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Men’s Fashion
Playing with size
YOHJI YAMAMOTO
iht.com/style
More photographs from the summer 2009
menswear shows in Paris.
A stormy day at the beach
summer spent by the seaside, in
A the mind of the designer Véro-
nique Branquinho, is a chilly place
with crashing waves and wind-
whipped beaches.
And when the clothes emerged, they
looked ready to brave the weather. Be it
on the beach — in nautical-striped tops
of uneven ripples, a shirt covered in
oversize, zippered pockets, or extra-
large windbreakers — or on the board-
walk in a black linen suit that
shimmered like dark water lit up by the
moon or a sunset red evening jacket.
Kris Van Assche is trying to wres-
tle the art of tailoring into submission
to create a hybrid look that is both re-
fined and suitable to the realities of
modern male dress.
Sometimes he got the balance right,
as when he paired ballooning pants
with perforated white cotton tops (with
or without the optional vest). Less so
with the all-in-one semi-sheer white
outfits that opened the show.
THIER RY VERON IQUE
MUGLER BR ANQUINHO
ize was the starting point of the
S Yohji Yamamoto menswear col-
lection, according to the smiling de-
signer, but he wasn’t just referring to
his choice in models (who came in all
shapes, sizes, colors and ages) but to
the clothes as well.
This was a show filled with easy,
loose-fitting suits that looked as if they
had been part of the models’ persona l
collections for years — although it is
hard to imagine any man wanting a
cream-colored burlap suit.
It was a collection full of creativity.
But what came through most strongly
when watching the likes of the writer
Marc Cholodenko and the artist Steve
McQueen amble down the runway was
Ya ma moto’s playful mood.
The designer transferred key fea-
tures of classic menswear to unexpec-
ted locations. It was as if he had run the
suits through a transporter and all of
the bits hadn’t returned to the right
place. This meant a jacket’s buttonhole
cuffs were found at the bottom of a
pant, sections of suit lining were sewn
onto the outside of a blazer, and back
pockets grew out of pant legs. There
were even a few schizophrenic jacket/
coats that had been spliced together,
but they weren’t a shock to the system
in their black-on-black incarnation.
When the designer took to the run-
way with a band of sartorial brothers, it
was clear this was a collection of easy
artistry with a whimsical soul made in
the image of the man himself.
— Jessica Michault
For practicality, let’s lose the shoe-
string ribbons that sprouted on cuffs
and came braided down the backs of
vests. But it would have been nice to see
more of the post-modern Madras print
on the glossy board shorts and stylish
beach totes.
It is good to have Rosemary Rodrig-
uez back in play after being off the fash-
ion radar since her days designing Paco
Rabanne. For her first collection at
Thierry Mugler, the designer, who
worked with Mugler in the 1990s, fo-
cused on the torso and kept in mind the
house’s DNA.
There were the strong-shouldered
suits, the angular cuts and the vibrant
colors so loved by Mugler. It was a very
masculine (dare I say macho) show
filled with pinstripe suits (some made
of metal zippers), tailored pants and
the odd silk robe. Rodriguez sent out a
lot of variety, now it’s time to zero in on
a few key themes and make them her
own. — Jessica Michault
KR IS
VAN ASSCHE
A SPECIAL REPORT
International Herald Tribune
Saturday-Sunday, June 28-29, 2008 9
Menkes
Suzy
Paris
Collections
The
JUNYA WATANABE LOUIS VUITTON COMME DES GARCONS YVES SAINT LAURENT
Comme partners with Louis Vuitton
By Suzy Menkes
n an extraordinary collaboration,
I Louis Vuitton, the ultimate French
luxury brand, and Rei Kawakubo
of Comme des Garçons, the ulti-
mate fashion rebel, will open a store to-
gether in Tokyo in September — an
ephemeral three-month space where
six one-off bags, designed by Kawa-
kubo in the LV monogram pattern, can
be ordered by shoppers.
Yves Carcelle, chairman and chief
executive of Louis Vuitton, sitting front
row at Kawakubo’s show Friday, said
that he was approached by Comme and
considered the project a fine way to
celebrate 30 years since Vuitton first
opened in Tokyo.
Backstage, Kawakubo said that mem-
ories of her excitement at the arrival of
Parisian luxury in Japan in 1978 result-
ed in this unlikely idea of the new
design duo creating the store within
the Comme des Garçons shop on Kot-
todori. (For more on the collaboration,
see iht.com/style.)
