The AW14 season have just begun for men in London, where the LCM fashion week is now on. The first designer to open the London Collections Man was Lou Dalton, who is known till now for great tailoring and fresh look for classical menswear. The collection was all about good-dressed farm hands with an air of punk in them. Traditional clothes were done with lots of bleaching. However, the show wasn’t so suprise-less! Some unexpected details were the pink acid dyed denim-on-denim elements and a peep of camo print. The show was a bit inspired with men who left everything behind and went on war- tradition versus something more rebellious.
Men’s
Men’s: Isabel Marant X H&M
Isabel Marant designed the first time for men! Yeah! I simply can’t wait till 14th of November when I will put my hands on these knitted sweaters! The trousers look really cool with these panels, and the navajo-printed t-shirt look really stylish. And the campaigns… Clement Chabernaud wears this sweatshirt like if it was the coolest thing on Earth. The collection is so easy and casual… Like if it was a mix of causality and beautiful fabrics from far travels! You simply pit one of these knits, and the look is done for you. Can’t wait.
The Flower Men
One of the coolest trend from the menswear Fashion Week SS14, is for sure the floral print. It was everywhere! It was all about the variety- from sun flowers to orchids. The king of that print was definitely Dries Van Noten. His collection was very street style, comfortable and simply chic. And florals were like everywhere! On the tank tops to the sweat pants.
The exotic one was 3.1. Philip Lim with the hummingbirds and hibiscus that decorated the tops. Miuccia Prada offered knitwear with Vietnamese flowers and Raf Simons took to a scientist laboratory, where his fantastic t-shirts had some notes written around the botanical specie… I think that was the most floral season for a really long time at men’s runway, and I think that’s totally right?
Men’s: SLIMane. Saint Laurent SS14
The Enfant Terrible of French Fashion did it again just as he usually does- Hedi Slimane made me and all others, first of all excited, then scared, shocked and amazed in elusive way. Even, if his collections have a straight meaning, they are elusive. Hedi takes on his shows the ugliest in the world models, then put California garage band rock and roll music possibly recorded day before the show and some kind of Johnny Cash/rich boy from Las Vegas clothes. By the way, he doesn’t give a f***. I can’t say that I would wear any of these clothes (but love the shoes!) but I can’t say that don’t like the collection! It is totally different from other menswear, full of minimalism and prints. It’s as cool as AW13 womenswear for SL.
Cool biker jackets, leopard prints, gold, ties and suits. All in a very rock and roll edition, but in a more exclusive and “casino boy” look. Of course everything is extremely slim, that I personally hate (I love loose clothes) but thats totally other topic. For sure Slimane wasn’t at all in Paris while creating the collection. Los Angeles, hometown of the designer? California? It’s more about American coolness than European elegance. For this I respect Hedi Slimane as fashion designer!
Men’s: Heavy Metal. Rick Owens SS14
What a show was that! When Rick Owens invited Estonian heavy metal band Winny Puhh (yes, that means Winnie The Pooh), he says he felt “an instant jolt of recognition. And Estonian is such an alien language that when it’s shrieked at you by a guy in a wolf mask, it becomes major.” They had it all that Rick needed for his show- scary, sleazy and hardcore look. If you don’t know Winny Puhh, and hadn’t a chance to know what is Eurovisia in Europe then I will shortly explain that. Eurovisia is a expensive, but cheap looking TV show that is hosted everytime in different countries of Europe. It’s popular in Europe, but mostly European are ashamed of it… And it’s demolic choreography, WORST singers of the specific country and the cheap, sorrow atmosphere. So, back to Rick Owens show- that sounds very interesting and different that he took these strangers for music thing for his show. Owens’ was called Vicious. That was the spirit Owens wanted—”cheerful viciousness, viciousness with humor. I felt like doing something ludicrous and fun.” The clothes- well, in rhythm of the music the models nearly ran. “Urgent movement and fierce athleticism were the driving forces of the collection. Long-sleeve tees, close to the body, zipped even closer, over shorts…sheer diagonals, perforations, and mesh tanks revealing the flesh beneath…leather tanks flying away into long fringe, fringed leather belts…everything moving” wrote Tim Blanks. Totally agree. That was something awfully mind blowing.
Design & Culture by Ed 