Three excellent and wildly contrasting shows – from Loewe, Hermès and KidSuper – presented on Sunday were a reminder that when it comes to creative menswear, Paris remains the epicenter of the planet.
Loewe: controlled panache and feathered faces
Controlled and very focused, but featuring a great new silhouette, Loewe's latest men's collection was the most coherent and cool moment yet on the European catwalks.
With one day left in the 13-day season that began in Florence on June 11, it looked like the show and collection everyone had been waiting for. A superbly concise statement on cutting-edge tailoring; details that change scenes; and everything great.
Starting with excellent lean and mean tailoring on models with tremendously elongated shoes. Gone were the transgressive features of recent Loewe shows, precise masculine looks and forceful graphics appeared. Like the new bold version of the logo seen on white or orange Orange Order shirts with stand-up collars.
Or fantastic metallic green tank tops, echoing the invitation to the parade.
While the dervish pants spun in light, fluffy silk mohair woven with Aran cable knits, they were quite remarkable. Like the voluminously twisted pants, gathered at one side of the waist with a leather logo, so that they billow better when you walk.
“I wanted something understated, with a slim cut and an elongated silhouette,” explained Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson. A spectacle held in the rafters of the main glass-roofed riding arena of the Garde Républicane, Paris' key cavalry regiment.
Each model's face was dissected by one or more long feathers (real, metallic, or dipped in gold paint) that hung down to their pants. Cutting or hiding the face creating a striking optical illusion.
At times, the collection looked like a modern school uniform for universities that train teams of artists worthy of The Avengers. Or some advanced and avant-garde military platoon. While creative director JW Anderson's cleverest trick was to finish off the airs with leather belts, which could then be attached to the waistband of the trousers.
“Military coats that are worn in front and buttoned… Last season it was about morning suits, it's more about wearing pants inside out but redesigning them,” he explained curiously.
Backed by an intense drone and a hypnotic synth soundtrack by William Basinski, this was a huge fashion statement. It earned Anderson the most intense applause of the entire season.
Hermès returns to the sea
All about embracing the sea at Hermès, the latest house that references the call of the sea at his men's fashion show.
Following Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana and MSGM in Milan, whose entire collections seemed destined for Portofino or St Tropez.
Yet somehow it seemed more likely that this Hermès would be worn in the best hotel, on the most exclusive beach and terrace. Because this was subtle summer menswear at its finest.
The entire palette was aquatic: Pacific blue, ocean, sparkling ecru, with a touch of beige and sand, suggesting a sunset drink on the beach.
Rarely has leather looked lighter: from sleeveless shearling biker jackets to wide-cut second-skin cabins. A mood facilitated by drawstring pants and pajama pants. Or the very baggy cotton summer pants that ended well above the ankle.
Each model strolls in wide-strapped sandals inside the Conseil de Surveillance, a massive Rationalist-era structure in the 16th arrondissement.
Although the best moment was reserved for a large series of navy blue silk shirts with equestrian prints of bridles, saddles, bits and harnesses. Dressed in silk sweatshirts or blouses for cocktail hour. Patterns that were even tattooed on the legs of one model and the torso of another.
“A collection about sweet france and lightness and a metaphor about the sea and the memories it leaves. And simply the idea of enjoying a beach party,” explained Hermès creative director of menswear, Véronique Nichanian.
KidSuper partners with Le Cirque de Soleil
“Magnificent!” This is what the audience shouted at the end of the magnificent KidSuper show, organized in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil.
The concept: a gang of sad puppets electrified by lightning stage a dance show and a parallel fashion show.
The first looks: hand-painted impressions of the puppets on costumes and covers in this mixed show. Each model marched with their wrists tied to ropes held by a giant hand eight meters high that guided them around the stage.
Hosted inside the Trianon, a recently renovated theater and rock club in trendy Montmartre. Thousands of children ask to enter KidSuper designer Colm Dillane's show.
Although the action began with a dancer performing an amazing spinning performance, as if she were tied by her hair to a rope that extended to the ceiling.
Before Dillane's brilliant cast of characters appeared, many of them finished in etchings painted by the New York designer. Although they were styled like children's puppets with lace collars, fringes, and fluffy boots, the real clothes were fresh, edgy, and wearable. Like a big chalk striped gangster. Or several fabulous wool capes embroidered with historical figures, dandies and fops.
It often features voluminous tailoring in bright jacquards, covered in clowns, poets and aristocrats; or elegant leather jackets embroidered with felt human profiles or intarsia pimps.
Ending with a coiled doll model, with a huge key on the back; a tragic clown on three-meter stilts and a headless figure, in a beautiful spectacle staged courtesy of producer extraordinaire Thierry Dreyfus.
Two years ago, Dillane designed a collection for Louis Vuitton in the interval between the death of Virgil Abloh and the appointment of Pharrell Williams. And it was an excellent show. Someone should really hire Colm to guide a major brand. Doubly so after this performance.
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