Backstage Fashion & Frolic

Paris Men's Fashion Week, spring '11
Photos by Sonny Vandevelde
Music by Thieves Like Us (are your headphones on?)

Click image for a pop-up slideshow...

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 6 LOVES

Thom Browne Men's

An original and deeply personal fashion experience wrapped up this round of men's shows as Thom Browne made his much-anticipated Paris debut. The superb show was staged in the headquarters of the French communist party, a 70s' Oscar Niemeyer building that reeks of the era's idealistic futurism. It offered a perfect setting for Browne's cinematic performance (very Kubrickian). Journalists were seated in a spherical conference room as if they were attending a UN summit, while photographers were in a different room. Each was provided a notebook, pencil and two flags—one American, the other French. As the spaceship-like doors closed, an ominous soundtrack heightened the tense atmosphere. Four men in suits took their seats in front of the audience. "Please hold all questions for the end," they said.

Then, an army of astronauts with gold lipstick stormed in. They doffed their white uniforms in front of the photographers and came back wearing nifty three-button short suits in the abbreviated proportions that have made Browne a star. The same short suit came in endless variations: checked, in sequined tartan, with child-like appliquéd decoration, or with red, blue and white details suggesting French-American friendship. Gold sunglasses, knee-high socks and formal shoes accessorized the outfits. Strauss' "The Blue Danube" on the sountrack added to the drama.

It was a potent message, one that distilled the essence of Browne's vision: his fascination with order, conformity and bureaucracy (already expressed in a 2009 show held in a Nazi-era building in Florence), as well as his idiosyncratic humor and his belief that a man doesn't need that many clothes, actually—just the right ones. In an interview last year, the designer declared that he likes the time John F. Kennedy lived because “There wasn’t as much choice in terms of stuff. Everything was just simpler." In our era of disposable fashion, it is a great thing that such a singular voice can be heard.

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 4 LOVES

Raf Simons Men's

Ever the innovator and avant-gardist, Raf Simons surprised the audience with a pared-down collection of mostly white or black garments and slim silhouettes for spring. Proportion and volume were key, as sleeveless coats and wide trousers were cut into elegant and inherently modern clothes. The statement came in the form of oversized and brightly colored zippers placed on the backs of coats and jackets, flipping the normal focus from the front to the back. Referencing early Martin Margiela, the collection also offered glimpses of 90s' minimalism by the likes of Helmut Lang and Jil Sander. 

Simons successfully moved away from last season’s overtly conceptual collection with an outing more inline with creating commercially viable clothes—with a twist, of course. And if you can look past the rubber shirts and leather skirts worn over shorts, you'll find some exquisitely realized pieces.

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 3 LOVES

Acne Men's

With its sweltering temperatures, azure blue sky and streets teeming with cleavage, Paris currently has the atmosphere of a holiday resort in Southern France. The Swedish brand Acne, by Jonny Johansson, tapped into the breezy mood by staging its spring 2011 presentation in a trendy 11th arrondissement bar.

A handful of models casually went back and forth between small platforms inside the bar and a bench on the sidewalk, while the fashionistas, just out of Thom Browne's terrific show, quaffed cold wine.

The big news here was a line of sunglasses designed by Thierry Lasry and inspired by Johansson's memories of school dances in his native Sweden. "Everyone would make such an effort to style themselves up, and sunglasses were always the most important disco accessory," he said in the program notes.

The black leather overall was a standout piece. But the kooky eyewear, mixed with floppy leather hats, loose T-shirts, denim jeans and Cadillac-shiny shoes, created a look too reminiscent of Lanvin's menswear.

• Posted June 29, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 2 LOVES

Maison Martin Margiela Men's

Filmmaking is not a straightforward pursuit at Maison Martin Margiela, where conceptualism is in the house's DNA. For men's spring 2011, its short film in grainy black and white was a fascinating play of real and virtual. On a screen in real size, MMM’s labcoated staff set up a white sheet background in random locations around Paris. As soon as the film’s models broke their poses, they returned in real life in front of the screen, sometimes at the same time as their filmed sequence, to juxtapose virtual and real, the graphic image and the actual presence.

While Martin Margiela is no longer in the house, what remains is the quietly subversive style he pioneered, even if it's without his unique sense of humor. Stiff, minimalist leather vests (some printed to look like wood) were open at the sides as if draped. This is an example of the collection’s geometry system, that two rectangles held together by a single handmade stitch makes a piece. Likewise, shirts unsnapped down the sides to float like a cape. The leather vests were also layered over jackets, or played in patchwork combinations with a leather body and wool sleeves.

For the collection’s finale, MMM came out with a few exceptional pieces: a gladiator-style latticework leather blazer that looked more like sculpture than clothes and a polkadot three-quarter vest in cock feathers—only for the brave, of course.

