Men dominate Paris with LGN, Walter Van Beirendonck and Bluemarble

Men, especially designers, are making their voices heard at Paris Fashion Week. The second day of shows for the Fall/Winter 2024-25 menswear collections featured an explosive mix of different styles and approaches, imaginatively reinventing the men's canon: from the austere couture elegance of LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi to the creative exuberance and eccentric by Walter Van Beirendonck. and Bluemarble's increasingly sophisticated streetwear.

LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi received the prestigious ANDAM 2023 Award last June and on Wednesday he attracted a crowd at his Paris show, taking advantage of the large audience to launch his first womenswear collection. Nouchi has introduced some feminine looks in the past, but has upped the ante this season, presenting a well-matched selection of five looks. His philosophy was to avoid adopting a clichéd view of the female body, but rather to “transpose male proportions into a female register.”

The launch was even more timely given that next winter's LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi collection was inspired by Bel Ami, a novel by Guy de Maupassant. “It was the ideal time to launch our [womenswear] project, since the novel shows a man who manages to rise in society thanks to women, and the latter are central figures in the story. Additionally, many of our customers have been asking [for womenswear]”said Nouchi, who as always put suits and tailoring center stage.

Her feminine silhouette was not androgynous but quite masculine, with loose, flowing pants, long coats that reached the ankles, and a handful of statement pieces, such as gorgeous bouclé wool pants and blouses. Nouchi women even wore jacket and shorts sets, worn soberly with high socks, as did their male counterparts.

The collection was characterized by a somber palette, with many total looks in black and midnight blue. Nouchi subtly combined haute couture garments with more sensual garments, such as the fitted culotte suit worn under pants. Skinny sweaters and even a Fantômas-style jumpsuit fit perfectly with Nouchi's classic, austere men's wardrobe.

As they ascended to the upper reaches, Nouchi's ambitious men gradually upgraded their wardrobes with fur blouses and scarves, made exclusively from textile materials, or wore eye-catching garments such as an ultra-thin, feather-light white leather suit, or a shiny gold lamé. set. Suits became increasingly sophisticated, such as silk jacquard double-breasted suits with shawl collars.

“There is also a connection with money, described through our collaboration with the Paris Mint, which led us to create a jewelry collection,” Nouchi said. He tried to symbolize the success of Bel AmiProtagonist adding a series of golden details to the looks, such as the coin set in a tie, golden socks and a bracelet made with a pile of coins.

Walter Van Beirendonck has once again tapped into his most daring and exuberant creative vein, imagining an army of extravagant creatures, part humanoid, part extraterrestrial. They all seemed a little lost, wandering through the remains of our planet, looking for humans to sympathize with. One thing was clear. These eccentric characters from the darkest corners of the galaxy were all fervently pacifists, like Van Beirendonck himself. For years he has been denouncing the horrors of armed conflict and has once again tried to convey a peaceful message. One of the models pointed with his finger to a patch on his upper part, with the inscription “Stop War.” Another formed a V with his fingers raised, the universal peace sign. Military style was omnipresent in the collection, evident in khaki ensembles and in accessories such as gas masks and thick-soled shoes.

Each of Van Beirendonck's gentle monsters advanced to their own music and politely introduced themselves to the audience. “My name is Pierre-Louis”, “I come from space”, “I was born in the Ivory Coast”, etc. The resulting joyous cacophony, his words mingling with tracks from start to finish of what is undoubtedly the Belgian designer's ideal playlist, was entirely appropriate for the collection. Van Beirendonck mixed the most diverse styles and included new versions of some of the eye-catching items he has designed over the past 30 years, gleefully plundering his brand archive.

The result was a volcanic mix of styles, colors and prints. Assorted floral prints, some romantic, others with a 70s feel, were combined with damask wallpaper fabrics and, depending on the style, presented alongside camouflage effects and tweed or tartan jackets and trousers in all colors of the rainbow Van Beirendonck tore through the fabric on the sides of some extra-long tunics and coats, opening windows for belts to slide through.

Oversized sweaters with fluorescent stripes echoed the brand's characteristic pop art aesthetic. A snake woven with gray and orange stripes snaked around a model's neck like a scarf. The collection included sumptuous knitwear fringed with colorful wool tassels and futuristic garments with suction cups. Van Beirendonck playfully redefined the volumes of the silhouettes, inflating the garments at the shoulders and arms as if for greater protection, and outfitting the models with giant hats, such as a top hat the size of a kitchen sink, and red cavalry-style chapkas and military kepis inside which The heads disappeared. All hats were made 30 years ago by renowned milliner Stephen Jones.

Peace signs also appeared on Bluemarble sweaters, along with huge furry hats with Zorro-style masks. Anthony Alvarez's label continues to thrive, judging by the many rap artists who attended Wednesday's show, inside the former C&A department store on rue de Rivoli, recently closed and completely destroyed.

The first and last three looks of the collection were very Instagrammable, with their screen-sized bags and enormous hats paired with extravagant long faux fur coats. But aside from these, the American-born French-Filipino designer has focused on pants and jeans for next winter, revamping them in all kinds of super-chic versions.

Baggy, lined pants were the centerpiece of the collection, some decorated with sparkling stones, others covered in sequins, others enhanced with embroidered pearls and silver or bronze inserts. Distressed jeans became extremely stylish with their rips. Another variation on the theme was shorts with pockets, layered over tone-on-tone jeans.

The essential item was a two-in-one T-shirt/shirt, practical and pretty at the same time, with the T-shirt going up the torso until it became a shirt.