style

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.

Men’s – Partisans. Yohji Yamamoto AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Yohji Yamamoto, looks were layered and imbued with rough, “unfinished” details. Officer coats with imperfect embellishments, military berets and caps, unmatched patterns unevenly patchworked, knits were dyed and hand-painted. But there was something absolutely romantic about these rebellious-looking guys. Swaths of beautiful, printed silk floating alongside a few silhouettes were pure poetry. The 76-year-old’s idea to develop these figures as “Partisans” sends the message that he remains a true nonconformist. “I used to explain my spirit as anti-trend, anti-fashion. I kept saying I’m an outsider. Now the vocabulary is not enough. And I’m angry about what’s going on in fashion, so I have become partisan.” It’s a word that people today assume is political. “Or dangerous,” Yamamoto added.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Performa. Rick Owens AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Rick Owens‘ show has always been a hot ticket in Paris. But in the last few seasons, his collections are receiving rave, nearly fanatic response. No wonder why – both his menswear and womenswear line-ups take you to another dimension. Tyrone Dylan Susman, Australian jewellery artist, Rick Owens’ studio designer and the brand’s face, opened the show in a one-legged, one-shouldered jumpsuit modeled after one made by Kansai Yamamoto for David Bowie in 1973. But where Yamamoto’s was a vivid pattern drawn from yakuza tattoos and kimonos, Owens’s was drably dun, and in the felty, blanket-like cashmere. Another highlights of this collection, which was all about elevated forms: the “monstrous” shoulders and the huge steel-fronted platforms (they might soon be selling as well in the men’s sector as all the Owens sneakers – if they aren’t already!). The designer talked about “graphics of exposed flesh” carved by his cut-out cashmere layers, and alongside those were the graphics of silhouette. Acidic colors on shearlings and motocross pants, screaming striped prints and hints of cleavage delivered via the deep-V tees so recently beloved by Rick himself were as well the big takeaways from the line-up. “I was a lot more introspective 10 years ago. And, you know, I think as you get older, you just get a little more reckless, more comfortable, more confident, more playful.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Solar Youth. Raf Simons AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Raf Simons‘ autumn-winter 2020 collection had a transporting, emotional quality, because the character he envisioned appeared to no longer inhabit our world yet they dressed as though they were trying to wear something of the Earth’s past. Departing at Blade Runner and making other narrative stops along the way, this was Simons venturing beyond his obsession with youth. Emerging from a glowing yellow tunnel into a minimalist yellow venue, some models had their hands  muffs, a rather anachronistic accessory (be sure that it’s coming back to us next winter!).  Positioned front and center, they communicated a crucial piece of information about these people, the “Solar Youth”. If you think this sounds positive, the show notes meant quite the opposite: they don’t want you to know who you are. One theory is that they left the earth as children from our past and awoke as an elite community of our future. This might explain why their attire was at turns elegant, nostalgic, and noir-sci-fi. Silvery high-neck base layers were visible under the impeccable, imposing military-style coats. Sweaters and scarves were juxtaposed with tubular knits that encased the arms. White, red, pistacchio boots (from Simons’ new shoe line, (RUNNER)) a remniscent of a space-suit. Several blazers and collegiate jackets were shielded under clear filmy plastic, creating a refined, corset-like silhouette. The outer-space chic is here.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Men’s – Emotions. Valentino AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

FKA Twigs performed live three of her brand new songs during Pierpaolo Piccioli‘s Valentino autumn-winter 2020 collection for men. Cloaked in iridescent Valentino haute couture with her face half-obscured by a crystal fencing mask, Twigs’s emotional and ethereal performance was a lot of competition to put up against the models who were walking past. Of course, nobody cares about the clothes when you’ve got an intimate concert with one of the most intriguing artists of our century in front of you. Still, when you start focusing on the looks, you see right away that this is one of the best men’s line-up coming from Piccioli. Wearing coats and jackets stamped with photo prints or embroideries of flowers are every guy’s new classic, according to Piccioli (and I completely agree with that!). The designer subtly let feminine notions into the evolving men’s wardrobe: Valentino boys carried small cross-body bags, some utility pouches, but others indistinguishable from the mini-bags on chains that have been gendered as female for generations. The closing look was the precise defintion of the designer’s vision of the new man’s style: a softly tailored suit, entirely covered in navy sequins. Incredible. “Men are changing much more quickly in the last two decades because of women”, Pierpaolo summed up.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.