Maison Martin Margiela did a greatly tailored collection for their AW14. Mixed with utilitarian elements, fur and leather, some artisanal vests and jackets were created, looking damn cool and practical. Then there was this amazing shirling fur jacket, black capes and radiant blue leather appearance throughout the show. The collection is contemporary, comfortable and elegant, but as well full of young, creative spirit. And the show venue was fantastic- a huge space that simply nailed it. 
Men’s
Men’s: Fuchsia. Dries Van Noten AW14
So he wanted the clothes to feel old. Coats were completely dyed and then acid-washed; striped businessmen’s shirts were tie-dyed; a jean jacket was overdyed to an oily sheen; jeans were stripped with acid. And a worn khaki coat could have been vintage military. There was a feel of the itinerant tribes the U.K. calls “travellers” in these seemingly repurposed pieces. Dries Van Noten AW14 was one of the most colourful and buzzy shows of the season… And the colours were breaking the news.
Men’s: Marais. Yohji Yamamoto AW14
Yohji Yamamoto made me amazed till now after this unexpected print mash-up. The designer who was the lover of black for a decade, made the most colourful, vibrant and beautiful collection for men to date. The AW14 collection is so amazing! The clothes… so over-sized (pants, coats, shirt, blazers) and full of Parisian’s Le Marais spirit! The prints were slightly oriental- flowers and snakes where all here. But still, the black hats, interesting models with colourful hair and the attitude of the collection made it cool boheme. For now- my favourite collection for AW14.
Men’s: Nuns. Rick Owens AW14
Rick Owens, the master of darkness (and great Parisian athlete at the same time) created a new iconic collection for men that wasn’t so dark… after SS14’s Estonian heavy-metal group performance, this time we are getting seriously religious in a new, minimalistic aesthetic. The collection kept in brown, creme and black, was very sporty and at the same interesting. Models wore nun’s head covers, classical Rick Owens trainers and leather sweatpants… combined with lose unitarian vests and over sized tops. Is this the new sign of religious vs. fashion friendship? Hope so because Ricky did it in a great way.
Men’s: Ruby. Raf Simons AW14
Since yesterday, Sterling Ruby is the hottest artist of the moment. Why? He collaborated with Raf Simons on his AW14 Menswear collection in Paris, by creating the venue decoration and putting some artistic effort into the collection. And the collection was… well, a bit unexpected. Raf Simons usually does sophisticated sportswear, and now we have something vibrant, colourful. With some cosmic details on (the bumber boots look seriously out of this world!) the sweatshirts and coats, the collection was simply cool and fresh. The radiant chunky knitwears with square patches, camel coats broken with Mondrian like print and paint splash shirts are my favourites. It’s visible, who is the real art collector in the industry…
Design & Culture by Ed 