Designers look to the past to see the future
RAW looks from Raf Simons
There is an increasing rawness and informality at prominent Belgian designer Raf Simons’ shows.
It’s perhaps to do with the new standing-only policy where guests huddle haphazardly together, which does away with the elite hierarchy that the seated collections bring.
But in this year’s fall-winter show, the rawness appeared again in the deconstructed nature of the clothes and the unfinished set: metal scaffolding which featured beam lights and messy colored film.
In the 41 looks, edges were often frayed on long, voluminous column silhouettes in gray and blue, broken up with flashes of crimson and canary yellow. Flappy beige trench coats had sleeves torn off. White chemistry-class aprons featured hand-drawn doodles. And hair was made to look like it was styled by a greasy and rebellious adolescent.
Down points included the repetition of a hummingbird motif which seemed uninspired and frayed holes in high-school-style knitted tank tops that didn’t look particularly original, or classy.
But Simons got top marks for some highly original silhouettes: like a sartorial, minimalist jerkin that hung down like a college dandy.
Louis Vuitton’s retro vibe
Looking back to the 1980s and 1990s is proving something of a trend in the men’s collections, especially with suit jackets.
Celebrity-wise, nobody incarnated the retro vibe better than former supermodel Kate Moss and singer Bryan Ferry, both of whom attended the Louis Vuitton show.
The artistic director for the brand’s menswear, Kim Jones, used the show to pay tribute to Christopher Nemeth, a fellow British designer who died in 2010 after achieving cult status for his work in London in the 1980s.
Camel and grey colors dominated on the catwalk, while a Nemeth print, showing the close-up fibres of a rope, was ubiquitous.
Julien David impresses
It was a confident collection from one of the rising stars in menswear, Julien David, that could be summed up as the 50s-man-gets-sporty.
Broad and baggy suit jackets in charcoal gray and black were almost fit for 1950s screen legend Robert Mitchum.
But the smarter elements were broken up with the French designer’s signature love of casual.
Untucked white shirts came alongside loose ties, lop-sided tie pins and scruffy open coats — perhaps to conjure the image of leaving work in haste.
Hair bands, baggy shorts and shades, meanwhile, gave this collection a sporty edge. Proceedings were given more complexity with smart references to Japanese wardrobe, like Samurai straps or voluminous layers on a boxy silhouette.
Geometry inspires Valentino
The starting point for Valentino’s diverse show was the 1920s’ Ballets Russes.
The Russian movement’s famed founder Sergei Diaghilev worked with the greatest artists of the time, including Pablo Picasso, to create incredible costumes and sets. And in this menswear show, the Italian house drew on the strong, color-rich geometry of these artistic collaborations — with a dash of the 1960s.
Designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli produced an angular, often sharp, and pattern-rich display — with myriad references including Scottish tartan and the now-signature militaristic camouflage.
There were some enviable looks: like the luxuriant green and brown shot silken fitted suits, or the oversize statement coats.
Geometric patterns on sweaters and in fastidiously detailed coats came across sometimes as Sixties, and, elsewhere, as almost Balkan.
It further explored the current mania for ethnic-looking motifs.
Bold colors — mid-blues, golden brown and burgundy — set the patterns alight.
But was the palette a tad too bold for the average Joe?
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