Paris Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Viktor & Rolf Monsieur

It was the first time since Viktor & Rolf introduced their menswear-collection Monsieur in 2003 that the Dutch duo held a show in Paris. It was a small, intimate show with music of one single guitarplayer and totally different from their big womenswear-presentations.

The Monsieur-collection lies close to what the designers like themselves, a mix of streetwear and tailored suits with a touch of the unexpected. For next fall Viktor & Rolf unveiled a refined collection in a dark (mostly black) color palette mixing formal and casual, ranging from quilting and trousers with elasticated cuffs and a focus at the dinner jacket.  Splashes of black paint were on the floor but also at trousers, a models’ face and in silver on a T-shirt.The unexpected lies in the layering and mix of different textures and fabrics. Of course the collection has all the ingredients of next fall: the large, comfy cardigan, the suit, the knits, the boots, the grays and the blacks.

Milan Catwalk Fashion fw2010: shoppinglist

While the fashion circus is traveling to the next stop – Paris – we thought it might be helpful to give you already a sort of shopping list. You’ll never know what you might run into during the sales !

Milan was all about slim suits in techno fabrics, mixed with bulky grandpa’s cardigan’s often used as a coat and a rough knitted aged sweater. Military style is back, especially in coats – look for navy duffels in blue, aviator-jackets in black/shearling, the Monty-coat and officer-coats in army-green with golden buttons.

Black is still the new black, but also all shades of gray. The darks are often mixed with rich colors as purple and burgundy. New are camel and off white, mixed with buttery yellow.

It seems men will have their own legging as well, regarding the many long-johns we spotted in the collections. It was a favorite of Dolce & Gabbana and maybe for some women, but we’re not sure men will like them. At home yes, outside hmm (maybe only underneath a comfy ski-overall). Instead of a long-john look for a slim, too short pant with or without ‘cuffs’.

The rough look is perfect with the military boots, beautifully aged at Burberry, polished at Bottega Veneta. Fans of modern classics can stick to the Gucci-loafer. More accessories: an Italian cap, berets and an army-bag.

One of the main messages the coming season is layering: a T-shirt, a denim shirt, a jacket, a cardigan or two, something leather, silver mesh or glitzy (like patent leather, or plastic). The style moves between polished Seventies style (like Prada), Fifties playboys (Gucci) and ageless rockers turned businessmen.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: D Squared & Tokio Hotel

Since DSquared is designing the clothes for their coming tour lead-singer Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel had the honor to open their menswear-show in Milan. His extravagant outfit had nothing to do with the theme of the show – Hockey Horror – but he made an impressive entrance and survived his stroll along the catwalk like a pro. The theme of the show had everything to do with hockey, THE national game in Canada,  and  everything that comes with it, the bloody fights included. Some clothes reminded of hockey-outfits, from the wide shorts to the big shirts. Fabrics were shiny and glitzy like ice, black was the main color. Of course everything was mixed the wrong way on purpose, but we already know that trick.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Alexander McQueen

The Alexander McQueen-collection for fall 2010 was an entirely printed collection—of suits, leather coats, ski masks, even shoes. Some of the prints were on the dark side (like a pile of human skulls and bones), some simply puzzling (smeared paint, fur, knits, drops of rain). The silhouet was pretty stiff and straight, with ski-like trousers, shorter jackets and 3/4 coats sometimes half patent/half wool.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Versace

Alexandre Plokhov, design director for Versace menswear, took the new movie ‘Tron Legacy’ as inspiration for his fall-collection. The result was a vision of a futuristic world, but also back to Gianni Versace’s days of hard-edged metal mesh. This was agood show, sharp as a laser beam and glossy. Plokhov modernized Gianni’s original ideas, giving the black leather a bursting-bubble decoration and weaving metal mesh into vests or as shoulder pieces. The neon-patterns on shirts looked like tie-dye leaking, but were all digital.  These were often mixed with sleek suits in cyber blue.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Gucci

Gucci showed us the tasteful side of the Seventies – a period where a lot of mensweardesigners refer to for their fall-collections. Tasteful as in: monochrome camel, beige, black and off-white, faded blues, yellow and reds but also rich colors. This was not the most remarkeable Gucci-collection, as in new. The silhouet is still slim, with shorter jackets which had broader lapels, no excess of big accessories except for classic Gucci loafers, big sunglasses and a big bag. The Gucci man is still an angry young playboy, but he’s waiting for better times to come. It’s remarkablke that hardly any label shows tuxedo’s these days, I guess partytime is over. ‘ Come as you are’ sang Kurt Cobain while the last pack of models strolled down the runway. The Gucci-man just wears a velvet jacket in midnightblue, bottlegreen or burgundy. No bow, no shirt.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Dirk Bikkembergs

Not only people from the fashion industry could attend Dirk Bikkembergs Sports Couture show this year; tickets to the show were also sold to any fashion lover who wanted to pay for it. The money that was raised by this, would go to charity.

After a countdown,  tough-looking muscular men appeared on the catwalk to the beat of our favorite Michael Jackson songs.

The Bikkembergs collection was inspired by the world of mountaineering, so the models were dressed in a way they could resist extreme weather conditions. They wore knitted sweaters and were wrapped in cashmere and mohair. Most of them had caps on their heads and wore thick gloves. They walked the runway on flip flops with thick socks in it and high boots with colored laces.

While his pants were nothing special, Dirk showed some good jackets. We loved a white trenchcoat and a black & white dinner jacket. Many jackets had fur collars and shoulders with leather accents.

Underneath these jackets some models wore a T-shirt with the image of an ice-bear, that vaguely resembled the popular Christopher Kane gorilla T-shirts.

At the end of the show a happy Dirk Bikkembergs waved to the audience. Although we thought his collection was pretty safe and predictable, at least he was having a blast.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: John Varvatos

An impression of the stage at John Varvatos: an old church with scattered fresco’s and candlelight in the back. A perfect setting for the collection: rockers turned into businessmen but still sticking to black, their boots, leather and bulky knits.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Prada

The Prada-show was held in the designers ideal – virtual- world full of facts & figures, info-graphics and spaces. A world that seems  more appealing to young people who easily absorb all that information. It was the young Miucca was aiming to. The models strolled through the labyrinth of info in their sometimes childlike, polished clothes in bright camouflage-prints or bleached colors, beige and black. The collection had that typical vintage Prada touch – like an old seventies Vogue Homme – without being too dorky. The look was polished, almost synthetic, but the colors (yellow, rose, blue, beige and black) and fractal-camouflage added the right dose of reality and warmth.

Milan Catwalk Show fw2010: impression of prada

An impression of the stage at Prada, a labyrinth of information, facts & figures and choices regarding (virtual) daily life. The world of Prada, as the designer said.  The audience was seated in colored blocks or at a high tribune.

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