FRANCE / Paris: Report on Spring Summer 2012's menswear shows | Modem Mag

Fashion Week

A focus on the collections which lit up the runway from the 22nd to the 26th June 2011.

Wednesday 22nd June: John Lawrence Sullivan

<sld(JLS)|left> Mixed fabrics (silk, linen, cotton voile, cotton, organza), colours (mustard, green, blue, Bordeaux red, navy and grey) and prints (camouflage on transparent organza silk, graphic effects which reinterpreted codes of masculinity). This Japanese designer’s collection is notable for its bold marriage of stripes and tartan which give its silhouette something between the “costume napolitain” (on account of the pinstripes), the punk look (because of the check) and Savile Row English chic (owing to the play with suits).
John Lawrence Sullivan is represented by No Season

Thursday 23rd June: Rick Owens

<sld(Rick Owens)|right> Gandouras for men? It had to be tried and the American designer was the one to do it, with softness, fluidity and dress, inspired by a trip to the land of the pharaohs. Long blazers covered the silhouette, essentially black, white, grey or cream, as usual. Fine stripes, like those of lazer projections, streaked the chest. Rick Owens did not resist the stripe, a must have for the season.

Thursday 23rd June: Dries Van Noten

<sld(DriesVN)|left> Amid the navy trend which waved through the Spring Summer 2012 season, Dries Van Noten revisited the marine, in midnight blue, blue-white-red stripes (in colour block on the trousers or narrow stripes), the yellow oilskin worn as a trench, the reefer jacket with 4 pockets or the navy jumper worn loose... Elsewhere Dries Van Noten was inspired by a brown-aubergine and a deep blue – key colours for the season, which he realised in a graphic fashion (stripes, diamonds...)

Friday 24th June: Yves Saint Laurent

<sld(YSL)|right> Stephano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent also invited us on a journey. First of all to the Sahara with jackets the appliqué work of which made for open hems, brought together through weave. Meanwhile impressions of sailors in navy blue or white evoked another voyage. A chic which was clean and sophisticated, for a snobbery à la Boris Vian!

Friday 24th June: Walter Van Bereindonck

<sld(WalterVB)|left> Colour block for the Belgian designer, qui never stays quiet. Yet beyond his statement efforts which we’re used to, Walter Van Bereidonck displayed, at the start of his show, a collection of pastel suits (green and soft pinks, amber, mauve...) in graphic prints (diamonds, small check...) which lend themselves to the new Japanese wave in search of lightness and good humour. The menswear/womenswear show finished with an explosive humorous acid trip from the Babapapa family and a festive nuclear cloud.

Friday 24th June: Krisvanassche

<sld(KVA)|right> At Krisvanassche, subtlety provided new basics for the season: high-waisted, checked shorts which were reminiscent of a teenager who’d grown up fast. The designer actually started with the idea of a young man living in Los Angeles, dreaming of becoming an actor. In fact, and notably in the looks with hats, there’s something of the 50s American comedian (Humphrey Bogart?) in his wardrobe, what with its soft suit for comfort and polo shirts for a sportswear feel.

Krisvanassche is represented by Spazio 38 in Italy.

Friday 24th June: Boris Bidjan Saberi

<sld(BBSaberi)|left> The Spanish fashion designer’s clothes were of dusty colours and the dye, done by hand after the pieces had been finished, suggested a return journey of some sort. There’s something post-traumatic in this aesthetic which radicalises itself season after season. The leathers seem twisted by a silent sorrow and the lining, widely passing the edges, invite a certain romanticism.

Boris Bidjan Saberi is represented by No Season

Saturday 25th June: Petar Petrov

<sld(Petrov)|right> Petar Petrov continues with a masculine and “new cool” silhouette with colours warmed by summer (brown, mustard, blue) that he marries with a casual attitude. The collection is mainly made up of shorts, tank-tops, sleeveless shirts and baggy trousers rolled up – very fashion! Slightly less rock’n’roll than previous seasons.

Sunday 26th June: Lanvin

<sld(Lanvin)|left> A special mention to Lanvin, who debuts in quite a strict way – but not rigid – with sleeveless tunics and skinny trousers. The collection softens as the show evolves. Military jackets were covered in leather, a fabric particularly present in the collection. “The story,” confirms Albert Elbaz, “consists of going from a military look to a militant look so as to create soldiers of peace”. And it’s true that there was something disarming in this collection and in the final looks which introduced certain colours which suggested Bohemian allure.

Sunday 26th June: Songzio

<sld(Songzio)|right> The poetry and philosophy of a young man from a good family, even a noble who trades his black and white ankle boots – very 20s – for ballet pumps, styles inspired by traditional shoes of Korean women, Songzio’s country of origin. The look refines, in black and white, a play on androgynous allure, owing to the general humour of men’s fashion, without losing virility. This man has something about him that’s like Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film, The Lover. But his fluorescent yellow painted hair twists the genre and leaves you thinking that he has an extra terrestrial side.

Songzio is represented by MC2 Diffusion

Sunday 26th June: Qasimi Homme

<sld(Quasimi)|left> Knowing that Khalid Al Qasimi is originally from the Emirates and that his foremost inspiration is the socio-political claim, allows you to understand his latest show, very different from what we’ve been used to in previous seasons. Inspired by the Jasmine Revolution which divided the Arabic world, Qasimi brandished a libertarian standard, even rebellious, with {{fabrics that playfully (black, white, orange) reinvented the paramilitary aesthetic.