In Paris, the Return of the Silhouette

Paris — The love affair between the fashion house and the influencer-industrial complex was fully demonstrated at Men’s Fashion Week, which closed here on Sunday. At times, fashion felt like a mere accompaniment to “content creation.” This was no more evident than in KidSuper’s comedy show. Fans screamed, but the real fashion creation was nowhere to be seen.

That said, fashion entertainment wasn’t really the focus this week. A case in point is Louis Vuitton, set in Rosalia by Michel and Olivier Gondry, despite the proliferation of spectacular but often forgettable shows, so to speak. KidSuper sang along to a colorful collection co-designed by Colm Dillane. Instead, the real fashion action focused on what really mattered: the silhouette. At its best, this was her week of sculpted lines rendered in black and neutrals without fuss.

At Loewe, Jonathan Anderson put on a powerful show rooted in reduction. It’s like maximizing emotion as well as meaning. Focusing on the importance of fashion-making, by molding both expected and unexpected materials, including copper, into sculptural forms that capture the movement of fabric, like the early Renaissance master painters, Anderson produced his one of the best of his nine collections. years of employment at home. Everything was in perfect harmony, from the streamlined contours of jackets and coats to the different responses of velvet and felt to light.

Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2023 look1. (in digital)

After years of traveling shows, designer Anthony Vaccarello brings Saint Laurent menswear back to Paris with a sense of emotional upliftment and a true sense of who the Saint Laurent man is and should be. A clear push for skinny tailoring with a collection that offers unique ideas. and past rocky slopes. Everything is fluid, tall, black, morbidly elegant, full of cravat and hood, and portrays the Wizard of Dracula with a distinctly French touch. appeared, and a charming androgynous vibe permeated this tour. If she borrows a tuxedo from him, he can borrow a bracelet and a dramatic trench coat from her.

A perpetual femininity pervades the Dior collection, like pearls and snow. Designer Kim Jones pays homage to Yves Saint Laurent at the helm of the Maison shortly after Monsieur Dior’s sudden death in 1957. If clothes had fluidity and ease, show was a story excerpted from TS Eliot’s “Wasteland” (recited by Gwendoline Christie in a video interspersed with close-ups of accessories) came across as unnecessary and a bit pretentious.

This season’s austere tailoring and abundance of black can be read as reactionary — the world is clearly heading in the right direction — but that’s not the case with Rick Owens. made a statement that it was particularly black and particularly powerful.Capes, peaked shoulders, slash denim, mean pencil skirts, A-line skirts, and more, exuding pure masculine power.

Rick Owens Fall/Winter 2023 Look 1. (in digital)

Matthew Williams’ Givenchy was likewise torn between naivety and meanness, between sharp, shoulder-strength tailoring in black and the grit of urban layering. While this might have been a good way to build a contemporary identity for the historic home, the resulting collection was slightly disjointed. blended with elongated elegance of black, camel and gray for a collection that felt like the nth iteration of the code.

Experimental tailoring continued this season, with some looking to craft new silhouettes and move away from oversized shapes that have long reigned supreme but seem to be in decline.LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi’s big shoulders, slim waist, and ’80s-inspired “American Psycho” inspired show delivered a perfectly put together gorgeous show. The vision was outstanding. So was the casting, which included men of all ages and body types — a welcome break from the uniformly slim and very young men seen elsewhere.

Rei Kawakubo experimented with bumps, bumps, zippers and extra sleeves at Comme des Garçons. It was very Comme and, if necessary, further proof of her highly original and avant-garde spirit.

The interplay of the voluminous and the very narrow makes the Hed Mayner collection very attractive. The pieces seem to be passed down from generation to generation and vary in size accordingly. It was a powerful idea ripe for further exploration.

Elegance is making a comeback in the most brilliant way. The action reached decadent heights in Welsh Bonner. For her Paris debut, designer Grace Wales Bonner went extravagant and ultra-sophisticated in a Maharajah-like fashion, from her Place Vendôme location to her tiny white seashells embroidered on both her peacoat and track pants. As much as it exuded old-world wealth and almost colonial privilege, the vision presented to predominantly black beauties turned opulence into poetry and was deeply moving. I came across as

Things didn’t go so well for the board outing, which was both a return to the catwalk and the brand’s womenswear debut. Based on a family story, the collection was beautifully executed, very elegant, and sort of like old American money, but Alessandro Michele goes to Connecticut.

At Yohji Yamamoto, brocades and ribbons and the usual black were on a slouchy Poeté Modit silhouette, the nth iteration in which the Japanese master embraced bad elegance. Again, maybe a little too fancy, but still full of poetry.

Paris wasn’t all about creative vision. The product has been the centerpiece of many collections. As has always been the case with Lemaire, this outing, all muted colors and pleasing volumes, felt particularly appropriate if it offered little new.Officine his generals with a glamorous Parisian flair We have brought you the perfect wardrobe with impeccable quality.

Issey Miyake Fall/Winter 2023 look1. (in digital)

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s team is anonymous only in the sense that their names have not been communicated as their work is not public. Though narrow on paper, the possibilities when it comes to the application of pleats in menswear are vast in reality, and this collection showcases intricate geometric shapes, flaps and intense use of color mixed with black. It proves enough.

At Hermès, graphical tension was added to the usually understated, if infinitely luxurious, recipe. Kolor had a graphic collage and great colors, which presented urban Flannery with a playful and gentle taste, but Sacai had no hint of gimmicks and was original and even sci-fi. After the pandemic, Chitose Abe wiped out Sacai’s activities without abandoning the hybrid idea she had pioneered. This outing was particularly tense. The product came to the fore with its innovative delicacy.

Elsewhere, the delicacy was nowhere to be seen. Doublet’s cute but psycho Galois was silly and heartwarming. . Everything looked homemade, in a good way.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin is great at connecting with his followers. He connects everything to his history and his personal experience, playing a chord with my generation. His work is ego-driven and ego-centered, but in an inclusive way, and that’s what makes all the difference. This season, De Saint Sernin’s hormone his minimalist brand felt particularly minimal and looked rather basic. The collection has stagnated, perhaps because the designer is now adjusting to her dual role as Ann Demeulemeester’s creative director and creative director of her own label. However, knits, especially jumpers with holes, stood out.

Charaf Tajer from Casablanca also delights audiences, filling the collection with optimistic messages of love and peace. But such messages are not visible on clothing. His ’70s pimp this season’s emphasis on tailoring had little to do with the party-going youth of Syria to which this collection was dedicated, so his Tajer’s speech at the beginning of the show was superfluous. I felt it.

Amiri, on the other hand, is rapidly gaining quite a few followers. Despite the high level of hype, there is honesty in Mike Amiri’s work, not much originality in design, and the product certainly looks appealing. Nigo’s interpretation of the fusion of Eastern and Western ethos continues to lack charm.

Marine Serre has acquired a distinct identity and a strong following in just five years. But despite the recipe’s undeniable charm, it’s not inherently original: Serre’s post-apocalyptic world is rooted in a specific chapter of Jean Paul Gaultier’s work, and this season, Martin Her Margiela and Sully in Her Bet also had a large amount of debt.

Dylan Rahr has developed Namacheko into an understated fashion force. His approach to tailoring is as hard-working as it is twisted.

A co-edited Maison Margiela show that ended the week in a season of new forms, tailoring and silhouettes felt like a fitting conclusion. It was not only full of chronology, lady bonkers for both his and hers, but also a thrilling detour around construction and deconstruction and superposition of meanings. and temptation. The silhouettes here were constructed by piling up and then mercilessly peeling away. Fashion and beyond are the opposing forces that capture the contrast of this bizarre moment.