This season's runways were dominated by French kids, the unwavering fascination of designers. Several labels rejected the "traditional" in favor of a more freewheeling approach, resulting in collections that were both compelling and nostalgia-infused without being overt or kitsch. It is true that even the most haughty show-goers are moved by the sense that French fashion has a certain charm and uniqueness. In contrast to previous seasons, this season called for stepping up the level of polish, making it more cultish, and making it more appealing to young people by emphasizing fluidity as a theme.
It featured carefully designed twill miniskirts, wool dresses, slouchy neutral pants, and brilliant cardigans tailored to resemble ladylike jackets with nappa inserts. As the scrunchy subtext within which minimalist's denotations were boldly expressed, knitwear ruled supreme, no doubt setting the hearts of buyers aflutter. A return to simplicity was the dominant theme of the Autumn/Winter shows, following the Spring season of opulent textures and tailored rigor, which comprised hazardous volumes, slashed toppers, and offered relaxed wardrobe updates, emphasizing the basics category with a modern twist. There was a renewed emphasis on fuss-free elegance, evident in men's suiting, separates, and outerwear, as well as a cluster of crisp button-ups and leather ensembles-many of which were seen on the latest runways, making for an articulated-yet-pared-down look.
It was apparent that designers were aware of directional consciousness by working neatly tailored garments while embracing the vein of frugality. It is no doubt true that Parisian designers are talented, but like Milanese peers, they tend to branch out into overworked designs. The most promising aspect of this season was the linear tailoring. There are times when that's enough. Here are the highlights from Paris Fashion Week men's Autumn/Winter 2023…
Louis Vuitton
Vuitton celebrated its cult item creation and communication at its recent menswear show. It was a collaborative effort, with contributions from Colm Dillane, Ibrahim Kamara, and the Gondry brothers. As part of Louis Vuitton's mission to continue Virgil Abloh's legacy, Dillane, a self-taught designer from Brooklyn, was "embedded" within the team. Dillane and Kamara reimagined classic menswear suiting and incorporated references to Black culture. It was notable that Dillane's own brand, KidSuper, was used, which has a naive name and hand-drawn art. Patchworked tracksuits and jacquard-embroidered suits and coats were inspired by his paintings of people and domestic interiors. Abloh often spoke about the significance of remembering and cherishing the child within adults, so this nod to KidSuper is a fitting tribute.
This idea was reflected in the set, which featured rooms where a child grew up to be a man. It was a spectacle of childhood toys being packed away as models rummaged through Louis Vuitton trunks. It featured early memories of playing on computers, teenage bedrooms, and millennial rites of passage. In his tapestry-style jacquard coat, Dillane, who frequently incorporates his paintings into his clothing, took the technique to its luxurious extreme. There were several standout pieces in the collection, including a camouflage face print, which appeared on everything from work wear pants to Keepall bags, along with an embossed leather jacket. Or As a whimsical millefeuille, Dillane embroidered and pieced together letters written by Louis Vuitton designers in their native tongue, which were then reproduced in leather, seeming to escape wallets and bags. As well as cartoonish tailoring, the collection incorporated digital glitch effects and Surrealist details, such as double-layered coats with peel-off shoulders and extra sleeves on burgundy suit jackets.
Loewe
Fashion's current trend of grand productions and entertainment is reflected in Jonathan Anderson's LOEWE Fall/Winter 2023 collection. From his perspective, it's enough to think about clothes and speculatively about them. He shows his collection in a stripped-back manner, with models walking around white space. The idea is to find something new in design by being uncomfortable. In Anderson's collection, materials were exaggerated into pure-lined 3D sculpture, copper and pewter jackets beaten by artisans, and stand-alone structured coats molded by hatmakers. It was his intention to create the idea of something sensual beneath something hard. Angel wings were worn by some of the models, referencing the iconography of old masters painters, in particular, the work of French romantic artist Pierre-Paul Prud'hon and Anderson's collaboration with Julien Nguyen.
