Style notes every man should take from Paris
From novel ways to dress for the heat to kitschy prints guaranteed to make you smile, Paris Men’s Fashion Week offered up sartorial talking points, says Stephen Doig
Surfer dudes make unlikely muses
Surfer dudes and Gap Yah kids washed up on the shores of Louis Vuitton, as the creative director of its men’s division dipped his toe into Antipodean waters. Kim Jones looked to surf culture – reinterpreting Vuitton’s logo into rad sports shack-style lettering – and the idea of island hopping via shorts and tops made from scuba fabric and coral necklaces that equally wouldn’t have looked out of place at Glasto. That said, this is Louis Vuitton, and Jones has a knack for elevating pockets of subculture to the heights called for at a Parisian luxury house. Double-layered tops with prints depicting exotic fauna and unfurling orchids came shimmering and translucent, like some form of undulating sea life, while the elements of technical outerwear – trousers with elasticated cords at the ankle and festival-ready cagoules and rain-macs – came in softest, flyaway silk.
Don’t dismiss the quiet ones
Amid the front row glamour (Naomi Campbell wearing a preview of what would be seen on the catwalk at Vuitton alongside Edward Enninful, UK Vogue editor-in-chief) there was a heavy dose of “reality dressing”; that is beautifully made clothes that any sensible man would covet. Paul Helbers, on his own namesake brand Helbers, focused on 50 shades of grey in an offering that is a damn sight more nuanced than the EL James novel; think workwear in every hue from pewter to dove, which looked easy and low-key. Elsewhere, Pierre Mahéo’s brand Officine Générale showcased minimalist, pared-back staples and the most perfect suede jacket a discerning gentleman could want.
The new colour palette is rich
For his second season at Berluti – the men’s star in LVMH’S constellation of
brands – the designer Haider Ackermann took to the oil paints to come up with a subtle array of colours.
The shades were as rich and evocative as the bacchanalian feast that greeted guests afterwards; gently gleaming pale gold, rose quartz track tops (a first for Berluti), corn yellow and eau de nil. The brand may have begun as a bootmaker to the rich and powerful of Paris, but Ackermann is steadily stepping into the future with his take on what sophisticated, grown-up, quiet luxury means for the elite of today.
The fan is back in fashion…
Forget your man bag and the angle of your shoulder robe; at this fashion week, all the men cared about was a vague semblance of looking together in the searing, 37-degree heat. Ergo, the pouchette was firmly sidelined in favour of… the fan. Effete? Perhaps… But you try sitting in a plastic tent sans air con as the mercury creeps upwards.
Extra points go to Sacai, Rick Owens and Dries Van Noten who provided fans, the latter mini electric ones that called to mind your granny on her summer sojourn to St Helens.
... but so is the summer coat
How else to look presentable as you broil in the searing heat? Far from stripping off to an airy T-shirt, the spring/summer collections from Acne, Mackintosh and Loewe proposed a new way to cope with it: the summer coat. Bear with us, it’s lightweight, flyaway, softly cut and – crucially – doesn’t show up sweat patches. Sometimes it’s the little things.
There can be such a thing as an elevated shell suit
When you’re arguably one of the most esteemed luxury houses in Paris, with the best leather at your disposal, it would be easy to rely on that. But Hermes’ Véronique Nichanian likes a challenge, which is why she toyed with sports silhouettes and technical fabrics for spring/summer ’18, offering a dynamic vim to this most august of brands. Crinkling, lightweight materials on zip-up bombers, hoodies and trousers took the notion of the shell suit to lofty new heights. Well, the average super yacht-owning oligarch can’t spend his whole life in crocodile and cashmere, can he?
Embrace the festival spirit
The dusty fields of Glastonbury might be a world apart – in both geography and psyche – from the rarefied boulevards of the 8th Arrondissement, but there were nods to festival culture in the rain macs and cagoules that floated down the catwalks of Lanvin and Louis Vuitton. Just add a flagon of cider and a Radiohead set.
Logo mania
The late Nino Cerruti made the original, now brilliantly ironic, suits from Miami Vice, so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that Jason Basmajian looked to the cult show as a starting point at Cerruti this season. With that Eighties reference came a series of “broken” logos – half finished or cut off at the bottom – emblazoned across sweaters. Meanwhile, Kris Van Assche at Dior Homme decided it was time to celebrate his tailoring atelier, emblazoning tops, coats and trims with the Rue de Marignan address.
And finally, don’t forget to party
In such uncertain times, it puts ruminations on the new season trouser length into perspective. But, as they say, the show must go on. And as such Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo decided it was time to kick up our heels; disco balls swirled, multicoloured lights blazed and her models came out dancing in tinselly, glittery ensembles that couldn’t help raise a smile. Whilst at Paul Smith, the designer opted for vibrant, retina-searing shades and kitschy prints to provide welcome relief amid the news app alerts.