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Paris Fashion Week - Menswear
I’m completely exhausted after having covered all the three major menswear fashion weeks and if I think Couture Fashion Week has just started and will be over in just some days - this means I’m going to cover it very soon - I think I’m going to die - and we haven’t got to RTW Fashion Weeks yet! But after all, I love fashion, and that’s why this is sweet labour for me - since I started studying fashion for my MA my life is completely soaked in it, today I was at a conference with three of the most important Italian fashion historians - I love my life!
But apart from my personal life, here we go with the best runways from Paris, day by day!
Day 1
Yes, it was a very exciting fashion week after all, and I was surprised by a city which I thought was fashion only for the marvelous past it had in the business. 22/4_Hommes (photo 1) was a great shot to start with. I enjoyed this collection the more I went ahead with the looks. Still could do without the fur, but in general it was classy in a new way, even if giving a sort of reference to the past. Loved the elongated silhouettes and the edgy cut of jackets and coats.
Lemaire then delivered a collection for hipsters growing up, while Walter van Beirendonck was brave for opening a collection in Paris after the recent happenings at Charlie Hebdo with a top on which the sentence ‘Stop terrorising our world’ was written. It was a strong message, if not for the content in itself - it’s a pretty simplistic and obvious statement - at least it reminded everyone fashion can be used as a very big means of communication. Apart from that, I saw a lot of reference to art in this very eccentric collection, especially Picasso and Braque: colourful pullovers with faces, a lot of patchwork, even three-dimensional. And there was eroticism also: 'Explicit’ was written on some of the looks, and explicit enough was the mini sex toy hanging from the chain of the accessory decorating some of the pieces.
It would be a lie if I said I didn’t like Valentino collection. Yet, it was nothing like the last collections, and this time Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli went for something very very understated that, after all, really risked of being not interesting enough. The only very positive thing I can point is the fact they finally chose to use some more popping colours than usual - even if, again, everything was really subtle. But this is Valentino, of course.
We’ve understood reminiscence is going to be a big inspiration among designers for the next few seasons. Raf Simons (photo 2) took the theme and made it his own in a shocking way. The coats were covered in drawings and writing tags, from the most infant-like to the ones more appealing to adolescence and the rebelliousness that comes with it. The clothes talked about time: raw hems, floor-length proportions mimicking something like 'too big for your age’, and the last, fantastic looks, 'ruined’ by holes but at the same time getting their charm exactly from those flaws, because they talk about time, and time and memories are some of the most precious goods we have in life.
Balenciaga (photo 3), under the direction of Alexander Wang, instead, had no flaw which could be apparently found in its looks. Not even a seaming could be seen. It’s such perfection that you can’t even imagine it can exist. But it can, and after all Balenciaga has always been about this: construction and structure before anything else. Nothing more, nothing less. Just the piece of clothing and the person wearing it.
Day 2
3.1 Philipp Lim put together formalwear with dynamic materials, shapes and details, while when I saw Kolor collection I thought, at the beginning, 'Ooops, there’s someone here copying Missoni’; but then I rethought my judgement and kinda enjoyed the overall collection, with its subtle playfulness. Loved the trouser details, like pockets and closures, applied to coats.
You can’t help talking about a collection everyone talked about just because models were actually walking down the runway with their 'little friends’ hanging freely in front of the audience. Yes, I’m talking about Rick Owens. Apart from this little detail, been overlooked by the designer who defined it as 'juvenile transgression’, I really think there was something wrong in this collection. Believe me, I’m all for research on new ways to do fashion, but apart from very few looks, it was just formless rags hardly covering the body. And the dicks bouncing freely down the runway just distracted you from the most important thing: clothes.
At least there was Louis Vuitton (photo 4) to comfort us all. Angels were singing in my head as soon as I saw the first look and immediately fell in love with this collection. It was great in its simplicity. The clothes in themselves were just plain, ordinary clothes, but everything was superbly toned up with the quality of material, the perfect cut - have you ever seen such perfection in cut, shape and proportion? GOD, I’m crazy about it! - and the print, which was sublime, being figurative as well as optical, looking like a giant tattoo sometimes, and a maxi decoration in some other instances. Classic monogram bags were the right complement for such an amazing view.
