The first digital editions of Paris and Milan Men’s Fashion Week are taking place this week. Here, in a continually updated list, we document the presentations which have happened so far
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Hermès
- Concept: An eight-minute film simulating the final seconds of preparation before a traditional fashion show
- Collection: A light, luxuriant and achingly elegant summer wardrobe which aimed to be both casual and carefree
- Quote: “What is beautiful must be useful,” said artistic director Véronique Nichanian. Why? “Well – it’s a bit of the school of the Bauhaus – that process of stripping away the superficial to get to the functional”
JW Anderson
- Concept: Following the release of the brand’s “show in a box” last week, a new short previews an upcoming accompanying photo book by Lewis Ronald and Carlos Maria Romero
- Collection: The S/S21 collection doesn’t feature heavily in the film, but Anderson previously described it as “a playful celebration of what being restricted can mean and spawn in creative terms” with “slouchy” and “cosy” silhouettes, and featuring illustrations by Pol Anglada
- Quote: “The idea is that you can tell and experience the story in your own way. At your own pace,” said Anderson. “It’s about going back to making and telling stories.”
Y/Project
- Concept: A preview of Glenn Martens’ S/S21 collection, in a playful ‘How to Wear’ video by Vadim Kovriga in which rotating models are changed in and out of the clothing
- Collection: Slouchy sweatsuits with contorted popper sleeves, detachable-hem cargo trousers, transformable denim jeans – whereby layered cuffs can be rolled up or down – and ruched-sleeved suiting made for a collection whereby pieces are able to be worn in myriad ways
- Quote: “These looks are distorted, and that is part of the fun of the brand. But most of them you can wear calmed down,” Glenn Martens told American Vogue of the collection earlier this week
Berluti
- Concept: A conversation between Berluti’s creative director Kris Van Assche and Los Angeles-based ceramic artist Brian Rochefort, which also previewed a collaboration between Assche and Rochefort
- Collection: Shirts, sweaters, and jackets which reflect the colours and textures of Rochefort’s work – itself inspired by exotic plant life and volcanoes – alongside wide-shouldered, generously cut tailoring, a signature of Van Assche’s at the house
- Quote: “Right now, collaboration feels like a meaningful way to create something new,” Kris Van Assche said in a statement. “As something of a ceramics nerd, I have admired Brian Rochefort’s expression for a long time, and am fortunate enough to own one of his works. I couldn’t be more excited to interpret his vision through the lens of Berluti”
Kiko Kostadinov
- Concept: A short film by collaborator Robi Rodriguez, set in Strawberry Hill House, just outside of London, overlaid with seven “mantras” on consumerism, written by Rodriguez
- Collection: An antidote to sport- and streetwear archetypes, clothes took inspiration from the codes of academia and the “courtly flair” of 18th-century fashion – pieces were flamboyant; wrinkled and wrapped, ruffled and referring medieval armour
- Quote: “It felt like a fresh start, almost like the feeling of graduating,” the designer tells us over email. “Not knowing what will happen after you finish, but you know it has to be your strongest and without compromises”
Louis Vuitton
- Concept: A fun film entitled The adventures of Zoooom with friends, starring Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington, which combines real-life footage (shot around Paris) and animation by Reggie Know
- Collection: The film doesn’t actually feature any clothes, just the house’s signature trunks, however it does reflect the visual language has established at Vuitton – the full collection will be shown later this year in Shanghai
- Quote: N/A
Rick Owens
- Concept: A black and white short film capturing the shooting of the designer’s S/S21 lookbook, photographed by Owens himself and starring his Adonis-like muse, Tyrone Dylan Susman
- Collection: Power-shouldered jackets which speak of “defiance”, “single and decisive” white lines on black tailoring which suggest “order and reason”, shoulder patches which take inspiration from Larry Legaspi, and a string of other high-voltage designs cut from leather, chiffon, crêpe, stretch denim and recycled plastic
