At the end of the Paris menswear spring/summer 2012, we present our highlights including Louis Vuitton courtesy of Kim Jones and Alister Mackie, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy and more...
Cotton drill and khaki are the universal, take-away trends from Paris menswear for spring/summer 2012. But as ever it's the twist that changes an entire perspective. What sounds banal becomes (welcomingly) odd when utility is pushed to a mini-kilt or skirt, as showcased in AnOther's gallery of highlights from the past four (and a half) days, by photographer Alex Brunet.
The first Louis Vuitton menswear collection under the direction of Kim Jones, styled by Another Man's Alister Mackie, merged the world of KJ with the travel heritage of LV, to praise from critics and the many celebrities in attendance alike. Luggage detailing, Masai-gone-Damier check and hand-painted V motifs – originating on Gaston-Louis Vuitton's Steamer bag from 1901 – built a slick beyond-street chic hybrid for men with the cash to flash. Marc Jacobs, has, since his appointment as (womenswear) artistic director in 1998, redefined the house as a Parisian tour-de-force beyond bags and briefcases. Kim Jones too could likewise redefine the house for the contemporary man, in his many nuances.
Yves Saint Laurent proposed a neat line-up of tailoring with acute lacing, which evoked corsetry more than military wear detail. A note of opposite-sex tension is a hallmark at the house after all – Monsieur Saint Laurent made a man's Le Smoking a womenswear staple back in 1966. S/S12 saw Stefano Pilati continue the leaner, boyish silhouette he began exploring over the past few seasons, throwing a decadent tangent into the mix of new (luxury) utility with snakeskin loafers.
Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci surprised his cult with an emotional journey from (by-now) comforting darkness into the light. Styled by AnOther contributor Panos Yiapanis, with it he snagged new devotees for not just the new colour palette of white and army green but the detailing left in the shadow of those bird of paradise prints, which commanded close-up inspection at the showroom afterwards (well-placed crystals and sequins cemented the concept, shimmering medal-like). S/S12 will grant Tisci more authority and freedom than ever before. So should he want to go pitch-black for A/W again, he'll be able to do so vindicated, at the top of his talent – with everyone aware of the fact.
Mugler, under creative direction of Dazed and Another Man alumni Nicola Formichetti and designer Romain Kremer, followed up their punchy A/W11 regeneration of the label. The scuba/motorcross/sci-fi techno handwriting of Kremer is a perfect fit for the digital man Formichetti is sculpting, so styling his uniform with jeans is about as hardcore as you can get, the future colliding with now and opening eyes to the fact that, yes, these heroic clothes are wearable and, to the right man, even sympathetic.
Rick Owens continued to prove his mastery over a generation of young pretenders influenced by his brutal/primitive-chic handwriting. Building a show entirely around ankle-length skirts – tougher than anything in his models' mother's wardrobes – Owens' proposals had the aesthetic of clay being sculpted, street-tough with his signature zip sneakers and tailored jackets. As Rick's lines get more graphic, so does his ease in pushing alien angst and making it seem like the most intuitive, alluring look in the world, whether or not you have Klaus Nomi on repeat.
Comme des Garçons Homme Plus' Rei Kawakubo, the arrhythmic visionary who has been destroying barriers for decades to move menswear where it is today, talked of "tailoring for punks" this season. Crossing a suit jacket with a perfecto and sending out skirts without the safety of a trouser underneath went some way to illustrating her point. Though punk is not a literal affectation or a badge-of-cool for this designer – it's an anarchic mindset of strength and individualism which has been present ever since she brought Comme des Garçons to Paris in the 1980s.
After A/W11's take on the bouclé tweed suit and poncho sleeve tailoring at Walter Van Beirendonck, shown exclusively on black models with make-up by the legendary Inge Grognard, this season saw the designer's boys sport bouffant hair complete with stuck-in combs and pop, elbow-length gloves. Before a closing section of fluorescent tulle topiary. As menswear today centers around obsessive, minute changes of detailing – buttons, closures, linings, Walter is of the generation keen to shake the earth more than the trees. It's a spirit which remains crucial in pushing things forward – and any great menswear collection has more than a dash of that attitude.
Text by Dean Mayo Davies