It was an excellent example of how clothes can be multi-layered but startlingly focused on clarity, which Anderson calls a reductionist act. It is nothing more absorbing and mentally exciting than seeing stuff you haven't seen before and reacting to the meanings of what's before you. There were avant-garde sculptures and pared-back, on-the-money Loewe desirables, as well as leather coats with cowl necklines and long coats in wool. It struck the designer as quintessential when he arrived at that coat, simple but extraordinary. It's something in the way it says everything and nothing at the same time, and thus help create a narrative throughout the show.
Kenzo
Nigo draws on the archival backbone of his practice while introducing influences close to his heart in this exploration of British, American, and Japanese street culture. A string quartet opens the show with renditions of The Beatles, reflecting the collection's genre-spanning eclecticism. Born in 1970, the Japanese designer is also inspired by the Swinging Sixties. Vintage clothes from the rocker and mod eras make up a large part of his extensive archives. Nigo explores Great British country clothing in collaboration with Hunter and inevitably echoes Dame Vivienne Westwood, whose influence has been a constant throughout his career.
Underpinned by the conversation between traditional Japanese construction and authentic American workwear that supports Nigo's structural framework at Kenzo, the collection is infused with the joie de vivre of Kenzo Takada's work in the 1980s. Kenzo archival prints have also been reworked, as well as themes and motifs inspired by Eastern and Western cultures. There are also large quantities of velvets and a great deal of Japanese quilting called sashiko, which is traditionally used for kendo uniforms.
Saint Laurent
With dark sunglasses and slicked-back hair, Jacques de Bascher and the legendary couturier were channeled in their glory days. There has been a shift in the brand's aesthetic from its previous rock-tinged and bohemian-inspired looks. A contemporary art museum owned by billionaire François Pinault was the venue for the presentation of the collection. The collection featured floor-sweeping coats with broad shoulders, turtleneck sweaters that stretched from the navel to the calf, as well as silk pants. Backstage, Vaccarello explained that the collection was inspired by the days at Yves Saint Laurent when everything started from the shoulder. According to him, he studied the founder's final couture collections from the late 1990s and early 1990s and applied the same meticulous details to the menswear collection. His point of emphasis was the delicate stitching around the collars of the chiffon tops, which were done in the traditional atelier manner. While the majority of the collection was black, with belted coats as bright as fresh tar, elegantly draped and wrapped tunics, as well as jackets and tuxedo pants, the designer also revisited the hooded silhouettes.
Dries Van Noten
It was a unique and thought-provoking experience to see Dries Van Noten's latest fashion show. For his fall men's show, the designer returned to a parking garage with chilled Stella Artois and a mesmerizing electronic musician. Guests finally reached the show space, a standing-only affair, after descending ramps and stairs. It was opened by Belgian musicians Lander & Adriaan, specialists in "sophistic rave." The stage was set with a drum kit and stacks of synthesizers. It was inspired by rave parties of the '90s mixed with surreal elements of nature. Van Noten was inspired by a book he read last summer about Alexander von Humboldt, a German geographer, naturalist, and explorer who invented ecology. Using washed-out linen pants, swirly prints on jackets, and multiple layers of lacy knits and drapey sweatshirts, the designer conveyed the rave vibe.
An eagle caught in flight is depicted on a cream crewneck sweater as well as green shoots multiplying across cots and pants. Some shirts featured gold and silver garlands embroidered into them, while others featured diving birds and exotic blooms printed on silk souvenir jackets. There was a true feast for the senses at the show, and the collection was an excellent blend of past and present, creating a truly memorable experience. An interesting and unique approach was taken by the designer in using elements of nature in his collection and choosing the venue.
Dior
Fashion houses follow the same cycle as fashion itself: constant renewal and rejuvenation. In DIOR, as in literature, imagery, and themes, the past has always been present. Dior Men's artistic director, Kim Jones, explored how the house was rejuvenated after Christian Dior's death and under Yves Saint Laurent's leadership. T.S Eliot's literary motifs, the Thames and Seine, also serve as inspiration for Jones' collection. Through the regenerating and rejuvenating waters of these rivers, history and mutability form a metaphor for fashion's constant movement.
