Lanvin Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

No matter what the Lanvin man is doing – working, hiking, travelling, dating – you name it – he looks stylish and chic. But very low profile. “It’s active clothing in a sartorial environment, but not sportswear,” said Ossendrijver in an interview. “Everything is in movement – almost aerodynamic.”

The show started with slim fitted, tailored jackets with visible seams. The fabrics looked light and modern in one way but also used and almost antique the other way. Like the jackets in a reworked and remixed tapestry-print. There were lots of knitted stuff, very thin, sometimes sheer – like biker shorts, tank tops and leggings. New were the sneaker/sandal hybrids.

It was the mix of rich fabrics and sport-references that made this collection very contemporary and wearable The accessories just added the right dose of artsy stuff as did some colors like blue, yellow and red.

Hermès Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

The Hermès show was as quiet and luxurious as the label can be. It just simply doesn’t need to scream fashion. It whispers. But when you listen carefully it tells you all everything you should know about next season’s way of dressing: the white suits, the lightweight fabrics, the shorts, the honey-colors,  the sandals, the summer-leather and suede and an accent in an intense color. The modern touch was added by ‘hybrid’ clothing: a shirt with a blouson back or diagonal zip-closure.

Jackets were unlined, scarves were knotted around the neck and the pleated trousers looks casual but dressed. Tobacco brown and emerald-green spiced up the mineral-base palette.

Streetfashion Paris Menswear SS2011 Day 3

Which sunglasses are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Summer has finally arrived in Paris. So get out your vintage  Ray Ban, your latest Prada or even  your goggles!? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. We met Karl Lagerfeld at the streets of Paris outside Dior yesterday. 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: menswear fashionweek in Paris.

Dior Homme Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Kris van Assche seems capable of letting his severe, sartorial look go en soften it with lightweight and youthful tailoring. ‘Simplicity is the true luxury’, according to the designer. And so he presented sleeveless trenchcoats, lightweight linen parkas and paper-light jackets. Black, gray and sandywhite were his main colors. Low-slung trousers were tucked into sandals.

To add a different touch to his simplicity Van Assche used samurai references, like Mao-collars or V-shaped necklines similar to kimonos. Some tops reminded of Hedi Slimane’s first collection for Dior, with the sleeveless faux-wrap shirts. Those were wonderful and new and they still seem appropriate in their renewed version.

Streetfashion Paris Menswear SS201 Day 2

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Givenchy-slippers, your latest Comme des Garcons-bermuda or that vintage Prada? 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: menswear fashionweek in Paris.

John Galliano Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

The set at John Galliano’s menswear-show looked like Charlie Chaplin’s movie Modern Times, and hey – who opened the show? The legendary filmmaker/actor himself – well, a look-a-like. And later on he was followed by Buster Keaton.

Galliano wanted to make a statement about new proportions in menswear and the shrunken jacket and baggy pants – which were the signature look of Chaplin – were a good start. As was the three-piece suit and all Buster Keaton used to wear. These two looks dominated the show, dropped crotch pants, jackets fitted to the body, a little dandyism in lurex trench-coats and pale suits. The movie Death in Venice inspired Galliano and his team for the bathing-suits and bathrobes.

Funny that after so many decades a frumpy suit of two almost forgotten actors are feeling new after the slick, made to measure fashion of the past years. That’s the power of fashion. You’ll get fed up with perfect clothes and suddely you realize you are longing for imperfection and a different style. Et voila, your prayers are heard.

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

It was a beautiful and scary collection Comme des Garcons presented today. Skulls were everywhere: at the back of the model’s head, but mainly as an Escher-like print at skirts, shirts, suits. In black and white and – ha ha, very funny – with glasses in contrasting blue or covered by flowers you’ll find on a graveyard.

What was the deeper meaning of this collection? The only explanation designer Rei Kawakubo gave was ‘ Skull of Life’. Yeah, right. I mean, Alexander McQueen did it a long time ago and even recently at his last menswearcollection. He even made skulls of flowers. And this CdG-collection didn’t seem as an homage to the British designer. He never used it so ubiquitously.

Checkered flag-prints accentuated the punkisch vibe of the collection. The clothes were kept simple: blazers, cropped trousers, shirts and full skirts. No, I think Kawakubo just don’t want us to be afraid of skulls, she wants us to embrace them. From now on skulls are no longer meant for hard rockers, goths or whatever dark subculture.

Streetfashion Paris Menswear SS2011 Day 1

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Givenchy-slippers, your latest Comme des Garcons-bermuda or that vintage Prada? 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: menswear fashionweek in Paris.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

For his spring summer 2011-collection Dries van Noten looked at the mod and ska, two Britisch subcultures. From the mods he took the precise tailoring and classic coats. The ska-influence was visible in the snow washed denim, sleeveless t-shirts, short jackets and the black and white.

The styling looked a bit boyish now and then with the baggy bermudas, armyboots and doublebreasted jackets. Navy, white and black were the main colors, with a touch of seventies brown.

Some shirts and jackets stood out because of the splashed watercolors, they were actually handpainted by a couture-atelier in Lake Como. But somehow this was not one of Van Noten’s best collections. It looked a bit forced and lacked that typical casual/romantic/gentleman feeling.

Louis Vuitton Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

The Louis Vuitton-collection hit all the commercial notes. Washed denim bags, printed scarves and shirts with chinese tattoo prints and clothes with a sense of travel and adventure. The prints were designed by tattoo-artist Scott Campbell and they even appeared on the models skin the LV-monogram included.

The clothes should make every man eager, since he lost his appetite in a great suit.  Constructions of jackets were functional, fabrics were kept lightweight – inspired by parachutes – and some jackets came in pebbled leather or colored python. There even was a camouflage-like leopard-print.

It all had a sporty, outdoor vibe, not only because of the fabrics (nylon, silk), but also because of the construction and looks: bermuda’s, shorts, quilted short jackets. Shirts looked inspired by the middle-east, especially those thin, semi-transparent shirts with tattoo-prints and T-shirts. Colors were kept modest, lots of (dark)blue, black, beige, white and gray.

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