perfectly the show’s setting and promotional imagery.
To Make Things Clear, Brown and Black DO Go Together
And yes, we know. For years or perhaps even decades, old school fashion editors, misguided color specialists and even a subsection of the internet have vilified this style formula. But, as proven by Seungmin, Hyunjin and recent fashion runways across the world, this color formula can deliver ultra-stylish looks when properly styled. (We saw great renditions of this brown and black color blocking on the Calvin Klein, 7 For All Mankind and Collina Strada shows at New York Fashion Week, for example.)
All in all, the Stray Kids’ stars and their Fashion Week ensembles were the perfect reminder that purposeless style rules no longer dictate how our favorite stars approach fashion.
And thank god for that!
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Feb. 22 and has been updated to reflect new information.
