Paris, unlike Milan, has always been distinguished by fashionable pluralism, especially since there were more male shows here, and the participants are much more diverse from a geographical point of view. Each designer had a different focus on the collection. Some experimented with tailoring, even going extreme (Balenciaga, Rick Owens), others were inspired by youth subcultures (Dior Homme, Kenzo, Junua Watanabe), others interpreted a familiar travel theme (Balmain, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton). Young brands deserve special attention. In many ways, not without their talent and energy, over the past few seasons, processes in men's fashion have begun sometimes much more interesting than in women's. Paris summed up all four weeks, affirming a turn from classic to freedom and variety of casual style.
Hermès
Without doubt the most bourgeois collection of the season. Although it seems like Veronique Nishanyan has been doing the same thing for several seasons in a row, Hermès is not about momentary trends. Things that only seem simple can be evaluated in a completely different way with tactile contact. Their strong point is not only the cut, but also the first-class materials: the finest lambskin, silk knitwear and the softest suede.
Hermès' bold claims include short and long jumpsuits, a camouflage bomber jacket, and a splash of acid yellow against a backdrop of muted gray, blue, brown and purple.
Dior Homme
The backdrop for Chris van Assch's show was a scaled-down model of American racing, which reminded him of an amusement park in his native Antwerp, where there was always a lot of goths, punks and other informals. Moving away from the classic designs, the designer combined sportswear with streetwear with the same skill. The collection does not focus on just one silhouette: there are equally wide trousers-pipes, long or cropped, very narrow, fitted jackets, tight translucent T-shirts, loose trench coats and bombers. Even more important are the details: the cage on the trousers, which, upon closer examination, turns out to be rough hand-stitched, the thinnest web of creeping knitwear - the suit was covered with it - and the classic striped fabric that creeps out like fringe.
Kenzo
Designers Carol Lim and Umberto Leon reminisced about club hangouts in the 1990s. Banana trousers, stretched to the chest or lowered to the thighs, with bright underpants sticking out from under them, short boxers, leggings with club flyer prints, raver sweatshirts and windbreakers with slogans, oversized shirts … In a word, the entire clothing arsenal of an avid party-goer. The amusing and somewhat touching collection, shown on non-professional models, has largely benefited from the work of the stylist: sweaters tucked into trousers, deliberately ironic berets, striped golfs and sandals worn on socks. Warning: the latter threatens to become a huge trend next summer.
Louis Vuitton
Englishman Kim Jones chose the theme of travel, which is quite logical for a brand that started with luggage and bags. Being himself a lover of exotic places, the designer interpreted his impressions of African voyages in a very peculiar way. His hero is a traveler who has already returned to Europe. As "trophies" - precious crocodile and ostrich leather for a trench coat or bag, checkered fabrics of the Maasai tribes, safari style, animal prints, barely guessed on mohair pullovers, and zigzag ornaments. At the same time, keeping all the items of the collection in classic forms, without experimenting in proportions and cut, Jones very delicately introduces another component - his own punk theme. She is barely perceptible in trousers with decorative zippers, tartan plaid, translucent monogrammed latex trench coats and dog collars.which have been among the bestsellers of the Parisian house for many years.
Almost caricatured drawings of animals, appearing on silk shirts and on bags, were made by the English artists Jack and Dinos Chapman, who borrowed them from old European etchings.
Valentino
Raw edges, frayed patched denim, loose knitwear, unstitched collars - designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli explained it all by being inspired by the beauty of unfinished pieces. But even if one guesses the essence of these details without the design preamble, the perfection of their execution will immediately sow doubt again. On the whole, the collection is much more consistent with the military trend. In addition to the khaki-colored silk jumpsuit with patch pockets and stripes characteristic of military uniforms, the camouflage pattern, presented in Valentino collections for more than one season, has not been forgotten. This time it is combined with the leopard image that appeared on one of the dresses by Valentino Garavani in the 1960s.
Lanvin
This is the first collection of Lucas Ossendreiver, on which he worked without Alber Elbaz. The designer's own vision turned out to be gloomy, although he himself called the collection romantic. The somewhat apocalyptic impression of torn knitted scarves, carabiners with ropes instead of belts, reflective stripes on clothes and dirty sneakers are softened by layering (especially where pairs of striped shirts are worn on top of each other), cords tied around the belt with pseudo-philosophical phrases, the effect of wrinkled fabric on the bend of the elbows or back and jackets from the "someone else's shoulder". At first, Lanvin's design team carefully created some of the items by hand, then mercilessly deforming under pressure, depriving them of the podium gloss.
Balmain
Olivier Rousteing was inspired by travel: his jetsetters fly somewhere between the Caribbean, Ibiza and Morocco. Despite the fact that the branded cropped jackets, lavishly decorated with embroidery and artificial stones with a touch of ethnicity, of course, were not without, the collection still contained enough wearable and comfortable things, which Balmain's vocabulary did not particularly differ. In addition to denim in casual style (and not the usual club style), one cannot fail to note spacious sweaters and cardigans of chunky knit, light parkas, soft suede tunics and bombers. What was certainly not lacking was in the color palette: from beige and khaki to "pluck-out-eyes" orange and turquoise.
Dries van noten
Proportions and materials - the Belgian designer has always paid close attention to them. His lightweight trench coats and oversized high-waisted trousers will be favorites next summer. The most curious of all were the prints: graphic black-and-white stains, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a lot of baroque arabesques stuffed at different angles (previously translated into a drawing with a ballpoint pen), patches on a denim trench coat and jeans - only a print on fabric, and camouflage - an extremely enlarged image of plants and flowers taken from a reproduction of a 17th century tapestry.>