Walter van Beirendonck Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Menswear SS2014

‘Home sweet home’ whispered the clothes Walter van Beirendonck presented yesterday. He presented a ss14 collection with highly graphic well-tailored suits, shorts and jackets with color blocking and patterns looking like the interior of a room complete with wall paper.  A few looks even displayed a table and flower-filled vase — one literally sprung from a jacket like a children’s pop-up book, in 3-D.

Walter van Beirendonck Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2013

We’e not sure how the male models felt afterwards, but the van Beirendonck show sure put us in a good mood. The Belgium designer showed some pretty street chic on trend quilted pants, followed by black leather, busy printed, XXL and argyle ones. And it was not just those pants that made us smile. Walter created suit jackets, vests and knitted sweater in the same style. All very colorful with a shiny disco twist. Checked bathrobe like coats got metallic fringes as extra eye catchers; the same kind of colored metallic that was used for the shoes, mouth and earpieces. A theatrical collection like you could expect from a Opéra Garnier costume designer.

Walter van Beirendonck Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

That was sa quite disturbing mask the models were wearing at the Walter van Beirendonck-show, especially when you realize the models underneath the white skintone mask were black…. But those confronting themes are familiar when it comes to the Belgian designer. He’s not afraid of some discussion. His show  started out with well-crafted, sartorial looks in bold colors and plaids, which gave way to baggy streetwear, including mohair sweaters.

Walter van Beirendonck Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

It was a very sweet and tailored collection Walter van Beirendonck presented today. The jackets, shirts and pants had all a suburban dad-twist and tribal touches – though there is always a message underneath the clothes. On shredded T-shirts it said “Dream the World. Awake. Well, he surely got our attention!

And he will after the summer, when his first large scale retrospective will open at the Antwerp Fashion Museum in september.

Backstage at Walter van Beirendonck

Walter van Beirendonck Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Hope. Read my skin. That was the message at Van Beirendonck’s invitation for his ss2011-show in Paris this afternoon. The Belgian designer always tries to put his worries about certain thing in society in his collections. And he always tries to be optimistic and make you at least smile a little.

With is humor, colorful prints and exaggerated styles he makes his men into characters from a comic-book. But exaggerating gets the best attention and so does Van Beirendonck. This time he aimed at violence and war and he dressed his models in innocent white overalls or happy combinations of jackets and pants with colorful checks or flowers  all over. He decorated the clothes with huge bullet-straps or used the straps as accessories. There were also shirts with applications and words like Fear and Faith and T-shirts reading “Courage, Never give up Hope”.

Intriguing was the part made of fabric with little holes in it. Suits, shirts, cargo-pants and T-shirts had holes all over as if a hundred bullets had hit them. It was not  only decorating but the holes also formed the words we already saw in the rest of the collection. Well, this is something we will see again in the big fashion-chains  within a few months.

Walter van Beirendonck Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

You can leave it up to the Belgian Walter van Beirendonck to send out a happy show with a clear message. This time it was the Trademark- and Copyright-sign that formed the essence of the collection. He showed them on socks, shirts, jackets etc. Walter look-a-like models were parading in quilted bubbly fabrics, bright colors and swimsuits.