NYTimes weighs in on Paris Men's Fashion Week

[stretcheroo]

http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/paris-mens-head-case/?ref=style

Edit: And again:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/fashion/27PARIS.html?ref=fashion

[jogu]

wait did balenciaga actually have a full mens runway ?? im always fascinated with their menswear and the few pieces i have are some of my fave in my closet . i keep hopin he'll just finally put a dedicated menswear show together

[Fade to Black]

I like Yohji, Givenchy (those women's looks!) and Adam Kimmel from the Paris shows on GQ so far.

Balenciaga mens never was able to get into it. The fabrics, from the more elaborate tailoring down to the basic tees and jeans all have this certain stiffness to them that reminds me of cardboard. Too artificial and cold for my tastes.

[andrewlikeswind]

No bj for Raf?

[stretcheroo]

^added a second link from today.

[Fade to Black]

I'd like to contest this point by Ms. Horyn:

Adam Kimmel typical looks to the style of a musician or artist, and then builds a new collection around that individual’s personality. This season it was Snoop Dogg, with a customized vintage Lincoln Continental as part of the scene on Thursday night in the Marais. The clothes are friendly and real, but the method — after 14 seasons in business — raises the questions: Who’s Adam Kimmel? What’s his style?

Is the very idea of riffing off the American legacy of musicians and artists not itself a valid thread through which the designer's work runs? It's clear that looking through AK's work from season to season, despite the apparent jumpiness, there are certain ideological threads that run through the whole thing, forming one logical line of progression. It's very clear that Kimmel works from an American base, and with America's vastness, there is a very distinct way of seeing the country that is evident in his work. It is like an even more tangible version of Number (N)ine working through a common philosophical and idiosyncratic core with varying aesthetic and iconographic elements.

[Johnny]

I find Kimmel very obtuse. The combination of the ordinaryness of the clothes and the very disparate cultural references doesn't make much sense to me. can't really get into it, although the clothes are nice, as in, ok.
i like cathy horyn's musings, slighly aloof, slightly weird.
men's fashion, based on these last round of shows, looks really dull to me. nobody seems to be doing anything new, or reaching for an appeal that is broader than an existing fanbase. this runs true from Rick Ownes, to Ann D, to Junya. all treading water, but perhaps this is what is needed economically speaking.
having said that, the cdg skirts are probably the stupidest things I've seen on a runway for years. mens in skirts manages to be both banal and terrible looking at the same time. IT DOES NOT LOOK GOOD

ps. lanvin is possibly the exception to this, for good or ill, although my guess is that they'll still be selling shitloads more trainers than studded dog collars or striped silk trousers

[Fade to Black]

the problem is a lot of mens fashion is starting to look like a comedy-director's parody of fashion, which wouldn't be so bad were it not so self-serious.

Lanvin and Rick , from this season, are still doing worthwhile things with the vocabulary of mens clothing without veering into joke territory (with Rick esp. I've always found most impressive about him is he pulls this balance off well that nobody else can get away with). However a good part of the Comme, both of Raf's recent offerings and much of the Prada have lost me on the sense bit.

[Faust]

No bj for Raf?

[Faust]

I'd like to contest this point by Ms. Horyn:



Is the very idea of riffing off the American legacy of musicians and artists not itself a valid thread through which the designer's work runs? It's clear that looking through AK's work from season to season, despite the apparent jumpiness, there are certain ideological threads that run through the whole thing, forming one logical line of progression. It's very clear that Kimmel works from an American base, and with America's vastness, there is a very distinct way of seeing the country that is evident in his work. It is like an even more tangible version of Number (N)ine working through a common philosophical and idiosyncratic core with varying aesthetic and iconographic elements.

So you are saying that John Varvatos is a talented designer?

[Faust]

No bj for Raf?

the blowjob

I must say, I find it sad, in a nostalgic way that we did not even care to post Raf's show.