style

Men’s – Intuition. Sacai AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Chitose Abe doesn’t have a formula for her signature hybrids; it’s mainly intuition, she insisted after her autumn-winter 2020 men’s Sacai show (and women’s pre-fall 2020 presentation). It turns out that the man who invented what is arguably the world’s most famous and universal formula, E=mc², was also a big believer in intuition, so Abe made his words her latest motto (and the line-up’s t-shirt that will sell like hot buns). Saca and Einstein is a genius remix. Backstage, she was wearing a T-shirt that read “common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18” – a quote commonly attributed to him. In her work, Chitose allows an arbitrary inspiration to motivate a shift in layers and volumes or a shakeup in color or pattern; but you don’t get the sense she sets out to radically alter her repertoire. Instead, she experiments, innovates and taps into a topical subject or feeling. This began with women’s looks consisting of suit jackets counterintuitively worn atop military layers that gave way to a fluid skirt and punk-ish platform boots. The men’s outfits included a few Mod-inflected ensembles, sweaters that unzipped up the torso and total looks in pink that corresponded to the romantic spirit of the season. Across both collections, the usual toggling of utility and fluidity played out in animal spots and cosmic-themed bandana sketches by the tattoo artist Dr. Woo. Elsewhere, Abe relied on denim, tweed, tartan, and fleece. A goodie!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Play. Loewe AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Loewe, things took a fun twist. That gesture of holding something in front of the mirror to see how it looks – we all know it. You could just see it the boys wearing draped lamé dresses fixed to the front of their tailored outfits on the autumn-winter 2020 runway. “I was thinking of ’50s couture—and a child, trying something on. What do you look like in the mirror?”, Jonathan Anderson explained. The two themes which have been running through this menswear season were bound together in one collection: carefree boyhood and the unprecedented presence of ideas about haute couture in menswear. “A fantasy wardrobe,” Anderson called it. “Playful. Optimistic. Pretty boys.” The dresses were a kind of signifying accessory, attached, apron-like, with leather straps. They said a lot about the way Anderson has always worked in the studio, experimenting with garments in free-association. The designer also put guys in coats which had “couture structures, on a woman’s block.” There was a white fit-and-flare shearling, a high-waisted princess-line coat. The zebra-print double-breasted caped silhouette, Anderson imagined, could easily become a superhero look. The childlike-couture perspective (also big at Francesco Risso’s Marni) led him to blow up existing Loewe mini-leather goods’ elephant shapes to become oversized tote-toys, to sprinkle crystal bling on sweaters, dangle diamanté jewelry on black patent boots, to weave a coat-dress from floral-print scarves. Anderson pointed out his own favorite—a shirt appliquéd with a pair of geese. Random and eclectic, don’t care. The point is that everyone, gender-regardless is welcome to pick and choose from what Anderson designs and delivers at Loewe.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Classics. Lemaire AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

When in doubt, turn to classic. Specifically, Lemaire’s classic. For their men’s autumn-winter 2020 and women’s pre-fall 2020, Christophe Lemaire and Sarah Linh Tran offer a sober take on masculine wardrobe. A coat with wide shoulders, relaxed wool cardigans you might wear on a bare body, over-sized, thick cotton shirts, black leather pants with a loose fit (they also come in  denim). The workwear-inspired jumpsuit, belted at the waist, is probably one of the best pieces I’ve seen this entire season. The entire collection is kept in warm, earthy colour palette that always works. Just perfect.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

100% Vetements. Vetements AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

The autumn-winter 2020 collection by Vetements, the first since Demna Gvasalia’s departure, is 100% Vetements. “We want to strip down the bullshit of the industry,” summed up Guram Gvasalia, the brand’s co-founder. “Somehow in fashion the spotlight went away from the clothes,” he remarked, “and for me this is why people like Margiela are so iconic because he never appeared and it was always about the clothes.” So, flashlights were sent as invites, and an announcement was made at the beginning of the show that the audience should turn on their phone torches to be able to see it. Design-wise, the line-up was all about Vetements classics – over-sized duvet-jackets, heavy metal-inspired prints, hoodies and t-shirts with ironic signs, trench coats, leathers – with a bigger focus on tailoring. But what really struck (and confused) the audience was the model casting. The lookalike Kate Moss, Snoop Dog, Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone and Naomi Campbell were all a surprise. “I would have loved to have the real Naomi,” Guram shrugged. “But as a young company I am afraid we cannot afford it.” The game of real or fake has always been part of the  brand. Love it or hate it, but Vetements still knows how to catch the attention.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Fire! Dries Van Noten AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Dries Van Noten‘s latest fashion is fire hot. First the Christian Lacroix collaboration that became an instant, historic moment. Now the autumn-winter 2020 collection for men, which is just wild. “It’s about enjoying clothes, dressing: using your sexual power to feel great.” Faux fur stoles (aaaaaaaah, the return of decadent chic!), rich velvets and satins, leopard prints, raw denim, chunky knits. The collection was rock & roll, Mick Jagger, New York Dolls, so many things. There were also a lot of loose silk pants and to a lesser extent shirting, the sensual mellifluousness of whose material wafted breathily against the stronger, harder pieces around them. The collection as well included many  menswear classics. The military bomber and parka, the long check overcoats and the burnished brown leather jacket were all hot stuff for outerwear lovers. Hawaiian-style prints on puffers, shirting, shorts, and pants, plus typically vibrant knits completed a collection that climaxed with some crystal-set lilac silk boxing shorts and a rush of rave applause. This mights be favourite collection of the entire menswear season.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.