Sunday, January 25, 2015

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Men's Paris Fashion Week, FW '15-'16

Here are some odds, ends, oddities, and notable side notes at Paris Fashion Week for FW '15-'16

Rope seems to be an unlikely motif for clothing, but somehow it managed to pop up in at least three different collections at three different houses.

3.1 Phillip Lim
Notice the rock climbing D-rings as a belt, and the rope netting as shirts, over shirts, and coats. The general idea of rappeling was certainly present.


Off White
Here we have the same rock climbing suggestion inspired by designer Virgil Abloh's trips to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.


Vuitton
And finally, Kim Jones created a tribute to influential English cult fashion designer Christopher Nemeth (1959 - 2010) by using some of the the late designer's rope imagery and motifs from the Nemeth archives...


...and the collection was topped off with amazing jewelry of buttons and old keys made by the consistently amazing Judy Blame.


Gender was a huge issue this season with most designers sending out women along with their menswear collections. But it seems that many designers were interested in not just putting a man in a skirt--because the shock value of that wore off a decade ago or more--but to question the ideas of gender and equality, what it means to be a man or woman, through the narratives that we tell the world and how we portray ourselves. Miuccia Prada spoke about gender being a context in her show notes, Rick Owens styled a few models without pants thus giving us a glimpse of some cute uncut penises, and Gucci put men in full-on blouses, the kind my sixth grade teacher would have worn. This is all just a necessary loosening up and a shedding of anxiety associated with gender. And it does seem to be a truly anxious-making topic for a great many people. Where there is anxiety and nervousness, there are definitely issues to be found...

At Acne, gender equality was spelled out, literally, on scarves, along with the phrases "RADICAL FEMINIST" and  "WOMAN POWER." In some circles, the word "feminist" has taken on an ugly meaning that has nothing to do with the true meaning of the word. Something that was meant to be empowering and uplifting has, unfortunately, been hijacked and politicized. But those of us in the arts know better...



Loose, flowing trousers are the thing now. The silhouette pendulum always swings between large and small, tight and flowing, long and short, and we have been in a narrow, skinny trouser valley for a while. Here are some sexy, wide pants at Maison Martin Margiela...


...and at Lanvin (I love the 1940s feel of the higher-waisted cut here)...


...and some extreme examples from Juun J.


Great shoes from Kenzo! Creative Directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon created a collection based on the lore of UFOs and Nazca drawings supposedly of UFOs and their ancient landing sites. But it was the shoes, either alien ribbed or deconstructed and sewn back together like some kind of alien experiment, that stood out.



https://www.31philliplim.com/
http://off---white.com/
http://www.louisvuitton.com/
http://www.acnestudios.com/
http://www.maisonmartinmargiela.com/
http://www.lanvin.com/
http://juunj.com/
https://www.kenzo.com

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