Wednesday was a day of eclectic presentations, highlighting Paris' immense range of menswear: a stunning The Row; a literary Berluti; welcome return of Simon Burstein with Leathersmith; a Reebok renewed and full of energy.
The row
In an era of quiet luxury, The Row creates understated menswear with grace.
The New York brand presented its latest men's fashion innovations at its French headquarters, a beautiful carved stone mansion on rue Capucines, just around the corner from the Ritz.
Like The Row's women's clothing, men's clothing focuses on enveloping volumes and mysterious shapes. From the theatrically khaki trench coats with huge shawl collars to the A-line leather doublets with stand-up collars and overly long sleeves.
Founders Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen remain equal opportunity designers. Boys and girls alike can wear impeccable but unexpected fabrics: cottons so finely brushed they could be nylon; Loosely woven cashmere that practically floated.
Protective, serene, unpretentious and completely at home in a French hôtel particulier.
Berluti: A classic without many new features
All about Berluti icons, where the emphasis was on classic items such as its famous Alessandro seamless men's shoe or its distinctive wingtip sneaker. The news is a new selection of patinas, such as Castleton Green and Brilliant Jam.
Plus, if you're looking for the perfect two-pocket windbreaker, Berluti's burnished rawhide versions in spiced amber or steely anthracite are pretty hard to beat. Just like the oatmeal leather collar baseball jacket.
Other items that impressed were the large velvet bag made in Scritto, the brand's signature handwritten print. And new cardigans in porridge tone made of woven hemp.
Presented with great class inside a beautiful mansion in Parc Monceau, the Foundation of the famous editors Simone and Cino Del Duca. Stalls of clothing and accessories are placed in front of an excellent selection of art objects (an acrobat statue by Philippe Hiquily or a striking sculpture of the Three Graces by Jean Touret) on loan from Yves Gastou, Karl Lagerfeld's favorite gallery.
And with an elegant touch, the guests left with the gift of a literary work, in our case that of Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
That said, it's been almost five years since Berluti had a proper creative director, and the lack of a true point of view on fashion is now worryingly evident.
Simon Burstein
It's always good to witness the latest ideas from a true professional like Simon Burstein, who presented his latest Leathersmith collection at his Saint German The Place London boutique on rue d'Odéon.
Burstein, a London-born fan of Paris, was inspired by a series of cut-out cartoons he acquired at Vanves, the Paris antiques market.
Images of young people dancing, doing fashion or shooting catapults, the latter seen in a very fine cotton shirt. Also admirable were the orange cardigans with gradient window plaids; Men's seersucker style shirts and a light blue sweater with Leathersmith inscription.
The key to the brand is its excellent leather goods, from shiny wallets and card holders to agendas in snakeskin and buttoned leather, some finished with images of Vanves' youth.
“Who doesn't like technical miracles,” marvels Burstein, former CEO of Sonia Rykiel and luxury expert, proudly displaying the leather diary.
Reebok LTD
One brand gaining momentum is Reebok, which debuted its third collection since Milan-based New Guards acquired its European license last year.
The sports brand, born in Manchester in 1895, now likes to be called Reebok LTD, which means Learn. Proof. Design. This season he showed three collaborations and his new Premier line in an art gallery in the Marais, among which the collaborations with Botter and Boris Bidjan Saberi stand out.
Led by Botter's deliberately dirty sneakers with raised toes and fantastic nylon sports ponchos that combined Reebok's Vector emblem with Botter's Antwerp three-spade crest.
Meanwhile, Boris unveiled his cool new take on sneakers: practical but fun.
Under its previous ownership, German-owned adidas sadly reduced Reebok to the status of a cheaper lifestyle brand. You could buy Reebok at Wal Mart.
Now Reebok's new owner, Authentic Brands and New Guards, have other ideas. Particularly in its white, molecular-looking version of the legendary Reebok air-pump sneaker, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.
There seems to be a lot of growth potential at Reebok, which doesn't even have a store in Europe. And create the jerseys of a single soccer team. Although it is the most beautiful team in Brazil. Botafogo, the Rio de Janeiro team whose most famous player was Garrincha, El Pajarito, known as the greatest dribbler in the history of football.
One senses that Reebk LTD is about to embark on one of Garrincha's labyrinthine races to glory.
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