PARIS FASHION WEEK

Paris Men’s Fashion Week

IF MILAN MEN’S FASHION WEEK FALL / WINTER 2021 WAS TO BE A PRAGMATIC PROPOSAL OF FUTURE DRESS, ITS PARISIAN COUNTERPART IS THE COMPLETE HYPER-C ONCEPTUAL OPPOSITE. PHYGITAL FORMAT ASIDE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PRESENTATIONS CUT COVID-19 OUT OF THE CREATIVE EQUATION, NIXING DESIGN INPUT FROM THE VIRUS.

Depending on how your relationship with getting dressed has shifted through lockdowns, this may or may not appeal to you. However, whether you’re taking Zoom calls in Calvin’s or Comme des Garçons, if you love fashion you’ve likely missed runway shows not about isolation, impending doom, the apocalypse, or anything else COVID-19 related. Back in November, Paris’ Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode announced alongside The British Fashion Council and Florence’s Pitti Uomo trade fair a 2021 fashion week schedule amidst pandemic lockdowns. Since then, government restrictions have waxed and waned, but ultimately it’s not surprising the majority of this year’s presentations in Paris were digital. The 126-year-old house of Berluti was tasked with kicking off the week and though it presented a (very) short film entitled “Living Apart Together” it did not actually show its Fall/Winter 2021 collection. Instead the heritage house took a tongue-in-cheek approach, revealing fractions of colorfully dyed cashmere hats, matching wooly sweaters, and sleek dress shoes over the 1 minute, 1 second long video. To top it off, the clip concluded by announcing the debut of the collection would actually take place on March 5, in Shanghai, long after Paris events have ended and far away from where they took place. Symbolic satire at its finest.

RELYING ALSO ON THE RESEARCH AND DNA OF HIS RESPECTIVE HOUSE WAS KIM JONES. THE DIOR MEN AND NEWLY ANOINTED FENDI WOMEN’S CREATIVE DIRECTOR IS A SOURCE OF EXCITEMENT FOR MANY AT THE MOMENT.

Amidst all the hype of his fast approaching Wednesday women’s debut though, Jones is calm, collected, and sticking to past personal recipes for success. One such ingredient is his commitment to artistic collaboration, this time calling on Scottish painter Peter Doig. Autobiographical elements of Doig’s paintings titled “Spearfishing,” “Rain in The Port of Spain,” and “Two Trees” are generously

sprinkled throughout, most notably through the orange color choice of overcoats, a knitted lion, various paint-dabbed patterns, and yellow anoraks. At first glance the combination of suave tailcoats, black rubber wellies, and abstracted maroon camo prints meshed with Doig’s touch may look merely military inspired. However, Jones’ theme for this Men’s Fall/Winter 2021 season was actually influenced by French artists and Marc Bohan’s tenure at Dior. The ceremonial dress required of French creatives inducted into the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris was in fact a tail coat. The eye-catching buttons you thought were upcycled from an ex-navy uniform? Those were actually adapted from a Haute Couture dress designed by Bohan, creative director of Christian Dior in the 1960s.

Credits@Paris Fashion Week@DIOR

THE TYPICALLY TRADITIONAL HOUSE OF BERLUTI’S FILM ALSO REVEALED A COMMON THREAD AMONG THE PHYGITAL FASHION WEEK EVENTS. THAT IS, THE ADAPTABILITY AND EVEN EMBRACE OF NEW VIRTUAL MEDIUMS BY BRANDS. ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS RANGED FROM SCOTTISH-BORN PAINTER PETER DOIG FOR DIOR MEN TO AMERICAN HIP-HOP LEGEND, RAPPER YASIIN BEY AKA MOS DEF FOR LOUIS VUITTON.

Virgil Abloh’s sixth collection titled Ebonics, explores racism, Eurocentrism, and Abloh’s own personal experience as a Black creator and intelectual. Through snowy mountain tops and a teal marbled maze, director Josh Johnson captured Abloh’s own story, aspirational message, and equally impactful fashion on film. Inspired by James Baldwin’s 1953 essay “Stranger in the Village,” a reflection of how it felt to be a Black American artist in the majority white society of Switzerland, Alboh examines his African heritage sartorially and through the spoken word of Saul Willams and Kai Isiah Jamal. Ghanian Kente cloth embossed with the LV monogram, tartan checked quilts, crisp white cowboy hats underlaid by silk durags, and 3D European cityscape puffer jackets brought to life the idea embroidered throughout the collection: “Tourist vs Purist.” Abloh has struggled in the past with accusations of mimicking the ideas of others, but here the designer’s slogan and global exploration of design defends his methodology, questioning to whom ideas, art, and culture really belong. Berluti, a company within the LVMH luxury behemoth, controls 10 stores in China, where it will shortly open a pop-up on WeChat. We are sure fans in China and elsewhere will dig this collection when they, finally, get to see it. Though it certainly didn’t start the Paris collections with a bang.

VÉRONIQUE NICHANIAN UPDATED HER HERMÈS MAN WITH HOODED PARKAS, LEATHER OVERSHIRTS AND FLEECY JACKETS WITH A SPORTY FLAIR.

Many in fashion are playing it safe these days. In tough times, people tend to stick to the tried and tested. Not so Véronique Nichanian who opted to reach outward with her fall collection for Hermès, a house known for hewing close to its traditions and operating at a distance from the buzzy fashion world outside. The success of that strategy - which has kept Hermès independent all these years - now seems to be serving as a perch from which to branch out while much of the world folds in on itself. And branch out she did. Nichanian offered a varied and youthful lineup, updating the look of her famously nonchalant Hermès man with hooded parkas, leather overshirts, sleeveless waistcoats, quilted T-shirts, striped sweater vests and fleecy jackets with a sporty flair. “Inside-outside, the clothes leave their framework,” read the show notes, describing the hybrid and practical nature of the clothing.Trousers were equally interesting - and attractive - mostly loosely cut, some tapered, others with wide cuffs; with many drawstring waists and often low crotches. Pockets added to the free-spirited nature of the collection, popping up on sleeves and applied like patchwork, outlined in white stitching on a gray workwear shirt and hidden under the saddle-stitched panel of a leather shirt. A restricted color range kept things from getting too busy, with a lot of neutrals like olive and taupe, but also patches of a pale, muddy yellow and lavender. For the digital presentation, she teamed again with film producer Cyril Teste. To fill in the dearly missed in-person connection, editors were hand-delivered bags of fresh baked goods - promptly delivered before the show. Models moved up and down the central staircase of a favorite Hermès show venue, France’s Mobilier National building, which houses state-owned furniture. They paused for conversation, glanced at their phones and mingled, looking cool in colorful, calfskin sneakers while casually toting their tartan tweed Galop Fourre-tout bags. “Our approach to clothing, now of utmost importance, is currently undergoing a transformation, and my job is to come up with propositions,” said Nichanian, acknowledging deep change in the world.

Connotations of masculine luxury included an enormous floor-length fur coat, matching marbled suit jackets and pants, ribboned top hats, and floor-sweeping wool overcoats in black, white, green, denim, a milk chocolate velvet, and green checkered plaid.

These archetypes of pre-Abloh Louis Vuitton design language mixed with elements of Black culture incorporated through design, dance, music, and poetry make for a truly important collection. Abloh was criticized over this past summer on Instagram by young followers for not appropriately showing his support for the BLM protests taking place across the nation. With this assembly he has cemented his stance on the matter. Abloh intends to be the hand holding doors open for future generations of Black creators.

Special thanks to Paris Fashion Week