Men’s / Heroic. Rick Owens SS18

June 25, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Heroic garments need exposure – that’s why Rick Owens took his models to an elevated runway, which spanned above a Parisian courtyard. Although the city was going through a heat wave that day, Owens sent a line of voluminous trousers and fluid-like tank-tops. Some of the guys carried huge, cuboid pouches, while others wore lengthy coats. As usual, it was all about the silhouette: the designer is known for his unique skills in draping and sculpting clothes. Finding beauty in the odd counts to Owens, whether he means diverse model casting or creating his own avantgarde. “I’m seeing this kind of normality in the world that’s being lionised and deified and personally that is my personally refrain in life, ‘I need a freak’. I need somebody to make effort and it needs to be rare and not banal and not prosaic or conventional,” he told Dazed. Meaningful.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki (backdrop from Maïmouna Guerresi’s ‘The Giants’ series).

Men’s / Soigné. Haider Ackermann SS18

June 24, 2017June 24, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Haider Ackermann cuts a suit like no other. The lilac one (pictured above) worn by runway favourite Paul Hameline is defining the term soigné in menswear. It’s simple in its form, but decadent, noting that the model wears it on his bare body. But this wasn’t the only highlight coming from Ackermann’s spring-summer 2018. Pin-stripe goes laid back with the designer’s to-die-for blazers and pantalons, while the creamy tank-top styled with nonchalantly tied scarf feels eternally chic. The women’s part (understood as resort 2018 segment) is as desirable as the men’s summer, with lots of seductive flesh exposing and cropping. Haider, this one’s so good!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s / Handsome Volumes. Y/Project SS18

June 24, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Glenn Martens‘ aesthetic matures and simultaneously evolves into very exciting fields at Y/Project. The designer leaves behind his signature ‘trashiness’ and pulls off his own take on classiness. Delightful shades of beige, olive-green and burgundy emerged down the street runway in gargantuan silhouettes. Extreme layering an draping have always been rooted in Glenn’s style-codes, but never before were they so refined. The clothes were as diverse, as the casting. Literally, every single piece of clothing coming from this collection can be worn in multiple ways, according to your preference. A cotton shirt with disturbing volumes; deconstructed coats and jackets; not-your-average sweatshirts with zippers in the weirdest places. “You really have to make a choice; you have to think about how you want to wear the clothes,” the designer mused after the show.

Collages by Edward Kanarecki (backdrop: a still from Abbas Kiarostami’s film ‘Close Up’).

Men’s / Lemaire SS18

June 23, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

A two-piece band from Berlin named Die Wilde Jagd performed during Lemaire‘s spring-summer 2018 fahion show, which was staged in an industrial garage space. Music, and specifically the one coming from Germany, played an important role for Christophe Lemaire‘s and Sarah Linh Tran‘s creative process this season. In a line of black and navy looks, suddenly a red cotton poplin overshirt emerged. “It’s super minimal,” Christophe said backstage. “I was really driven by all those German bands I loved from the ’70s and early ’80s, like Kraftwerk, this kind of stylish, German, super-normal thing.” Ah! The idea behind the unprecedented red came from “the cover of The Man-Machine. And the all-white look, that oversize zippered blouson and the sneaker boots, is a reference to La Düsseldorf.” Cultural context is all in fashion.

Back to the collection, Lemaire delivers its all time signatures for men, like perfectly tailored blazers, tank-tops for heatwave periods and spring-ready coats. The designers invited Portuguese craftsmen to produce the semi-closed sandals, making your grandpa’s footwear a thing to steal.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s / Family Man. Balenciaga SS18

June 23, 2017June 23, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

First thing I had on my mind, while watching Balenciaga‘s spring-summer 2018, was the photo of my dad carrying toddler-me in a park. He was wearing a pair of too big pants, a huge anorak and a quite unflattering knitted sweater. In other words – he looked like a Balenciaga model, who has just walked down the runway in the Bois de Boulogne park.

So what’s Demna Gvasalia up to this season? “There is nothing more beautiful than seeing young dads with their kids,” he said. The designer invited his friends from Zürich (the city of Vetements’ new HQ), who have kids; some models were street-casted a few days before the show in Paris; others where simply teen-aged sons and daughters of creatives, who work at Balenciaga. The idea of tranquility, peace, everyday pleasures like a walk to the park with your kid, appeals to Gvasalia since he ended with his night-life period. Comfort is a keyword this season, as the Balenciaga man simply goes to the suburbs, wearing his fashion-unconscious white shirt, a drapey jacket and bleached jeans. With a Balenciaga bike, of course, nearly sold-out at Colette right now.

Also, this collection is the undisputable peak of ugliness (in case of clothing). However, it’s real. And Demna loves to find inspiration in reality. While last men’s season was all about corporate dressing, this time it’s about the same men, but on the weekends.