We would like to present to you Geoffrey B. Small’s Spring/Summer 2019 Men’s Paris collection, “On Your Mark.” The collection’s theme was inspired by the legendary Mille Miglia open-road endurance auto race. Small used it as a symbolical backdrop for the state of humanity today, which is either on the fast track to self-destruction or new possibilities. The competing voice-overs of the MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who recently appeared in an online video providing his theory of destruction/distraction by the Trump administration, and that of the social theorist Jeremy Rifkin, whose theory of “the Third Industrial Revolution” that could save humanity were used in lieu of music for the show’s soundtrack. It gave the model’s walk a sense of eeriness, and the bittersweet mix of despair and hope provided a potent setting for a show that featured Small’s signature soft tailoring hardened up with shoulder padding in some looks. The structure and the softness were counterpoints in themselves. Small found his balance – hopefully, humanity will follow.
Photography by Guido Barbagelata