Paris Men’s Fashion Week: A Retrospective

In the sphere of men’s fashion, there is no exhibition quite like that held all over Paris every January and June.  The brio of Milan, the efflorescent youthfulness of London, and even the deep coffers of New York don’t come close to the allure of the greatest of the big four. 

However, it remains very easy to criticise much of what is produced by the leading figures that show in the city of love.  That is why, to my delight, this year’s A/W15 was one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. 

Wednesday began inauspiciously though, as a stellar Lemaire show was succeeded by Y/Project, who put on probably the worst display of the week.  Coats were poor in both fabric quality and design and garment drape and structure was unflattering.  Coming across to me as a departure from everything Yohan Serfaty stood for in the industry, I sat back in incomprehension.

Things improved quickly with an exceedingly creative performance from Walter Van Beirendonck, turning the fuck up with eagle blazers, playful patterns, stellar outerwear, and front-facing butt plugs? Regardless, it was an entertaining collection that took a stand against terrorism. I don’t know how the man finds the time for all of this. 

Following a huge Valentino collection that varied in its beauty, Haider Ackermann presented what I thought at least was his most impressive showing to date.  Ackermann stuck with his core theme of the decadent Edwardian dandy, but enriched it with lascivious fabrics, deep colour palettes and insouciant styling.  The man clearly has a vision, and that alone is enough to make it today.  Intriguingly and cleverly, the Galleria Museum, where the show was held, was lit in such a way that could not give rise to pretty, detailed photographs.  To my knowledge, Ackermann was the only Instagram-less event of the week, forcing attendees to LOOK at the clothes, which merits applause in itself.    

Wednesday ended with a lacklustre Raf Simons show, which though slightly better than previous collections, still came across as dated, merely a continuation of previous work.  Nevertheless, it was an improvement on his recent work.

Thursday began with an excellent show from Issey Miyake, making fantastic use of cobalt and rose coating to create an insanely colourful yet wearable collection.  I particularly enjoyed the transition made from more reserved pieces to the wild and extravagant as he closed the show. 

Rick Owens dicked about a lot in his show (pun intended), but I prefer not to let exposed penises overshadow the clothes.  While I enjoyed the knitted suits, the double breasted coats seemed a tad overdone.  The technical patterns used were impressive, and I actually loved the boot-cum-sock he made with Adidas, even though I know many won’t take to it.

Early afternoon brought with it the most impressive exhibition of the day.  Boris Bidjan Saberi affirmed this season that he will continue to retain that hard-hitting industrial aesthetic, in spite of the growing effeminacy of Rick Owens and Japanese brand Julius taking a slicker, more futuristic approach.  Saberi opened with rich reds and oranges, and progressed into cooler colour palettes, displaying fantastic silhouettes throughout which evinced both wearability and high design.  There was a notable lack of draping, an unusual step but perhaps one in the right direction. 

Damir Doma followed, whose collection was neither beautiful nor interesting.  Some of it was wearable, but nothing screams at you to buy it.  The less said about it the better, to be honest.

Japanese fashion’s greatest luminary, Yohji Yamamoto, rounded off the afternoon.  Displaying a collection that seemed like a retrospective of his career, Yohji split the audience.  Whereas some loved the clothes (they were beautiful), many were lefting asking ‘where is the statement?’  Aside from there being no message, Yohji recycled elements of previous collections, such as the bruising on the models, and the reliance on very ‘Yohji’ details.  I’m sure it would all look beautiful in the showroom, but in my eyes there wasn’t any real need for a show. 

As afternoon segued into evening, Dries Van Noten showed off a sumptuous collection, using gorgeous quilting and rich lavender to give off an oriental vibe.  A prolific display, deep khaki and navy was infused with lush layering.

Julius_7 closed Thursday with a panoply of amazing formal wear, taking a departure from their usual aesthetic.  Taking aside the divisive marshmallow jackets, the bladed trousers and puffed shoulders on garments were personal highlights, as were the Kuboraum sunglasses they consistently employ in their shows.  Julius_7 is often criticised for being cold and lacking romance, but honestly, who cares when it looks this good?

Friday kicked off with a bombastic Junya Watanabe show in which the models truly lived the clothes.  One might argue that the extremely formal, tailored collection would be better suited to a Pitti Uomo show, but it was an exhilarating departure from Junya’s take on workwear.  Innovative tailoring was complemented by typical Junya denim and beautiful scarves.

Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus followed stellar shows by Ann Demeulemeester and Cerruti 1881, but could be impugned for being a little schizophrenic.  Indeed, the collection seemed quite discordant, leaving many questioning what the concept was.  Nonetheless, there were some very good pieces, including cut blazers, asymmetrical jackets, tailcoats, and the skirts.  Indeed, many of the blazers were made from one piece of fabric cut on the bias and continuously stitched without any side seams, a fantastic feat of construction.

Riccardo Tisci brought us a true creative extravagance, with this seasons Givenchy collection collapsing into a dark circus theme.  Sexual ambiguity was again, a theme, but Givenchy once again lends itself favourably to streetwear.  Highlights were tops dipped in black sequins, pinstripe suits and Aztec prints. 

Berluti were fantastic this year, creative director Alessandro Sartori incorporating jersey and a mineral punch apparently inspire by Venetian glassblowers to create a fusion collection of the formal and the leisure.  Outfit construction was great, and was further embellished by luxuriant colour palettes such as emerald, burgundy and cobalt.

Moving onto Saturday, Carol Lim and Humberto Leon may be branded garish upon reviewing this season’s Kenzo show, but we should be accepting by now of what the brand stands for.  I’m all for playfulness as long as it retains some wearability, and I was a fan of the UFO theme and the vivid colour palettes.  Looks were well constructed, and the shoes and bags stood out as much as the clothes did.  Some uglier pieces like the wide green pants were made up for by statement pieces such as the metallic layered jackets.

Miharayasuhiro displayed some average looks, but the vast majority of it was outstanding, a truly complex and awe-inspiring collection.  Silhouettes were complemented by fantastic footwear, and there was excellent use of weathering.

Sunday ended our week, but heralded the undisputable show of the season, Thom Browne A/W15.  The show began with a performance in which a man woke up in a white apartment, sat down at his typewriter, and failing to produce anything, changed into a black suit, and died as his apartment inverted colours.  A funeral procession followed, with black snow falling.  Cleverly, each of the models stopped at the bed to pay their respects.  Aside from this intriguing concept, the clothes themselves were nonpareil in execution and beauty.  Dark dandy elegance was manifest, supported by truly wonderful layering and texture.  Moreover, there was a bold and dramatic touch in the implementing of feminine accessories and headwear.  Thom is approaching legendary status now, blessing us with consistently brilliant shows and pulchritudinous clothing.  Maintaining a signature style while experimenting with myriad colours and themes, he is now in the eyes of many, Le Grand Couturier. 

Aside from the runway, the Paris showrooms brought forth many highlight collections.  Despite some filler pieces, Undercover took inspiration from David Bowie to develop fantastic graphics and perhaps the cleverest lookbook in recent memory. 

Pigalle mixed streetwear with business casual well, presenting lots of stand-out pieces in palatial surroundings. 

Despite some questionable use of floral patterns, White Mountaineering really stood out this year, with fantastic use of herringbone, ponchos, and white and beige palettes.  Moreover, they successfully designed techwear, outerwear and even formalwear. 

In their final foray into ready-to-wear, Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf gave us a gentlemanly collection that broke rules, with astounding use of deep blues and reds. 

The Viridi-Anne followed up a couple of weak seasons with a very strong collection, adding a subtle punch to the normcore aesthetic. 

Gosha Rubchinskiy’s time should be up by now.  This season’s collection hit like a poorly-executed Eastern-bloc version of Ralph Lauren, lazy and strange overall.  Russian youth was still the inspiration, as can be seen from the sock-tucking and the use of ‘sport’ prints.  Gosha as a concept is probably over by now, and doesn’t really deserve a place at Paris Fashion Week.

Ahmed Abdelrahman blew me away again this year with an exquisite collection, one that took forms of Bedouin vestimentary tradition and imbued it with luxurious, voluptuous Italian and English fabrics. 

Overall, this season’s Paris Fashion Week gives one hope.  Thom Browne is now the leading light, and shows no signs of dropping off unlike Rick Owens, the last ‘saviour of men’s fashion’. Reputable brands such as Damir Doma and Saint Laurent continue to disappoint their fans, but many designers were shown to have stepped up this year, both in construction and styling.  Men’s fashion’s greatest spectacle, therefore, has reaffirmed its dominance.