Men’s fashion week. It’s become just as much as a circus as women’s: pavements crawling with fluoro-outfitted wannabes, an excess of sometimes irrelevant fashion. But it’s also true that men’s fashion has never been more exciting, what with London’s hotbed of new designers, the continued reinvigoration of venerable houses, and the lone wolves who keep delivering insanely good collections. Oh, and Prada. Here are some shows of the European shows to look out for as the month kicks off in London today. (Watch this space, for New York.)
London
Commencing the men’s shows, London is where press and buyers come together to see the most exciting new designers alongside heritage giants such as Burberry.
Craig Green
Craig’s is the one of the few men’s shows which makes critics literally sob. I’ve been there, and I’m not even embarrassed because the show was just so brilliant. So there. While he’s had a strong design language from day one, each season he manages to surprise — new knits, colors, and techniques keep his mystique fresh, accompanied by a leaping piano soundtrack. It’s the emotional high point of the London shows.
Grace Wales Bonner
Grace Wales Bonner is the most exciting thing to happen to MAN, the Topman funded young designer scheme, since well, Craig Green. Her intellectual world melds African dandyism with jackets last seen on the backs of old French ladies. And flares. What this description misses is the quiet elegance and authority she imbues in her clothes, and her models — velvet and pearls have never looked so masculine.
SIBLING
Because not all fashions can be rooted in tender emotion or afro nouveau, we have SIBLING, the duo whose shows are always an insane mash-up of pop nostalgia, sporting chic, and, well, hunks. An all-pink collection featuring gigantic knitted teddies shouldn’t work but somehow does. Same goes for extreme bumsters. Which were also knitted. Within the hilarity there’s an incredible depth of knitting know-how that makes their pieces sing even when they’re not draped over a model. It’s the show most likely to make you smile.
Dunhill
I was about to write something about the tailoring renaissance or the economics of suits shoring up the whole industry but then I got so incredibly BORED I couldn’t be bothered. What I will say is that John Ray, who designs Dunhill, is an incredible talent who makes men exceedingly handsome and in control, which is what wearing a suit is about. The way he puts his beautifully made clothes together into looks is wonderful to see, and after a week looking at a bunch of tramps (the fashion press), there’s nothing nicer than seeing a beautifully clean-shaven young man in a three-piece suit. Oh and possibly a top hat.
Milan
The center of Italian industrial power is beset by opinion pieces about its lack of creativity. Among this doom and gloom, two houses stand out: the reinvented Gucci and Prada, with all Miuccia’s continuing clout.
Gucci
Reams of copy, some penned by my own fair hand, have been devoted to Alessandro Michele’s genius reinvention of Gucci. The new house signature has now been established, and it remains to be seen whether Michele’s next move will be something new or a continuation of his sweet seventies androgens. Most exciting would be if he let a little of the world’s ugliness into his rose-tinted hot house.
Prada
You can never predict what Mrs. Prada will do next. For spring/summer 16, just as the world had caught up with her intellectual seventies look, she went full feminine futurism, sending her boys out in tiny cropped shorts and shiny slick jackets worn off the shoulders. It was about as far away from floral wallpaper as you could imagine. Whatever she does next will be hotly debated and worn to death until her next collection.
Paris
There are an incredible amount of shows in Paris, many of them very good. So this is just a selection that are sure to prove talking points. Foremost in people’s minds are John Galliano and Raf Simons, both now departed from the House of Dior, although under wildly differing circumstances.
Saint Laurent
I don’t remember any men’s collection in recent memory causing quite so many arguments as Hedi Slimane’s. The man has a sixth sense for controversy with his collections lifted straight from the stage, his ghoulish castings, and his incredible celebrity front rows. It shouldn’t work but it just does — no one else captures the mania of youth quite so well. This is possibly because it doesn’t look like high fashion at all — if you think fashion is just weird one-shouldered stuff. After the women’s Glastonbury chic look, it’ll be interesting to see what he does next.
Maison Margiela
According to Renzo Rosso, president of the parent company of Margiela, Mr. John Galliano will now also have a hand in the brand’s menswear. This is hugely exciting — Galliano’s shows are exactly the opposite of Slimane’s, which doesn’t make them any better, but does offer an exciting counterpoint. This is what fashion thrives on — opposing points of view. An exciting return.
Raf Simons
Anyone with a vague knowledge of fashion goings ons will know that Raf has left Christian Dior, and thus is concentrating all his efforts on his eponymous men’s line. What this means, I have no clue, but going from a million collections a year to just two can only be good for the poor man.
Comme des Garçons
Comme is consistently one of the shows of the season — whether it be a take on pearly kings, pastoral hunting scenes, or Mexican cowboy culture. Rei is above trends, refining the decaying Comme look to the point of madness, while also delivering some of the most cleverly cut jackets and pants in the business.
Credits
Text Jack Sunnucks
Photography Mitchell Sams