Paris Menswear: Miharayasuhiro, Hermès and a bit of Sunday pondering
Walking over sand can be immensely sensual, but the sand Mihara Yasuhiro had in mind wasn't of the type you find on a pristine beach. The Japanese designer was probably thinking more about dunes, deserts and the sand-like dust that often covers explorers' shoes when he designed his Autumn/Winter menswear collection. Exploration and movement were indeed the two main themes behind the name of the collection, "Left and Right", two inspirations that pervaded each single outfit.
Leaving behind the Joseph Beuys-inspired outfits from his Spring/Summer 09 collection, Yasuhiro focused on a sort of layered and worn out look that prevailed throughout the catwalk. The models looked like explorers carrying everything they needed with them who had been walking and walking for days, battling harsh climatic conditions. There was also a touch of ethnic in the tailored jackets and coats that incorporated panels and inserts of ponchos, but modernism wasn't forgotten also thanks to Husam El Odeh's jewellery.
The monotony created by the perfectly-cut suits in dark shades at Hermès was broken by two bright colours, yellow and red, used for trousers, cardigans, jackets and even raincoats. These wonderful splashes of colour weren't enough though to really make Véronique Nichanian's menswear collection for Hermès distinctively different from many other menswear collections seen between Milan and Paris.
After Milan menswear finished leaving behind a deep sense of crisis, and after the shadows of the economic downturn spread upon Paris during the latest catwalks, I have been pondering a bit about what the menswear catwalks have been missing so far. The answer was almost immediate: fresh ideas.
The London College of Fashion's MA Fashion Design and Technology course showcase that took place a few days ago was an eye opener in many ways.
I will concentrate on the winner of the MA collection of the year, Manjit Deu, and on his glamorous sequinned womenswear in a future post, while I feel compelled to mention in this post about menswear Jie Pi's 80s influenced metallic jackets and trousers and sequinned tops in shades of gold, silver and blue; Rohan Kale's fresh technicolour suits paired with bright orange shirts and colorful bow ties and Dimitri Stavrou's tailored black, gold and silver jackets with long carbon fibre fringes. I'm not sure if Stavrou explored the use of horsehair in fabrics employed for interior design purposes and applied the idea to his menswear, but it looks like an interesting concept (focus on the clothes and pretend you're not seeing the amateurish female model in the video...).
Thinking about these new talents it's easy to realise that, apart from fresh ideas, also fun and experimentation have been missing from the menswear catwalks. There's no doubt, these are times of crisis, but these are also extremely creative times and if fashion houses do not renew themselves dramatically (and there are enough talents out there who can help them doing it...), they will easily keep on losing money and clients, while their catwalks will end up being outdated and useless events.
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