- Quote: “PHLEGETHON IS ONE OF THE RIVERS IN THE INFERNO DESCRIBED IN DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY, NOT QUITE THE CENTRE OF HELL BUT ON THE WAY THERE,” says Owens, writing in his trademark capitalised text. “ROMANTICISING DOOM HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ADOLESCENT MOOD BUT IT’S A CLASSIC WAY TO CONFRONT FEAR AND INSTABILITY – HOPE FOR THE BEST BUT PLAN FOR THE WORST”
Dries Van Noten
- Concept: A psychedelic short film by Leonardo Van Dijl and Nicolas Karakatsanis, starring model Jonas Glöer, who plays air drums to the sound of Luuk Shuffle by Hihats In Trees
- Collection: Glöer models a preview of the S/S21 collection, which will be revealed in full in September: relaxed tailoring – a slouchy jacket and pair of trousers in khaki – over a see-through sequinned top in black. A separate Instagram post showcases smart- and casual-wear in the Belgian designer’s signature prints
- Quote: N/A
GmbH
- Concept: In lieu of a fashion film, GmbH designers Serhat Isik and Benjamin Alexander Huseby chose to show Season Of Migration To The North by artist Lars Laumann (2015), which documents the story of Eddie Esmael, a young gay Sudanese asylum seeker to Norway
- Collection: Alongside the film, Isik and Huseby revealed a lookbook of the smaller ‘Spring’ collection – made with the limited resources they had during lockdown in Berlin – which revisited GmbH signatures (double-zip flies, harness detailing, and the like) to explore “formality, uniforms, fetishes and stereotypes”
- Quote: “The Spring 2021 collection started as a rather pragmatic project, in our attempt at first, to make a small commercial collection with the limited resources and time we had,” they said. “In the process, however, we discovered that the limitations forced a new sense of focus on what GmbH is, our ideals and what the GmbH wardrobe consists of”
Loewe
- Concept: Jonathan Anderson returned to his ‘show in a box’ concept to preview a new menswear collection for Loewe, delivering ‘attendees’ an archive box which included colour and fabric swatches, inspiration booklets, pop-up versions of the set and looks, and even a seven-inch vinyl of the soundtrack, recorded at the Loewe factory with a voiceover by Dr James Fox (a 24-hour festival of arts, crafts and conversations ran alongside on Loewe’s Instagram)
- Collection: Anderson said he was rejecting the idea of “hard edges” for a series of pieces which played on “curves, swings and loops” – from sculptural circular motifs to vast balloon sleeves and knits with hooped detailing. Woven leather also featured heavily, whether a basket-weave top or a playful pineapple-shaped bag
- Quote: “The approach for the menswear collection was taking one technique or one idea and making it a total look,” Anderson said. “Each time we were doing pieces they had to be quite peaceful in their approach, and they had to work sculpturally on a mannequin”
Dior Men
- Concept: A short film comprising two acts: a portrait of Accra-born, Vienna-based artist Amoako Boafo, this season’s collaborator, and a dreamy profile of the collection itself, by photographer Jackie Nickerson
- Collection: An amalgamation of the visual languages of Boafo, artistic director Kim Jones and the house’s founder M. Dior himself, the collection comprised ineffably elegant menswear speaking of haute couture and a street-led approach to fashion, riffing on the colours, textures and subjects of Boafo’s beautiful paintings
- Quote: “I really, really, really love [Boafo’s] work and I’ve wanted to work with an African artist for a long time because I grew up in Africa, and African art has always been something that’s important to me,” says Jones, speaking in the film
Phipps
- Concept: A clever coming-of-age spaghetti western entitled Spirit of Freedom, directed by Molly Ledoux, written and created by Spencer Phipps himself, and styled by AnOther’s fashion director Ellie Grace Cumming
- Collection: This season, Phipps delves into Americana, reinterpreting the past and the present of US style through his outsider lens; the collection is a fresh take on the designer’s fluid, performative and playful butch brand of masculinity, specifically playing on “millennial neo-cowboy aesthetics”
