Khaite Lia Large Textured-leather Tote
Fashion
Men’s – Birds of a Feather. Loewe SS25
When you’ve got Paul Thek’s “Spinning Top” installation, Peter Hujar’s “Shoe for Elizabeth” photograph, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh “Argyle” chair and Carlo Scarpa’ “Easel” scattered around the runway, then you know it must be a Jonathan Anderson fashion show. No other designer has such a sensitivity towards contemporary art like Loewe‘s creative director, who often works and creates like a curator. This season, however, Anderson resorted to radical restraint in regards of his menswear. “Razor looks” is how he described his approach. It indeed was sharp. Slim silhouette, very French C-suite tailoring with almond-toe leather oxfords in black opened the show. Shorts and t-shirts were painted with a cable knit shaped finish. Edged in golden piping and emanating a shiny gleam, they appeared almost ceramic. A short-sleeve shirt was fabricated in sections of tonal fringe that resembled a hairy houndstooth, while a long brown coat was made in nappa leather on its right side that gradually transitioned into ostrich on its left. Anderson said the gold or monochrome feathers were there to divide our view of the faces beneath them as part of his consideration of forced perspective. This was a collection that stimulated you to question exactly what it was you were seeing, without going for chaotic eclecticism that Anderson has been channeling lately.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Shape-Shifting. Hed Mayner SS25
Hed Mayner keeps on delivering some of the most intriguing, form-defeating menswear in Paris. “There is this idea of attacking the proportion, from an angle that is more related to textile and from that textile creating the shape,” he explained. Collarless bomber jackets were puffed to perfection but crafted in lightweight linens for the summertime. Leather button-downs exaggerated the human form with striking, cocooning outlines, while buttoned vests revealed chiseled torsos beneath. Leather motorcycle vests were upgraded with tripled belts, followed by broad-shouldered pinstriped suiting and voluminous trench coats rolled at the cuffs to reveal checkered lining. Crinkled fabrics enclose the sense of pre-loved garments on multi-faceted outerwear, accompanied by the designer’s oversized version of Canadian tuxedos. You want to dance, jump, live in Mayner’s tactile and evocative garments.
Here are my beloved Hed Mayner pieces you can shop now.
ED’s DISPATCH:
Hed Mayner Bonded Cotton Oversized Cardigan
Hed Mayner Cargo Tactical Vest
Hed Mayner Cotton Poplin Pinstripe Pleated Shorts
Hed Mayner Oversized Double-Breasted Sport Coat
Hed Mayner Pinstripe Poplin Oversized Sport Shirt
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Men’s – Civilization. Rick Owens SS25
With this collection, Rick Owens definitely passes the audition for designing costumes to the next part of “Dune“. I would so watch it! But the idea behind his spring-summer 2025 fashion show – or rather, fashion performance – was focused on humanity rather than otherwordly travels. “We need civilization”, the designer said. This season he delivered 10 looks, each repeated 20 times, on a total of 200 models. It was a mass that culminated in a human-installation: barrel-chested strongmen in wrapped knit shirts, side-split shorts, and Geobasket sneakers acted as stern litter-bearers to a trio of contorting corseted gymnasts who flew a flag on which was printed two forearms, clasped together. Owens was inspired by epically choreographed spectacles of Hollywood’s Golden Age: the kaleidoscopic choreography of Busby Berkeley and the swords and sandals splendor of Cecil B. DeMille. “Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra has always been my favorite idiosyncrasy,” said Owens. This show’s format was also an auto-response to the designer’s intimate approach from last season. “After I had the shows in the house last season, I realized it was so restrictive. I ended up excluding so many people. So I thought this season, we’ll invite everybody. And all the fashion students who are usually outside the fence, we’re going to have them in the show.” This, he added, made the show “a great exercise in thinking about body types. Because I’m thinking we have 10 looks that have to accommodate every single body. So how do we do that? How do we make it convincingly look like Rick Owens looks? And I think we came up with an answer to that.” To witness such a broad spectrum of individuals marching as one in uniforms proclaiming allegiance to non-conformity was a wonderful display of humanity in the middle of Paris Fashion Week.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Design & Culture by Ed 