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.

Louis Vuitton Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

Expectations were high, now Kim Jones has taken over at Louis Vuitton menswear. But until now the shift didn’t bring any news. Where Paul Helbers tried to bring something new, edgy and different into the collection, Jones brought his vision on classics with a twist. But we’ve seen that before. The result was handsome, sure-handed and vivid, but also played safe. A bit seventies and sixties, Ivy League and preppy sportswear and that meant crisp college looks, ranger and safari clothes, massai checks and midnight blue dinner suits. For the hyper luxury clientele Kim Jones offers varsity jackets fronted with waxed alligator, and neckties shot with 24-karat gold thread.

But the bags were the message. And the shoes… well the shoes. Let’s not spend a word on those.

 

Rick Owens Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

If I were a monk, I would want to wear the dresses Rick Owens designs for men. For example those long, strict, minimal dresses he presented today in Paris. Again Rick Owens stayed faithful to  his monastic aesthetic. His urban monks were dressed in linen-blend skirts and even sleeveless gowns. Although it seems it’s only for  his  cult followers. What was left for people with a daily job, were the jackets, either cut short in washed cottons, their buttoned cuffs splaying open, or elongated and aerodynamic.

Mugler Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

For his Mugler ss2012-collection Nicola Formichetti was inspired by a lot of stuff:  the storytellers of Italian cinema, Fellini and Pasolini; Japanese comics;  Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber; sport; Greek mythology. So Greek gods, muscled boys, and tattooed punks all appeared on the runway often spattered in glitter.

Despite all the show, the collection does have salable items: stonewashed skinny jeans, pleated shorts, T-shirts, swimwear. There was also a huge role for the color green, in the clothes as in the lightning – which represented the blood of the digital era, according to Formichetti.  This sounds really like Thierry Mugler.

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