- Quote: “I am very excited to share this film with you, the first of many I hope,” says Phipps, writing over email. “It’s been a very personal and joyous experience putting it together with the team. I hope that by exploring the positive aspects of American culture we can remember the good side of Americana and inspire positive change for the future”
Thom Browne
- Concept: A ‘first look’ of the S/S21 collection via still and moving images starring singer Moses Sumney, whose debut album Aromanticism was released in 2017 to widespread acclaim
- Collection: “A balance between masculine and feminine, athleticism and grace … ” says the brand. “The power of sport, a ballet of bodies in motion … Poise and agility in a floor-length skirt with satin intarsia stripe ... ”
- Quote: N/A
Lanvin
- Concept: A film by Ezra Petronio (and an accompanying lookbook) shot at Le Palais idéal, Hauterives – a pinnacle of naïve art architecture, created by local postman Ferdinand Cheval over a 33-year (or 10,000-day) period between 1879 and 1912
- Collection: Built around the idea of making dreams and fantasies come true, like Cheval’s Le Palais idéal, Bruno Sialelli’s elegant S/S21 collection is a playful take on Frenchness and Lanvin’s own house codes
- Quote: “I think [Le Palais idéal is] a similar approach to that of a stylist or designer, we all have a library of references we’re obsessed with, things from the past and present that fascinate us,” says Sialelli, “For me, it’s the place that most tells a story”
MSGM
- Concept: Entitled I Don’t Know Where, but Together, MSGM’s menswear and pre-fall womenswear collection and accompanying film are centred around the idea of hope, intended to communicate a “message of optimism”, which creative director Massimo Giorgetti says he felt it was his duty to express
- Collection: The overwhelming feeling is one of relaxation; casual T-shirts, shirts, shorts and jackets; brilliant colours and bold prints, such as tie-dye and paisley – all infused with Giorgetti’s signature sense of fun
- Quote: “I wanted the collection to convey, both visually and aesthetically, the idea of a joyous rebirth, the yearning for a renewal that I myself was experiencing after the challenging period during the first months of the year,” said Giorgetti. “MSGM can only interpret the present and imagine the future with joy, passion and poetry”
Prada
- Concept: A collection entitled The Show That Never Happened, shown via five films by Willy Vanderperre, Juergen Teller, Joanna Piotrowska, Martine Syms, and Terence Nance
- Collection: A pared-back offering from Mrs Prada, her last before Raf Simons officially joins the company as co-creative director, the collection was almost entirely monochromatic – suiting met streetwear, evening dresses met workwear, all in a narrow, streamlined silhouette
- Quote: “I think that our job as fashion designers is to create clothes for people, that is the honesty of it,” said the designer. “That is really the value of our job – to create beautiful, intelligent clothes. This season, we focused on that idea: It is about clothes, about giving value to pieces. The clothes are simple, but with the concept of simplicity as an antidote to useless complication”
Dsquared2
- Concept: A lookbook mimicking the appearance of a backstage area, prior to a traditional fashion show
- Collection: Described by the brand as “real clothes for real men for their everyday, the pre-S/S21 collection comprised sportswear and tailoring, featuring technical fabrics and tropical weight wools; the idea of travel is embedded throughout, along with the Caten brothers’ distinctive sense of glamour
- Quote: N/A
Jil Sander
- Concept: A film by Stephen Kidd, starring model Malick Bodian, as well as a characteristically calm lookbook – both of which were “strong and pure, but with emotion”
- Collection: An examination of functionality and pure form, comprising tailoring and lightweight utility garments
- Quote: “The feeling we were after was softness,” Lucie and Luke Meier tell AnOther over email. “A softness that broke through the pure geometry and the sharp silhouettes. This was very important. We wanted to show a sensitivity, a feeling we believe to be necessary at this time.”