For Comme acolytes, the move will
be considered either as sleeping with
the enemy or as a brilliant and imagin-
ative partnership. It could also be a ri- DRIES VAN NOTEN JEAN PAUL GAULTIER NUMBER (N)INE
poste to Yohji Yamamoto’s bag collab- Photographs by Chris Moore/Karl Prouse
oration with Hermès last season. There
was a touch of the spirit of that other
Japanese fashion hero in Comme’s men- ury, with fabrics like cotton and silk for a gilded mirror and reversed a sober curling brims worn above clothes that
in-skirts — crisp white cotton worn a trench coat, linen canvas for a vest and navy to checks. were graphic, rather than Big Country,
over narrow pants and under tailored a champagne-colored suede top. The Hurrah for a designer who thinks not in their streamlined, urban style.
jackets or shorter tunic dresses. bags were luxurious and stylish and, as just about private jets but about coach Familiar Gaultier matelot stripes
The show, with its slightly ethnic lay- a replacement for the logo, shoes had a class and the increasingly severe limits were reworked as fine sweaters under
ering, was almost entirely in black and cradle of straps at the toes like a fancy on baggage weight. We have seen this short-sleeved shirts or visible when the
white, with its graphic quality en- spat — a subversive trend in footwear. idea many times in fashion but regular sleeves of a tailored suit were
hanced by polka dots on inside-out jack- A gender journey from female to Watanabe gave things a modern edge, pushed up. The lonesome cowboy, Paris,
et linings or on ‘‘petticoats’’ under full male was the focus at Yves Saint with jaunty hats and, above all, the Texas, theme lacked the sexual charge
skirts. Flaming red hair or rakish hats Laurent as the designer Stefano Pilati sense that each piece, reversed or not, that would have brought an edgy spirit
finished off the look. But there were expressed the man/woman thing in six was stylish. to the collection. But the faint echo of
none of the customized LV bags with separate videos, while the clothes that The joyous ethnic mix for which the 1970s brought a smattering of sweat-
‘‘kawaii,’’ or cutesy, charms, to be seen. looked supple on the screen were soft Dries Van Noten is famous was aban- ers, as if inspired by Navajo Indians, and
The show was graceful and poetic, and sensual to touch in the still-life doned this season — but by taking a dif- created a striking geometry in knitwear.
rather than one of Kawakubo’s mold- presentation. The final film showed a ferent route the designer’s collection of How exhilarating to find at Number
breaking collections. But then she had man breaking out from a circle of an- slim tailoring, from pin-thin trench to (N)ine a time-travel collection that
already dropped her fashion collabora- drogynous dancers, wearing a gilded supple safari suit, was just as powerful. layered princely Victoriana clothes with
tion bombshell, whose reverberations jacket concocted with paillettes on An outdoor set filled with all-white American sportswear and Tokyo cool
will be felt throughout the long week- tulle. Silk gazar, washed and softened, second-hand cars suggested a turn to- and made it seem utterly original. The
end of Paris men’s fashion. made a manly blouson, while a crèpe ward technology. And so there was. For designer Takahiro Miyashita had also
Louis Vuitton’s own show seemed de chine blazer — decorated with Pil- behind the sheer black raincoat, worn explored cowboy country and returned
to be on a fashion road to nowhere, al- ati’s signature diaper pin — looked like by a model walking out in front of a to his favorite Nirvana in Kurt Cobain.
though the designer Paul Helbers made it would ripple across a muscled torso. slick 1960s Thunderbird to end the The result was a bewigged figure,
all the right moves. He removed intrus- But there was the show’s problem. show, was fabric research that gave the with one eye bruised with makeup, and
ive logos; gave an airy freedom to The videos and their actor-star, Jack classic style a jolt of modernity. layers of light clothes, from poncho jack-
sportswear; and worked with a color Huston, set a contemporary art mood. ‘‘Back to traditional menswear — ets to loosely tapered pants. Lacing, as
palette that started bright, white and But clothes dangling, as if in a gallery, natty, but not too chic,’’ said Van Noten on a sneaker, created shape; and straps
light, was then tinged with pastel — did not make that vital journey from backstage, to explain how much work at the back of pants allowed for a layered
and finally broke into sunset orange empty object to fashion in motion. had gone into these seemingly simple apron effect. It was unexpected, original
before a nightfall of black. ‘‘It’s going to be a sentimental jour- clothes, where the prints were taken and the way that Miyashita incorpor-
What was the problem? The collec- ney,’’ crooned the soundtrack, as mod- from neckties to create a mix of dots and ated the prettiness of lace and floral pat-
tion did not seem to grow from the DNA els with neatly tailored shorts suits and make the current pajama craze credible. tern into his youthful silhouettes was
of Vuitton, a brand deeply associated old-style suitcases, rich with travel la- Jean Paul Gaultier’s collection beguiling. It was a fresh experience and
with travel. After seeing in Milan’s fash- bels, came out at Junya Watanabe’s seemed like a seasoned traveler taking a journey into the fashion unknown.
ion week so much focus on modern ma- show. But gingham check collars hint- his aesthetic to a familiar destination.
terials and sartorial travel aids, Vuitton ed at the transformation to come as the It was cowboy country, with the ‘‘Ode Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the
seemed to be focused on traditional lux- guys peeled off their jackets in front of to Billie Joe’’ and cowboy hats with International Herald Tribune.