Dries Van Noten offered a great variety of clothes of which I particularly liked the quilted trousers. Alexander Wang (photo 5) hit the jackpot with his own collection again after Balenciaga. It’s now obvious, he elevated activewear to its first and foremost inspiration and style and we’re always happy to see what such a motive can bring to fashion. This time it looked more summery than anything you can possibly wear for winter, and the Hawaiian-like prints make this impression stronger. Loved it anyway. It’s like waiting for the summer to come ASAP.
Viktor & Rolf presented a collection which was less conceptual than usual, still loved the digitised print and the colour palette for the slick skinny-fit suits.
Day 3
Maison Margiela went very 70s with a wearability we don’t expect from the maison - is it a sign of the changes happening with John Galliano’s return? Ann Demeulemeester instead confused me a little bit with the huge amount of pieces they sent down the runway, but overall there were some very interesting details, like the rows of dozens of buttons going over tops, trousers and coats, as well as the heavy layering of some pieces.
Juun.J chose XL proportions with military vibe and formalwear as the ingredients of this new collection. Kris Van Assche instead manipulated camouflage and made it urban and appealing.
Comme des Garçons (photo 6) is always one of those collections you expect with excitement because you know it’s going to explosive. This time it seemed like the main focus of the designer was the research on male suit. There were reinvented proportions, buttons moved from one place to another, oversize shorts instead of trousers, a real revolution of the most conservative piece in the male wardrobe. The dreamy part - never missing in CDG collection- ? Total tattoo look.
Givenchy (photo 7) was another one you would probably like to see. Despite the usual references to gender crossing in fashion these days, there was something very masculine about this collection, and something very erotic too. I don’t know it it was for the colout combination - guess black and these tones of red and orange together turn me on. I absolutely adored the print looking like a Persian rug.
J. W. Anderson knows what he’s doing and he does it in such an amazing way that you start wondering if Loewe (photo 8) has ever been so amazingly fascinating. This time it seemed every garment was infused with a retro 60s atmosphere which really made it look like an authentic vintage piece of clothing. Yet, it has the brightness - in colour, in cut, in material - of today.
Day 4
If it wasn’t obvious, the 'UFO’ written on some of Kenzo pieces (photo 9) swept away all the doubts you could have about the inspiration of this collection. Yet, the biggest achievement for the designers of the maison was to talk about something so otherworldly as aliens in such a down-to-earth way. Irony in the presumably 'alien’ symbols - but there were actually human symbols mixed with them as well - covering total looks or combined to form messages added that smile which sealed the entire collection. Genius and futuristic the leather bundles as bags. Études Studio (photo 10) was not one of the most innovative collections, but it was eye-catching for sure, and I loved the reference to architecture visible in the geometry of the patterns and in the structure of many of the looks.
Dior Homme went for businessmen with a touch of colour this time, Wooyoungmin chose soft comfy silhouettes and, to close the day, Miharayasuhiro displayed decadence in an opulent way, with denim torn apart and enriched by brocade-like prints.
Day 5
InUndercover’s collection(photo 11) everything was thought to the last detail: the velvet of the coat was perfect to accentuate the beautiful bright shade of blue; many pieces had a back as important as the front in terms of decoration; some outerwear even had a pocket for iPhone6. It was young, fresh and perfect for the metropolitan boy of today.
No Editions delivered a collection of basic classic silhouettes with soft cozy fur - I only hope that was faux fur. Paul Smith was somewhat more polished than usual, it seems he wants to focus on the suit and on geometrical patterns. From Umit Benan I appreciated the inspiration coming from sea - fishermen were everywhere. Still wished he went a little bit further with this inspiration, making it more modern - some looks really looked like they were actual fishermen’s clothes. Loved the warm knit in multicoloured patterns.
Thom Browne (photo 12) was the perfect ending to Paris Fashion Week - even if he wasn’t the very last designer to show. It was subtler than usual, but after all, it was total black. And it’s so genius to present a total black collection, even more if the obvious theme of it all is mourning - and if this mourning comes at the end of Paris Fashion Week. Amazing quality of the cut, there is every ingredient that makes Thom Browne recognisable, included the jacket + shorts suit. Feminine-inspired pieces for men were alternated to more manly silhouettes. The thing I liked the most was, paradoxically, the life exuding from every garment, like in the aztec print beautifully camouflaged in a ton-sur-ton black: there is life after death, and Thom Browne wants to be designer in it as well.
