PARIS MATCH: THE RULES OF STYLISH DRESS IN THE CITY OF LIGHT
Stephen Doig on what to expect on the catwalks (and on the front row) at Paris Men’s Fashion Week
Two dress codes for men surface this week, and they couldn’t be more polarised. Racegoers at Ascot this week were told to ensure that morning suits were worn and that ankles were covered (so long, mankle), while across the Channel in Paris, the city’s men’s fashion week gets under way, with Gallic soigné par for the course among the catwalks and the men who frequent them. It’s a style of dress – as hard to define as the trail from one of those Gauloises cigarettes – that’s rather elusive, as contrasting as the city itself, from the patrician columns of the Place Vendôme to the gritty after-dark allure of the Marais. It’s considered, but at ease, comrade, and never overtly “done”. Which makes it great for summer climes, too.
To highlight the particular nuances of French men’s style, etail website Mr Porter has launched a range entitled Vive La France to celebrate the country’s strongest – and in some cases, undiscovered – menswear brands, from the urbane Ami to the Riviera ready Holiday Boileau.
But how do Paris men – particularly the ones who attend the fashion show and tend to be the most envelope pushing – tend to dress? For every brooding Jacques Brel in black blazer and matching polo neck, there’s a glacial Alain Delon in easy white shirting, but there are some common tropes that bind the Paris man together.
And, as Delon proves, one such element is shirting; Charvet might lay claim to being the oldest shirt maker in the world, having crafted shirts for Napoleon, but that very upright mode of dressing is less applicable to daily life (although no one can contest that the shirts are beautiful). Instead it’s more about a louche approach; opt for a neutral hue – cream, blue or biscuit – and wear undone with a pristine white T-shirt.
Despite the pomp and ceremony of the city’s architecture, there’s an ease and insouciance to Paris style. Designers such as Hedi Slimane and Yves Saint Laurent might have been promoters of the narrow trousers, but today, designers such as Jacquemus (who debuts his range of menswear for autumn/winter 2018 and is catnip for street style photographers) shows a more modern, fluid iteration; easy, slouchy numbers that are suitably airy for the stifling Paris summer heat.
The other striking note about French men’s style is that much of it is born of the streets, and I don’t mean #streetstylestars. There’s a democratic and of-the-people nature to it (Vive La Revolution! etc), the worker’s utility jacket is a handy go-to, unstructured and easy to throw up in its solid twill. The reputation might be one of snootiness, but there’s an earthy undertone to French dressing that’s rather appealing. Just don’t say that to them, or those waiters at Deux Magots will cuff you with the menu “accidentally”.