Paris Menswear Shows Archives - CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

We arrive in the final destination on our round up of the male Fashion weeks for Autumn/Winter 2015. Bonjour Paris and we start the proceedings off with a brand not short on that certain Je ne said quoi, yes Louis Vuitton and what a way to start. Kim Jones just seems to be going from strength to strength during his tenure with the Luxury Power house. He drew his inspiration this season, on a personal hero, in the shape of British Designer Christopher Nemeth who was relatively unknown outside of Japan. He interpreted four of Nemeth’s signature prints and at the same time managed to work them expertly into the Vuitton aesthetic, that only he could have achieved to such a high level. Once again leaving everyone, a baited for next season to see what magic he may conjure.

Next up, onto a designer who left me agog with the beauty of his collection, Junya Watanabe, who based the look of his Autumn/Winter 2015 collection on the sub culture of the ‘sappers’ the nattily dressed gentlemen from the Congo. Think, those immaculately dressed dandies of 1930’s Harlem in their Sunday Best fit for Church and an audience with God himself. Nonetheless, this was no retro obsessed collection, this was modernity personified.

Then to Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy, we saw a departure from the sweatshirts and Tees which have made the Fashion brand such a favourite of the likes of Professor Green through to Kanye West in recent years and a move towards the formal roots of the Parisian house. However, this was a dark and eerie at time unnerving presentation by Tisci and the Devil was literally in the detail.

Madison Kitsune

Paul & Joe

Ami may not have the heritage of some of the other players on the Paris schedule but it nonetheless delivers and leaves you wanting to run backstage and put an order in with them there and then, not having to wait 6 or so months before it hits the stores and websites. It offers impeccably desirable clothes that you just want. Another French brand able to entice us with such wearable and interesting ranges is Carven offering up a more boxy and sculpted silhouette this season. Relative new comers are Maison Kitsune the duo of Masaya Kuroki and Gildas Loaec, think of this like a pseudoFrench Alban, where they leave you wanting literally every piece from the collection from suiting to Tote bag. The thing all these brands have in common is their comforting lack of avant garde, there is no danger you may need the lookbook just to know have to wear an outfit from these brands but you can rest assure you still know, you look the bis when wearing their wares. This is the same with Paul & Joe, this is not a tricksy brand, where from season to season you’re not quite sure what you might see or get from them. This is a true bastion of wearable apparel.

Kris Van Assche for Dior Homme, seemed to run his show in reverse this season opting to start the presentation with formal attire in tuxedos in various forms then moving between smart and smart casual throughout. Mixing that juxtaposition of high formal then throwing in denim, a baseball cap, trainers or maybe even all three, just because he can.

Next we have the Luxury house of Luxury Houses, Hermes offering a Masterclass in the modern male’s wardrobe and what it SHOULD contain for every possible eventuality, whether that be a business meeting or what to wear for that all important down time, Veronique Nichanian had it covered to a tee, T-shirt that is.

Like Hermes, Alber Elbaz over at Lanvin did his take on what a the contemporary man needs for his functional wardrobe. He divided it into uniform sections which included, pinstripes, tweeds in grey, country plaids, army coats and military jackets.

Penultimately, we have Sir Paul Smith flying the flag for British Sartorialism on the continent. Like so many brands this season he too has adopted the maxim of Orange is the new Black or maybe he’s been watching too much Netflix, either way we have seen everyone from Christopher Raeburn to Missoni, Moschino and Vivienne Westwood all take on the sunshine hue. Smith looked back to move forward this season and saught his design team to plunder his archive of decades of hoarding.

Finally we have Umit Benan who like Pablo Copolla for Bally seems to have been inspired by the films of Wes Anderson. Rather than the The Royal Tenenbaums, Benan appears to have emmerised himself in ‘The Life aquatic’ as whether is was fishing rods or bucket hats his models possessed some element of fishing paraphernalia. But at no time did Umit collection veer to the realms of silliness or gimmick.

Bonjour my petit pois ! We have the last of out previews from the European Style Capitals for this season, well for next season but let’s not confuse matters. This time as though it needed an introduction, of course, the city of lurve, Paris.

First, for our delectation is one of the oldest Fashion Houses and hottest tickets for all Paris Menswear Shows, Louis Vuitton, under the style direction of uber talented Brit Kim Jones. Jones has shown he’s not only come along way since his collaborations as a young Designer with the like of TOPMAN and sports brand Umbro, but has finely tuned his talents to produce some of the most sublime collections in recent years from the house of Vuitton. For Autumn/Winter 14 the trend driven show wasn’t as obviously as past seasons, opting for letting the Clothes do the talking, but was loosely inspired by Kim’s trip to the Atacama Desert of South America.

Louis Vuitton

On to one of the busiest men of the Paris Men’s shows Kris Van Assche, with the first of his two presentations of the week, up first is his own signature collection. Here we shown a totally wearable and rather commercial range from Van Assche, offering us colour, patterns in herringbone and eye catching dizzy dots.

Kris Van Assche

Then with a hop, skip and literal jump over to the second of Monsieur Van Assche’s collections, told you he was busy, in Dior Homme. Where if we were in any doubt as to his Dotty tendencies, they were confirmed here. We were offered them in Suits, shirts, shoes, ties, honestly you name it, it was covered in dots, but please don’t be put off, he managed to pull this off, to quote Mr Kenny Everett, it was all done in the best possible taste !

Dior Homme

Now then, Ami’s, Alexandre Mattiussi continues his assault on being the favourite label of choice among the style press and it isn’t surprising as to why. He’s proving to be a Jedi Master in the art of producing collections that have that simply, unassuming, stylish charm about them, but all the time screaming, your life won’t be complete without me in it !

Ami

Into the final straights, we have a name who over the past couple of seasons has been making a lot of the right noises while showing in Milan, but for this season has made the move to Paris. Turkish born, Umit Benan, each season, selects a character to base his collection around. In the past, we have seen such inspiration as the taxi drivers of his home Capital Istanbul, or Vintage Rockers or even Investment Banker. However, this season we looked to, Jackie Robinson, who? The first African Amercian Baseball Star. So the presentation had a very 1940’s feel to it from the political references to the lack of freedom Robinson had to put up way at this time.

Umit Benan

And so to the final of our designers, we started with a Brit designing for a French Fashion house and we finish with a British Designer showing in Paris. No less then Sir Paul Smith, who relaxed his silhouettes this season and drew inspiration for his collection from one could say, another iconic figure, in Jim Morrison. So no surprises when I tell you there was a distinct ROCK feeling to Smith’s show.

Paul Smith

Paris Menswear Shows Highlights – Autumn/Winter 2015

Homme Mode à Paris – Paris Menswear Show Review AW14

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