65 On January 30th, 1958, Yves Saint Laurent presented his debut collection for DIOR, forever changing fashion. With a blend of masculine and feminine styles and British tailoring traditions meeting haute couture, the collection was heavily influenced by the Spring/Summer '58 collection. A fusion of formal and casual is achieved through a streamlining of excess and an exuding of modernity and practicality. In fashion, silhouettes are softened, curved, and malleable, while clothes are hybridized and transformed. Transposing and transforming archive clothing to create new looks. A sculptural approach to styling and draping subverts the traditional vernacular of knitwear, creating a collection that is both precise and complex, yet effortless.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin
Throughout this season, Ludovic de Saint Sernin realized he is living his dream. Everything is going smoothly for this pioneer of sexy body display. Now he's been appointed creative director of Ann Demeulemeester, a brand he founded from scratch and gathered a passionate following of buffed arms baring, skinny shirts plunging on a freezing Sunday morning. It was a celebration of everything he ever inspired in his fall collection. It also means very short dresses, like micro handkerchief skirts for all genders, and very precise corsets with grommets. “I Just realized, wow, that is amazing. Let me pause for a moment. My life has led me to this moment, and I've worked hard to get there. Growing up, I watched Fashion TV and Loic Prigent and all these fashion documentaries," he said. Now I realize it's important for me to inspire the younger generation as the older generation did for me. So here's my version of that time in the 2000s when models were stunning, glamorous, and confident. As a designer, I grew up watching America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, and all these programs shaped me."
De He has also succeeded due to his preternatural media-savvy and organizational focus. With the Demeulemeester show coming up in March, he said, "I was in a rush, so it was like a fashion competition!" I need a clear system. I picked 10 fabrics. When you're a student, or you want to be a fashion designer, you need to make like three looks from one fabric. Therefore, we use the Vogue Runway system with three solid looks in the same fabric." It was a three-by-three in its slinky, sexy, perfectly-fitted way. With plenty of evidence of his LdSS logo, there are rows of taffeta, denim, black leather, knit, and crystal chain mail. In spite of its conciseness and brevity, De Saint Sernin delivers quality. His things always tread the line between classy and trashy.
Songzio
There are several aspects of this collection, which can be summarized as a portrait of a boy gladiator: an image of a gladiator with a delicate appearance as well as a fierce spirit. There is a very gladiator-like quality about the pieces, which are composed and orderly in nature. For example, armor-like pleated jackets, wide plackets in the shape of breastplates, and skirt pants reminiscent of roman skirts emit a very gladiator-like quality. The disorderly asymmetrical drapes, and silhouettes hiding behind the multilayered garments, although carefully constructed, are indicative of the heart of chaos. With the release of his latest outing, entitled "reflection", Songzio captures the emotive dualities of the human soul through his music. It can be both visible and invisible, but this collection brings out the perplexing senses and emotions within us that are coexisting together. In essence, it is a lineup that acts as a statement of intent; a reflection of who we are and who we appear to be as musicians.
Juun.J
Three years have passed since legendary designer Junn.J debuted his "Broken" collection on the runway. Colors included black, brown, green, and blue, with the aim of revitalizing old, worn-out, and damaged items. The renowned Arab World Institute in Paris has been chosen as the location to unveil Juun.J's Fall/Winter 2023 collection. According to its creative director, South Korean designer Wookjun Jung, the collection expresses an "atypical aesthetic" from multiple angles. 40 pieces fashioned from leather, denim, jersey, and wool materials are displayed in an awe-inspiring space with tall pillars and contrasting lighting featuring worn and deconstructed garment design elements. By breaking conventions and giving new life to old, worn out, and damaged items, Juun.J has reimagined items like military, rider, and denim garments through deconstruction to create a sense of beauty. There are four colors in the collection: black, brown, green, and blue.
