The dub’s men’s catwalk in Paris showed the influence of new eastern European originators but without the excitement
Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP
To some, the menswear catwalks are the bumbling relations to their female equivalents – a trouser-heavy prologue to the haute couture shows that arise in Paris on Sunday. But those people have not been consideration attention. Right now, menswear in the French capital is having a explode of creative energy.
Both on and off the catwalk, a look is emerging from the Paris autumn/winter 2016 menswear discloses. It isn’t a trend as such, more a long-term shift in the way men who care on every side clothes are dressing, which blurs the lines between intelligent and casual. It is a haphazard, almost accidental way of dressing – padded films over smart trousers, giant trapper hats drawn tired with tailored pieces, tracksuit bottoms worn too high at the waist with prolonged wool overcoats and a beanie hat.
It is an incongruous styling technique that has been brush off by a small but incredibly influential group of new east European connivers. They include the Russian Gosha Rubchinskiy, whose own-brand give someone an idea of was a highlight earlier in the week. In a down-at-heel theatre his catwalk parted a gravel runway, dry ice, banana-yellow trapper hats, skater-boy sets and off-key trackpants.
The look is echoed at the much-lauded Vetements brand, a collective including the Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia. Now big makers have picked up on this aesthetic – Balenciaga has installed Gvasalia as its new ingenious director, and backstage at the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday the deviser Kim Jones praised the creativity of the east Europeans.
It is fair to say that John Galliano, the originative director at Maison Margiela, has not prioritised menswear at the label since he joined in October 2014. The licensed party line is that Galliano oversees everything Margiela allied, but does not specifically design the men’s collection.
The label’s owner, Renzo Rosso – who also owns Diesel – has bring up Galliano will put his imprint on menswear in mid-2016, which all appears a bit vague and a missed opportunity, especially since there is both a ring for about menswear and, commercially, Rosso’s risky hire of Galliano has avenge oneself for off with revenues reportedly up 30%.
On the Margiela catwalk at Paris there was clue too of the eastern bloc styling aesthetic – only without the freneticness. The look was an unlikely mix of cycling bib shorts (the sort favoured by knowledgeable time-trial specialists), giant duffle coats with ripped-off sleeves and socking great boots. Cropped quilted jackets were worn over and above suits. Jackets were deconstructed – missing sleeves and glimpses of the inner workings of modiste are a Margiela hallmark. Also present and correct were MA1 bomber jackets, which possess had plenty of airtime on the catwalks of London and Milan already.
The divulge notes referred to clothes being “interrupted”, which (unusually for play notes, which are often incomprehensible) is a rather helpful way of painting this new Parisian aesthetic.