Jacquemus
- Concept: A rare physical show which took place in corn fields just outside of Paris (attendees were socially distanced)
- Collection: Titled L’Amour – a declaration of love from Simon Porte Jacquemus to his team – the collection captured the designer’s brand of French insouciance, with slinky spaghetti-strapped dresses and amplified linen shirting for women, and summery oversized suiting and tonal two-sets for men
- Quote: “For me, the runway can’t be a video. It’s at the heart of what we do; it’s not superficial,” he said. “It’s important to all of us to continue, just like a restaurant that reopens. It’s like a movie of a summer day. It’s our life”
Gucci
- Concept: A special live stream and lookbook – featuring designers from the house wearing the house’s latest collection – and visual narrative feature, directed by London-based filmmaker and video artist Akinola Davies
- Collection: “The collection bore all the trademarks of [Alessandro] Michele and his design office’s idiosyncratic sense of style,” wrote Ted Stansfield, and encompassed collaborations with Disney, Doraemon, Ken Scott and Liberty. Titled Epilogue, it will mark the last before the house embarks on a new fashion calendar.
- Quote: “Well the collection, in short, is the end of the beginning of an experiment,” said Michele. “It’s an attempt to use fashion as a space, in particular as an experimental lab. And this is my experiment … Narrating it this way, and presenting it in this way … is interesting to me as an element that dissociates the narrative of fashion from the show, from the representation of itself.”
Zegna
- Concept: A ‘phygital’ show filmed in and around the Lanificio Zegna Wool Mill in Trivero, Italy
- Collection: Tailoring was fluid and generous, in myriad beautiful colours – from “cowslip yellow” and “hydrangea pink” to “river stone blues” – which demonstrated the unrivalled craft of the Zegna mill and its artisans
- Quote: “A moment like this can easily lead to a glorification of flawless precision of the machine,” Alessandro Sartori said. “But at Zegna, in respect of a humanist tradition that is profoundly Italian, we believe that the human being always sits at the center, in harmony with nature
Qasimi
- Concept: A film and lookbook evoking Qasimi’s Middle Eastern heritage, showcasing the S/S21 men’s and very first women’s collection, under the creative direction of Hoor Al Qasimi
- Collection: Incorporating the ancient Bedouin weaving tradition known as Al Sadu, garments draw on both the desert and domesticity, exploring themes of trade and textiles, and featuring a collaboration with Jamaica-born artist Nari Ward
- Quote: “I am so pleased with the launch of our SS21 collection and how everyone came together to produce such a beautiful collection and powerful video,” Hoor Al Qasimi tells AnOther. “From our initial inspiration of Nari Ward’s We The People (The Arabic Verison) to working with Freek to create a new soundtrack, the final result was even more than I could have hoped for”
Nicholas Daley
- Concept: A lookbook starring Jordan Thomas, a former World and European Champion and Britain’s first Olympic Karateka, who undertakes various martial arts poses in the images
- Collection: Daley said he found inspiration in the collision of martial arts and reggae culture in the 1970s, for a collection which melded karate-style silhouettes with imagery inspired by legendary reggae artist Peter Tosh (who himself was a karate black belt)
- Quote: “Whether through the development of unique textiles with specialists in Japan and the UK, the music of reggae legend Peter Tosh or the unique story of Black British karateka athletes told via World Champion Jordan Thomas – everything becomes interconnected and pushes my own creative journey, uniting fashion, music and culture,” said Daley
Junya Watanabe
- Concept: A book – and a digital version of it – containing a photo story shot in Japan by Keizo Kitajima, who has previously contributed to Another Man, on street-cast models; people who have “interesting occupations” – from a photographer, an architect and an artist to a sushi chef, a samurai swordsmith, and a bonsai master
- Collection: Typically smart and well-constructed garments that straddle the line between tailoring and workwear with an off-kilter edge
- Quote: This season I found myself reflecting on the power of the books around me – precious items that I value, though I may not open them every day,” said Watanabe. “Many of the pieces in this collection depict and introduce these books”
Comme des Garçons Homme Plus
- Concept: An intimate runway presentation, held in Tokyo
- Collection: Titled METAL OUTLAW, the Spring/Summer 2021 collection saw metallic fabrics utilised throughout, from tailoring and kilts to raw-edged cut-outs on deconstructed outerwear – Rei Kawakubo said she used the idea of metal as a symbol of strength
- Quote: “It is my wish that the strength of metal, the strength that wouldn’t yield to any pressure or force, and the strength that will give birth to hope that we need to overcome the various hardships we now face, will all overlap in this collection,” said Kawakubo