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 5 LOVES

Junya Watanabe Men's

Jaunty, that nearly forgotten adjective, is really the only way to describe Junya Watanabe’s menswear for spring. Watanabe went French preppie and offered a plethora of horizontal stripes inspired by that upbeat classic: the French sailor’s top.

A nipped-waist, double-breasted blazer in gray cotton chambray with outstanding white buttons was teamed with a wide-stripe T-shirt and wide white trousers and pristine white bucks. Cotton newsboy caps, rolled pant cuffs, deck shoes and nautical parkas were in abundance, but the real interest was the horizontal stripes, which came wide and two-toned on shirts and blazers for old-school rugby panache.

Watanabe also explored classics like the red gingham check shirt worn with a royal blue patch-pocket blazer and cream trousers, the kind of combo a 50s' gent would wear to take his girl out for an afternoon guinguette dance on the Marne. 

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 3 LOVES

Comme des Garçons Men's

Rei Kawakubo is always reaching for big statements at Comme des Garçons, and for spring she found a way to wow with skulls, a motif that's been bouncing around the art scene for years—think Damien Hirst.

Beginning with rough paint-stroke skulls on the back of her models' heads, Kawakubo's entire spring collection was a voodoo line-up of cranial treatments: skulls and checks for wide, cropped cotton trousers worn with short, boxy blazers; muted floral-like skull patterns, super-sized skull shadows for the back yokes of pale blue, untucked shirts; skull shoe tips; and finally, a whole load of full-skirted party dresses, some over narrow cropped trousers, in all-over Scream-style skull jacquards.

Giddy, feverish and ultimately hilarious, Kawakubo’s skulduggery is one way to say boo.

• Posted June 27, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 3 LOVES

Dior Homme

"Lessness" read the invitation to the Dior Homme show. Well, that's exactly what Kris Van Assche delivered, as his groomed, boyish models circled the white runway in endless variations on spare, soft tailoring—mainly in a simplified palette of black and white, but also greige, cream and midnight blue. The asymmetrical jacket that morphed into a cape and the finale of Asian models suggested an ode to 80s-era Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto.

But where the show lacked sexual energy, hedonism awaited en route to Ann Demeulemeester's show, as the writhing, grinding floats of the Gay Pride Parade forced editors to exit their cars and continue by foot. 

• Posted June 26, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 2 LOVES

Bernhard Willhelm Men's

"It was a warning, a sexy warning," confided Bernhard Willhelm at the end of his whimsical men's collection, where traffic signs were used as bright patterns on tights or as breastplates on colorful outfits. "It's actually a feeling about now", he added. "There is something wrong about the way people see sex, how they treat the environment, how they see color. People don't like it anymore. All the fashion people now turn up wearing beige."

Sex, color and hedonism have always been the designer's mantra, so the kooky sportswear—hoodies, micro-shorts, knee-high socks, outrageously ripped tights, and tanks with plunging necklines—looked almost classic. Pop references kept us smiling, as a Pepsi logo read "Sexsi" and a model sported a nunchaku, Bruce-Lee style (there were also cropped kimono jackets).

As usual, the show was staged as a puzzling yet hilarious mise en scène, this time in a garden with colorful smoke and a classical statue as a backdrop. By the time the guests left the venue, the lawn looked like a giant bathtub, a result of models spraying it with foam during the presentation. Sweet, but those old enough to remember the infamous 90s' foam parties at Paris' Queens disco will get the innuendo. 

• Posted June 26, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 1 LOVE

YSL Men's

For a few seasons now, Yves Saint Laurent has shown menswear at its headquarters in Paris. The perennially packed show, held in a small salon, causes high-profile fashion players to get their sweat on. With a limited guest list, exclusivity is the appropriate mantra for YSL.

For the latest collection, spring 2011, Yves Saint Laurent presented a short film by cult photographer and filmmaker Ari Marcopoulos. The subject, tattoo artist Mark Mahoney, was a marked departure from last season's Bruce Weber-directed homo romp.

Stefano Pilati's collection, however, had little to do with the film. The clothes were as carefully crafted as Pilati's best. A somber palette of grays, smudged greens and brown made for refined, slim-belted jackets and narrow pants.

Blouson jackets and crisp shirting were beautifully proportioned—classic Pilati. Playing with feminine shapes is also a signature of the designer and, here too, high-waisted shorts were a serious proposal, yet only relevant to YSL's younger, more directional customer.

Slick and modern, YSL has all the hallmarks of a luxury brand, and Pilati has the ability to extend its appeal to a more commercial level—though perhaps without high-waited shorts. 

• Posted June 26, 2010
• 
• 
• 
• Comment
• 3 LOVES