What are you wearing during the fashionweeks? Your Gucci-shoes, that vintage Prada or your latest Vetements-denim? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: Paris Menswear Fashion Week fall/winter 2017.
It was the first solo men’s Valentino show for Pierpaolo Piccioli after the split from longtime design partner Maria Grazia Chiuri, now creative director of women’s collections at Christian Dior. Piccioli got inspired by Jamie Reid, the English artist best known for his Sex Pistols album cover art and used two short poems of him for the brand. “Beauty is a birthright, reclaim your heritage,” read one. “It seemed to be the end until the next beginning,” said the second.
Those phrases, in Reid’s signature ransom-note style, appeared on everything from an ankle-length gray double cashmere coat to a pink intarsia sweater.
Piccioli did not go down the punk route of safety pins and mohair sweaters. He gave the lineup a collegiate feel by pairing the outfits with sweaters worn over shirts with slim black bow ties. Shrunken suit jackets looked like they had been outgrown, while off-kilter shades like pastel green and pink gave duffel coats and workwear jackets a confident flair.
“I’m always attracted to the elegant man, but I’m always kind of a mess,” said Haider Ackermann backstage ato WWD after his his wild patchwork of a show. The collection had a punk feel, with magnified houndstooth fabrics patchworked with black leather for vests and jackets; a long, dark red military style coat, and plaid, checked or striped trousers, some with tartan tops knotted around the waist. Velvet played a starring role, patched together with leather or wool for a jacket or adorned with devoré fabric with ragged edges or more houndstooth checks.
There were shiny, billowing anoraks, hoodies, houndstooth topcoats and suede bombers that came with turtlenecks, tank tops and vests.
Demna Gvasalia, the designer of Balenciaga, got inspired by the corporate style. His fall-collection was all about the 9-to-5, from the mail room straight up to the c-suite.
Gvasalia worked around formalwear and put tailoring on a pedestal, took away the rigidity of the classic corporate suit and breath some warmth and coziness into it. He delivered a slick, thought-provoking collection packed with tailoring — and comfort: Suits were cut loose and baggy — no restrictive tailoring here — while shirts were fully unbuttoned, flashing chest flesh. Coats were even bigger, boxy and long enough to stash an umbrella or two, and had the sharply exaggerated shoulders that Gvasalia is making his signature at the brand. Footwear came in the form of chunky soled sneakers, combat-style or rain boots.
Silvia Venturini Fendi unpopped the lid of her Lego box for this playful collection of sports-inspired silhouettes in primary brights and animal patterns with a Pop Art spirit.
Many of Milan’s designers are determined to keep things real this season, with an eye to dressing men for everyday in easy clothes pulled from gym bags, sports fields, college kids’ wardrobes or the hiking trail.
The colors, including electric tangerine, bubblegum pink, bright green and cobalt — not to mention the patchwork and painterly fur details on lapels and collars — were “an optimistic sign for the future.”
To convey a sense of lightness and practicality, Fendi worked with nylon for puffers, trousers and jackets. The dark pieces were almost always luxed-up with contrasting pops of colored fur.
Models marched down two long catwalks in androgynous looks — a leopard-print coat and pink tracksuit trousers worn with furry orange slides, or a dark coat, its fur lapels done in tutti-frutti colors. Contrast, go-faster stripes stretched down the sides of trousers or came as furry strips on jacket arms.
There was a cartoonish feel to the boxy bags — which came in electric pink or screaming yellow, some with fuzzy bobbles dangling off the handles — and to the fur coats that were inset with soccer-fan scarves reading Fantastic Fendi.
Gone were the beefcake models, the shiny Medusa logos — not to mention most of the flashiness that have become synonymous with Versace men’s wear. In their place came subtler elements: blanket coats, trenches and shearlings, and lean, sensible suits.
Donatella Versace’s mission this season was to dress a variety of men — not just showmen. Versace replaced her tall, buff boys with an international cast of models who were smaller and, well, more “normal” looking.
As they hightailed it down the multiple, intersecting runways they looked a lot like commuters — rich ones, at least — decked out in a variety of urban uniforms, staring straight ahead and striding with a determined step.
Some wore businessman clothes such as camel coats, trenches and lightweight topcoats, some of which were slit up the sides. Suits were fitted while trousers flared slightly, and had little slashes at the bottom à la unzipped track suits. Other models worked a street-y look, dressed in puffers — with a lumberjack check — or a patterned bomber mismatched with plaid trousers, and a baseball cap.