The honour of actually closing in Paris was given, of course, to Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent. I understand Slimane’s style is 70s, edgy, rock, but there should be something changing, because in this way I’m just getting the same thing every season. And then there were too many too similar looks. Apart from very few strong pieces, in general it was something extremely predictable.
xxx
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Paris Fashion Week - Days 1 & 2
The last fashion week, Paris, started three days ago to say bye to fashion lovers with its amount of innovation, craziness and fantasy put into clothes. Let’s see these first exciting two days.
Day 1
Léa Peckre (photo 1) chose to explore deconstruction and reconstruction. And what better way to do it if not tailoring? Beautiful jackets with separate panels forming a structured piece or patchwork skirts with raw hems underlining the different parts were the strong pieces of this collection.
The most ironic - if there’s one - versione of death and mourning was at stake in Dévastée collection, full of humour and lightness. Total black was lit up by white chiffon over simple short dresses and long tops, with prints depicting graveyards, gravestones and ghosts with smiling faces. It was the idea of youth as a period so far away from death that can even dare laugh at it. Brilliant. Anrealage (photo 2) started its show with a first part in total black where the powdery white of the centre of the looks seemed to be as an escamotage to make everything look even more black with its difference of tone. Genial the use of the two contrasting colours (b&w) to explore the theme of light: it was translated into simple military-like woolen coats, or knitwear, even as a mosaic degrading from pure white to grey and the blackest black. The second part was surprisingly…colour. It made it more complete, the prints hit by limelights enhanced the power of the light showing the strong contrast with the part of the looks still drenched in darkness.
AtJacquemus show (photo 3) you probably felt like it was an exhibit of contemporary art where the focus was on form. It was like an analysis on the power of cut, intended literally as the thing you do with a pair of scissors. That explains a lot: it explains the half-naked models sent down the runway, it explained the cut-out pieces of fabric covering some of the models’ faces as well as the ‘second face’ drawn next to the real face of some other models. And it also explains the aesthetic of the looks: different materials cut into geometrical or more irregular shapes covering the body through the use of strings, bows, knots, creating a new never-seen-before wardrobe.
Coperni Femme delivered a total collection: an ideal wardrobe where basic pieces were mixed with more conceptual and unique others, where the real innovation came from details - sometimes even not so subtly: a coat with petal-like shapes juxtaposed giving the idea of movement, very long sleeves, or menswear pinstripe fabric for a very feminine little dress.
Day 2
At Lemaire focus was on the shoulders: big, strong, underlined by necklines which let them naked and sexily showing. Coats and strapless dresses were the key-pieces of such a collection. Cédric Charlier (photo 4) married a vague American sportswear 'cheerleadish’ vibe in the silhouettes and in the pleated skirts, in the lengths taken a little more than above the knee, to an elegant appeal, made of contrasting shades never too bright or in-your-face: there was navy blue with bordeaux, green and black. It was simple, yet successful: loved the choice of materials, giving structure to the little cocktail dresses and short jackets.
Grounded Glamour was the name of Dries Van Noten’s collection (photo 5), and it immediately spoke to you from the very first look: there was brocade with beautiful golden embroideries, paired with military-like ensemble in oversize shapes and neutral colours, a little lived-in looking. It was the description of a brand wanting to dress with opulence the people of today, with their needs coming from living in an urban jungle. Always glam.
Rochas (photo 6) was a roller coaster between conservative shapes and details and sexiness to its extreme sophistication. Conservative were the colours, with a chain of looks in brown, reminding old coats worn by poor people in the years of the war maybe - that’s what it made me think, actually - conservative were the shapes, with long straight-lined dresses with short puff sleeves, conservative were the details, very high necklines closed by bows. The collection was cheered up now and then by a flame of brightness, like the yellow of the dress in the photo. Sexy was instead the black chiffon, covering and showing the body at the same time, beautifully decorated by delicate prints of birds and leaves.
An architectural collection came from Aganovich (photo 7). The fabric and its cure were the real protagonists. Pinstripes, white, black and white tweed-like fabric designed new innovative lines crossing the body and manipulating the body’s silhouette. Sometimes they were sharp like knives, sometimes rounded, following the body lines. The result was always a harmonic movement of shapes structuring the body like a sculpture.
An interesting theme was explored in Alexis Mabille’s collection, all about the idea of knotting and the crossing of lines, brought through every look of the collection in different ways: sometimes it was the detail of two fabrics tied together, sometimes it was about strings crossing the dress, sometimes it was translated into print.
xxx
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Lemaire FW 17/18
Louis for TMRW mag | February 2020
Lemaire straight tailored trousers($445)
Worn with:Adish jacket & John Smedley polo shirt
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