Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Womenswear Paris FW2013

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were the style-icons Dries van Noten referred to while explaining his collection. For fall 2013 he plays with masculinity and femininity, something he enjoyed in former collections too. That play is a subtle thread through the whole season, Instead of fur Van Noten pleayed with feathers. He mixed mannish white shirts with a navy skirt over gray flannel pants, That sounds rayther boring, but the effect was in the details: a necklet of paste diamonds, a skirt with a trail of ostrich-plumes anchored by crystal. There wwere also chunky knits, cable sweaters, varsity-stripe skirts, brocade skirts and plus-zize overcoats – all looking glamorous.  There was also a sexy vibe, not in your face-sexy but subtle.

 

Dries van Noten Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2013

Dries Van Noten opened with upcoming season’s hit item; a robe-like jacket with foulard prints in rich colors. And that sure wasn’t the only success item in this Dries collection. Perfectly dressed, relaxed models sported studded leather pants that slightly contrasted with the easy breezy silk printed pajama-like blouses. Loose fits, fringes and seventies shades gave the collection a hippie chic kind of feeling. Yet quilted bomber jackets and biker jacket details kept it modern. Etro-style paisley prints perfectly worked with a variation of tweeds and checks. It was one of those collection that just feel right, beginning to end. No trying to hard, just comfortable, beautifully made menswear pieces with the right amount of edge to keep us interested.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2013

Dries van Noten always follows his own feeling, that makes his collections so real and honest. For ss2013 the Belgian designer mixed everything he loved – mens/womenswear, grunge and spontaneity – in a contemporary collection. He had enough of minimalism and plainness – just at the time nearly every designer is going for minimal elegance. Van Noten took basic pieces and cut them in the plaids and checks of retro street culture, pattern clashing against pattern, sometimes in the same garment. Yet lightness reigned, in both color (muted pastels that held court with earthier tones) and in the constructions of the fabrics.
Like much of the tailoring, the  decorativeness was informed by the designer’s fascination with couture. Skirts were adorned in front with appliqués of rosettes; a sweater got embroidered sleeves; organza ruffles became a wrap.

Dries van Noten Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2013

It was all about camouflage-prints at Dries Van Noten.  He carved them into tailored jackets and crisp Bermudas. He used them to line parkas, to trim color-blocked shirts and he splashed them onto cobweb sweaters. Van Noten presented many ways to mix the prints into a modern wardrobe: as a shirt under a  navy suit; as a light, silken trench over tapered trousers; as printed pants or shorts under a shantung blazer in a pumpkin shade.
Overall, the athletic chic vibe, heightened by the rugged sport sandals that grounded every look, was masculine and appealing.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Dries van Noten delivered another piece of print-art yesterday with his fall 2012 collection. It was innovative, colorful, ultra-chic and real. The Belgian designer was inspired by historical Chinese, Korean and Japanese costumes he saw at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. He photographed the garments for large scale prints which he cut into various pieces to create graphic blocks. So the side of a beautiful patterned oriental coat became the decorative motif for a skirt etc. The collection was ultra elegant with that typical Van Noten menswear touch which made it wearable and cosmopolitan.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

At least there is one designer who tries to mix humor and menswear to an elegant collection. Dries van Noten felt like doing something that would make people smile, and so he did. He mixed psychedelic prints with his signature menswear that had a military edge. The military coats, stovepipe trousers and sweaters came along well with the naive prints. The skinny jeans and shoes looked cool.

Also compliments to Dutch artists Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters who realized a mural as a backdrop during the show, featuring the same architectural and typographic motifs.

 

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris ss2012

The collection Dries van Noten sent out this afternoon was build around various themes. One seemed old couture, regarding the tailored trousers, peplum pleats and drop-waisted dresses & tunics with a frilled bottom. The strongest however were the photoprints of city’s by night, nature, leaves, trees and flowers, it looked as if the designer copy-pasted parts of images into one print. It gave a contemporary character to classics like mens shirts, dresses and skirts. It also added some color now and then, green, pastelshades, blue and green. White, black and sepia were also favorites.

Other key-elements were broderie anglaise and lace, used for skirts and short jackets.

 

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

The overall theme of Dries van Noten’s ss2012 collection seemed water. Not only because the clothes referred to rain and protection from water (coats, jackets, pants) also because almost everything was waterproof.

What the designer  really had in mind were the clothes men wear for outdoor pursuits like fishing, riding, and hunting.  Following his  elegant, decadent fall-collection, Van Noten chose once more for the dark side: midnight blue and burgundy with shots of brights. That contrast came also back in other ways: structure vs softness, real vs synthetic, tradition vs technology.

The clothes had a shiny surface, thanks to the nylon, silk and wool-polyester which all have a different way of gleaming. It gave the collection a modern yet rich touch.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2011

Dries van Noten presented a beautiful, restraint collection, mainly in black, white and camel with flashes of color and exciting prints. He got inspired by David Bowie and the Ballets Russes and translated that into a romantic collage of print, color and textures. And it was ultrachic. Lond coats over pants, golden skirts with black sweaters and dresses cut with intense yet visually discreet asymmetry.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2011

Like other designers Dries Van Noten seemded to have found inspiration in the militairy world, but more free and luxurious using his  strengths as a tailor and colorist. His own comment to the collection though was that he wanted something glamorous without being feminine and that’s where David Bowie as the Thin White Duke comes along. Not only in the silhouette, also the grooming of the models and in the soundtrack.

A battalion of navy jackets and overcoats — some oversize and belted, others slim-line — formed the backbone of Van Noten’s collection. He added removable fur collars and lapels or  inner nylon shells in contrasting shades. He showed little discipline in the pants department, sending out skinny motorcycle and oversize Bowie-styles in equal measure. He also played with oppositions: a formal navy evening jacket over a casual white tee: a sleek, chic shawl-collared blazer in traditional camel pinning down the silhouette over huge white cargo pants; a cropped cadet jacket laden with bullion embroidery paired with a chunky hand-knit; dark overcoats in the most traditional English materials layered over their exact twins in bright white technical fabrics.

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