I thought this would be a good thread to compile reviews of the S/S 08 Menswear shows. Here's one by Suzy Menkes. She liked Raf Simons [|-)]
Millefeuille! A thousand ways with layers
Sunday, July 1, 2007
There is only one
way to cook up a fashion show this season and that is with different
layers. The mille-feuille approach - a thousand ways to arrange
wafer-thin slices - is the overwhelming theme of summer 2008.
The recipe is to take sheer sweaters and layer them over shirts that
are themselves half transparent or to have translucent nylon jackets
interact with misty voile tops.
At Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo called the
layered look "super-impositions" and the idea was used to show not just
one, but three jackets at once, in varying lengths, so that they lapped
over one another. They were mostly used for shorts suits.
It was a cute idea - especially when checked and striped fabrics
created an insouciant mix above the calf-length socks and some
inexplicable Comme tribal symbol painted on the calves. But this was,
uncharacteristically for Kawakubo, a one-trick pony. There were just
minor variations: low-crotch shorts, cardigans or layered shirts.
The mix-and-match then took a surreal turn with frantic layering of
graphic patterns. Occasionally one of these layering looks came off
beautifully, as in different colors of madras checks. But you couldn't
help feeling that once in the male closet, those jackets would be worn
one at a time.
The stand-out show came from Raf Simons because the
Belgian designer did not just work layers as an aesthetic idea. It was
part of a thoughtful concept about exploring the wide world - not just
the World Wide Web.
"It feels free," said Simons. "People so encapsulate themselves and
only inform themselves on the computer. It is a safe environment
without risks, but there is a need to get out."
The designer's philosophical vision was equally a practical one. The
clothes he sent out took risks, with tunics layered like dresses, but
resolutely masculine, shown with sporty, colorful sandals and boots and
with the giant backpacks that symbolized explorative travel and gave
solidity to the silhouette.
Everything seemed fresh and different: shorts cut loose with a
double layer that could be in an unlikely fabric like taffeta.
"Material world" was printed in faded letters on the tunics and shorts
that opened the show. That, too, had a double meaning: a deep
exploration of fabrics from nylon to cotton and being in touch with the
diverse universe. Another inventive idea was drawstrings to create
silhouettes, puckered to shape the waist or pulled in at the knees.
Strong, mannish colors from pine green to ink blue were interspersed
with orange and yellow to give a frisson of multiethnicity. After
recent collections of precise tailoring, Raf Simons as fashion explorer
was a fresh departure.
The art of fashion is to make things look like they were meant to be. But at Yves Saint Laurent,
the designer Stefano Pilati tackled art with a capital "A," as both he
and his models wore shoes splattered with paint to walk a canvas
runway. This Jackson Pollock wannabe look also appeared on shorts and
pants and an artsy jacket had inserts of crude and chaotic patchwork.
The silhouettes were dedicated to "workwear," meaning roomy
painter's smock shapes and short, boxy jackets. The alternative was the
loose sweaters curving up at the front. In this fashion comfort zone,
nothing was fitted to the body, sometimes suggesting laid-back
sophistication but not designed for seduction. But Pilati has decided
to pitch an intellectual/arty look for YSL - and on that basis he
succeeded.
Art was a pitfall for Viktor & Rolf , whose
David Hockney-inspired collection did not make "a bigger splash" with
its feeble print of swimming pool ripples on a shirt or its puerile
schoolboy jackets with an outline like varsity braiding. Such themes
have to be as deeply felt as Hockney's original work was, expressing
the lapping warmth of the West Coast and its sexual freedom, to be
anything other than a fashion gimmick.
When Ann Demeulemeester opened her show with a
Marcel Duchamp interview on the soundtrack and with DaDa printed across
the chest, the heart sank. Not another designer influenced by last
year's DaDa exhibition! But the Belgian designer used the inspiration
to turn her own nonconformist approach onto an intriguing riff on
layers. And it worked beautifully.
Translating her poetic vision, Demeulemeester's inserted graphic
deck chair stripes in black and white or fiery red to show an
ultra-long shirt flowing from under a shorter T-shirt with a
thigh-length jacket as the top layer. Cardigans partnering the jackets,
a pin-wheel brooch on a lapel and soft pants with a narrow cuff all
made for easy but stylish summer wear.
At Hermès, the whisper-quiet luxury was a touch
dull since blouson jackets with rich colors and textures - a zingy lime
green or russet suede - were too much the focus. A raincoat with a
dropped belt and V-necked sweaters, often with sheer stripes, were
other sartorial alternatives. But the designer Véronique Nichanian
understands that the essence of Hermès is supreme luxury and from an
ultrafine sweater to short-sleeved shirts in necktie-patterned voile,
she never betrayed that heritage, yet made a casual, summery collection.
Kris Van Assche has been made the new creative
director of Dior Homme, taking over from Hedi Slimane. But that was
preceded by the showing of his own label. The romancing-the-sleeves
look of voluminous shirt with deep, wide arms is hard to pull off -
even when the volume was caught in by a brief vest. Even harder to
negotiate are pants with button flies and the concept of one
pleat-front pant leg joined to a straighter trouser leg. Long shirts
like Arab dress were plausible and so were the simple tailored suits
and short raincoat.
Who would have guessed that behind Véronique Branquinho's
modest, feminist facade there is a rock chick longing to get out? From
the moment that a group of Antwerp rockers started their performance,
the designer abandoned her "film noir" heroes of past seasons in favor
of a scruffy sloppiness of big lacy sweaters, rolled-up shorts,
pajama-striped pants and metallic trenches worn with flat toe-hold
sandals. But this was not a show to top the fashion charts.
When clothes require detailed attention, a presentation is more
practical than a show. The lush greenery of palm leaves and bright
flowers created a tropical landscape for Kenzo's
models. Riffs on shirt fronts, from the tucked dickie to tiny pleats at
the front, deserved close inspection, as did the silken pinstripe
inserts and the accessories like tactile travel bags.
"I adore men in short shorts," claimed Sonia Rykiel as she watched
from the front row the suits, where the tailored mini-pants rose from
sober Bermuda length to high thigh. Rykiel Homme,
with its knitwear heritage, scored with sweaters that were fine and
sheer. And the concept of the city suit with its Prince of Wales check
shorts is one global warming solution for scorching city summers.
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