Among the highlights was a soft black-and-red blanket coat with a triangle pattern, inspired by traditional Jewish textiles, a dark suit with an original, off-kilter tartan drawn by hand, and hoodies and tops adorned with collaged photographs of neo-classical statues.
For Fall ’17, Dolce & Gabbana took the idea of inviting YouTube and Instagram influencers from the millennial generation to their show, started by them last season, by inviting them to be the show. But they weren’t only chasing models with fat follower portfolios; there were children of clients at the Alta Moda couture line in the mix, too.
Cameron Dallas, who, as usual, brought several hundred hopelessly devoted young female fans in his wake, opened the show in a black and burgundy suit as Austin Mahone, also suited, wielded a golden microphone on the runway.
Regal canines—including a great snob fox in a smoking jacket shown on one velvet sweatshirt worn over brocade patch jeans—were a theme. Sneakers were dipped in resin, given elegant brand signature, or scribbled and sketched on in a teen-dream mosaic like those covering the backpacks of the Cameron Dallas fans screaming in the freezing cold outside.
It’s not an easy challenge to set a new path for a fashion brand after the departure of its founder and creative director. With his debut collection for Marni, Francesco Risso was wise enough to not completely shock the label’s followers — there were references to the Consuelo Castiglioni era in the color palette, the graphic patterns and the use of fabrics — while attempting to tap into a younger generation of customers. So instead of continuing Castiglioni’s strive for quirkiness, Risso embraced a more approachable, cool street approach.
While Castiglioni with her approach to fashion drew fans of the avant garde, Risso with his first collection seemed interested in developing a more playful, youthful image for the brand — one that is definitely less edgy.
One of the most most sincere forms of flattering is imitation. So watching the stylish men in the streets do the trick is not only highly inspirational, but it also makes it easier for yourself to gather your own ultimate wardrobe essentials and easily combine them with your own flair and personal touch.
1. Pop in a pocket square
2. Never underestimate a good blazer (and good socks!)
3. Invest in good shoes
4. Show your individuality
5. Dare to be bold
6. A good pair of (sun)glasses never hurts
7. Watch the hems
8. Good jeans (what else)
9. Bomber jackets
10. The casual suit
11. The navy blue suit
12. The (white) sneaker
13. Play with colours
14. The jean jacket (and there you have the white sneaker again!)
15. Don’t be afraid to accessorize
16. The classic white shirt
17. The trench
18. The army green jacket
19. Backpacks
20. Don’t take fashion too serious (have fun and play with it!)
21. A killer smile (what else) is your best weapon
It’s 2016 and in that sense anything goes for our dear men. And in the category of gender-fluid trends, there’s one trend having a huge moment: pink! We’re talking any kind of hue: coral, salmon, rosé, fuchsia or pink panter-ish. Pink has a controversial background and history in menswear, and for long time it has been a huge sartorial no-no, considered a colour for only women, queers or Oxford men. But thanks to icons like Sonny Crockett (Miami Vice) and John Draper (Mad Men), pink is becoming more of a new neutral tone, like white. Even the manliest man figures on this planet can pull it off big time (looking at you Drizzy Drake and Cristiano Ronaldo) .
Perhaps it started with the Adidas Stan Smith collaboration in baby pink, and we noticed many pink pastel tones in previous catwalk seasons. And when colour authority Pantone named rose quartz as THE colour of the year, there’s no question about why you should be wearing pink this year. Only HOW you gonna wear it. Especially if you look at the many catwalk examples: Kenzo, Etro, Ferragamo, Westwood, Gucci, Versace and many more. They all have their own spin on this bright and cheerful colour. Even as a bomber jacket (check Givenchy) is pretty darn cool, don’t you think? And a trend rarely makes its way so quickly and directly to the high-street stores. Now there’s pink everywhere, cheering up the streets. Before you get to excited (and you have the right to be so) and jump on it, this is how to nail it without looking like you robbed your little sisters wardrobe: keep it simple and classy, team up with darker ‘masculine’ colours and avoid sparkly embroideries.
Our own fashiondictionary Magic Block A device catwalkphotographers use at the platform in front of the catwalk to elevate a few inches. They need to be higher than the person in front of them. Most of the time it's made of superlight material, made by NASA. Nicknames: Sushiblock, Catalan Cake and Dutch Cheese