Paris Menswear Fashion Week Review

Introduction

So last week I did a mini review and round-up from all my favourite runways shows at Milan Fashion Week. In this article we turn our attention to the fashion capital of the world – Paris – in order to see what the big menswear designer houses had to offer over the 4 days of pure unadulterated fashion. Today I am going to give you a quick breakdown of 6 more runway shows and collections that really stood out over the 4 days and exactly what we can expect from their collections this Autumn/Winter.

We will also showcase some of their current range available to buy online today, just in case you can’t wait.

Hermès

Veronique Nichanian’s latest collection for the French Fashion house was sensuous, slow and stylish. The models showed off a collection that was a brilliant take on what contemporary menswear should be, and wowed the audience in doing so.

The collection consisted of navy shearling pants, jumpsuits in black leather, and black cashmere sweaters to name but a few, and every single item was impressive in its own unique way. However, the highlight of the whole collection were the leather jackets. A major trend for Spring/Summer with Burberry pushing the whole ‘biker’ trend, it looks set to continue up until the end of the year if the Hermes show was anything to go by. Hermes prides itself on the leathers that they produce and they are gorgeous leathers at that, making them a stand out piece in any male wardrobe. The leathers in this collection consisted of biker jackets, shearling collar coats and double breasted cropped leather jackets – continuing the same cuts and trends we saw gather momentum during A/W10.

One last word on the collection; the tailoring here was impeccable. Double breasted and single breasted suits were on show, with navy, black, grey and faded check used as the predominant colour scheme. Hermès certainly know how to make a suit for us gentleman.

Phillip Lim

With Lim making his début at Paris Fashion Week this month, he certainly had to live up to the hype of the media. Luckily he did just that. Letting the press and buyers walk around the models instead of parading them on a catwalk allowed Lim to show the close attention to detail that had gone into each and every piece. Known for his layering and his precise and interesting cuts on his clothes, the Fall 2011 collection predictably consisted of sharp cut wool suits and jackets layered with jersey and fine sweats. This layering created a fusion of tailoring and casual, allowing different looks to be worked within the same outfit, by just removing individual pieces.

Some may say that if it was a predictable collection by Lim then why have we classed it as one of the best? Well let me tell you, the interaction between dull grey wools and interesting colours – such as cobalt blue and mustard – showed the new direction that menswear is heading, giving the collection a vibrant elegance to tailoring. We saw in my review of Milan Fashion Week the vivid array of colours promoted in the collections, and this was certainly true of Paris also.

Lanvin

Lanvin’s Paris collection was all about embracing youth with an essence of elegance, instead of elegance and classic tailoring being associated with the older generation. The collection brought together old and new, with inspiration flying in from every generation, creating a wonderful mix of double breasted tight jackets with billowing trousers marked with sharp creases. This look was then capped-off with a wide brim fedora hat. The fusion of immense colours in the tailoring gave it an up to date and modern feel, whilst in the process creating pieces the young and edgy could use whilst still retaining Lanvin’s refined and elegant ethos.

The final outfits of the show consisted of velvet jackets over buttoned up white shirts. The inclusion of mock turtle necks gave the Lanvin man some individuality from the rest, and this individuality has been the defining quality time and time again in Lanvin collections.

Oh and to add a quirkiness feel to the collection, there was a camel coat with a foxtail attached. “Because everyone has a foxy side”, said Lucas Ossendrijver.

Dries Van Noten

We have already seen Bryan Ferry being the icon of inspiration for D&G’s Milan show, but Dries Van Noten said he wanted something glamorous without being feminine for his latest collection. The answer? David Bowie. Taking inspiration from the Bowie of the 70s, all models had the same hair style/colour of the singer back then. The soundtrack was Bowie too. The clothes consisted of double breasted jackets over full pleated pants, similar to outfits worn by Bowie back in the day. Van Noten said that he has been intrigued by scratching surfaces and seeing what happens to them when you do so. As a result he mixed formal jackets with casual tees, a traditional camel shawl blazer with white cargo pants (yes I’m afraid cargo pants), and a layering feast of jackets, knits and dark overcoats.

Also featured in the collection was a double breasted camel blazer being paired with motorcycle pants that unzipped from waist to ankle. Elegance was once again prominent at Dries Van Noten (and Paris Fashion Week as a whole), with oversize knits and a plethora of luxury linings such as fur on coat lapels. There was a certain grandness to the clothes that shouted out to the audience in a display of heroic masculinity.

Miharayasuhiro

Quickly developing as a favourite at Paris Menswear, Mihara Yasuhiro had a vision of combining the coolness of Japanese style with some luxurious additions, and this Fall collection epitomises cool and luxurious.

Inspiration for this latest collection was Anglo-Saxon, and continues with the romanticism themes we have seen throughout menswear recently. The collection consisted of shrunken school blazers, argyle patterned tops, and un-ironed dress shirts. The look is very scruffy with that element of private school boy elegance which I think is a great combination. Yashuiro cleverly printed heavyweight photos of cable knits onto a lighter weight material so that they could be layered under the suit jacket, instead of the cable knit looking out of place and adding too much bulk under the jacket. Innovation at its best.

Rick Owens

Taking inspiration from the idea of men protecting and doing all they can for their families, this Rick Owens collection consisted of various outfits inspired from the likes of Egyptian men and the Pope and his priests. Sounds like a bit of a strange inspiration, but when you relate the ideas that were in Owens’ head to the visual collection, all becomes clear. Short skirts worn by workers in the Egyptian tombs featured, as did long robes with a monk influence. Black leather skirts worn over pants were perhaps inspired by Scottish soldiers defending their people. With the skirts there is a tribal essence to the collection, something that Owens has been associated with throughout his previous season’s. Could this be the year the man-skirt really takes off into the mainstream?

The jackets and coats were impressively cut, with the cutaway blazer in the opening outfit of the show being a highlight, along with the vast array of coats closing the show. Duffel coats came in white and black leather clasped by metal toggles, maybe a more comforting option for those who are not so keen on the skirts or dresses.

“A guy wearing a dress is such a functional thing,” Owens insisted. “Easy as a flannel shirt. Extreme and practical at the same time.” Maybe for some, not so much for myself I’m afraid.

Matthew
www.twitter.com/matthew_j_burt