As much as the silhouettes were more fitted and feminized than usual, Hed Mayner used the phrase “A little bent” to describe his willingness to embrace the quirks and dings of experimentation. An elegant double-breasted jacket nicely demonstrates the process: it appears tugged, but has remarkably tailored cuts, without curves, and is then bent into shape. Although it looks like flannel, it's actually a bonded, layered jersey that gives it thickness and volume. A designer explained before the show that the process was about removing everything-status, new ideas-and transforming it from top to bottom. The collection was thus approached as if it had been passed down, borrowed, or worn by people of different generations.
This time, he paired his flowy, cropped trousers with a sharply cut satin-lapel tuxedo jacket, finished with oversized shoes that are new for him, yet familiar in their Chaplin-esque proportions. In other pieces, he tweaked traditional outerwear by turning it into sleeveless coats or a jacket and skirt combo. The proportions of a voluminous suit jacket were narrowed by pressing and crinkling it. It is a fact that Mayner's base is partial to his extensive, enveloping creations, such as his multi-pocket parkas and cargoes. They will have plenty to choose from, ranging from slouchy parkas to oversized peacoats in wool or leather to plush-looking shearlings.
Maison Mihara Yasuhiro
Mihara Yasuhiro admits to being a fake. "Normally I make a real impression, but this time there was a false impression," he admitted as he served green tea to guests at this typically entertaining performance. This season, Yasuhiro used his transition from real to faux leather as the basis for his collection. Through the use of weathering techniques, he was able to create an acceptable forgery of the "real thing." He explored issues of manufactured authenticity through the use of weathering techniques.
As a result of the padding used to enlarge his pieces, many of his boxfresh but seemingly well-worn-in looks had a "fatter," oversized silhouette. The purpose of this was to provide insulation not only from the elements but also from the onrush of information in the modern era (in part due to his choice of a talented, remorseless drummer to soundtrack the show). It is common to see suits for men and women constructed around skirts, often in velvet or attractive check wools, and they all share the same expansively insulating silhouette. The bags, presumably made of faux leather, were soft, squishy, and stuffed with materials. It was too beautiful to worry about the veracity of Yasuhiro's fake men's work shirts: both layers were padded again and in pale blue and Bengal stripes. He practiced his trade like an exceptionally gifted cosmetic surgeon with a specialization in fillers.
Denim truckers, nylon bombers, and cotton parkas all got the same treatment. Yasuhiro then moved into more prosaic territory with a series of puffas that, especially with the bootleg logo, looked like brilliantly produced AliExpress North Face knockoffs. Pristine black workwear pieces were paired with faux-distressed, faux-leather pieces oversized with steroid padding before a final look featuring a dollar bill print closed the show. It was a continuation of Yasuhiro's jewelry collaboration with Kota Okuda, which allowed customers to wear their money.
Hermès
Fall 2023 saw Hermès deviate from its traditional aesthetic with sexiness and edge. A lineup of leather pieces was presented by creative director Véronique Nichanian, including leather pants, jackets, blouses, and a stunning lamb shearling cardigan. Role-playing elements were incorporated into the collection, such as a gray leather overcoat fastened with a fireman's jacket and a navy pea coat patched with calfskin. Hermès' signature bags included the HAC (Haut à Courroies) bags in Barénia Faubourg calfskin, mat crocodile, Fjord cowhide, and Togo calfskin on models wearing triple monk strap boots and sneakers.
Nichanian complemented the white gold and diamond jewelry with leather necklaces embellished with gleaming metal dice, as well as white gold earrings. Short-sleeved versions of the Guernsey sweater and folkish knits with transitional patterns dominated the daywear line. Some garments also featured braided leather inserts as a nod to the designer's love of repairing clothing. The collection included black pieces such as lambskin topcoats framed by dark ebony foulard cravats and fitted knits cut into pale foulards for evening wear. As the collection progressed, the silhouettes changed from bulky to slim, rigid to soft, and smooth to textured.
Rick Owens
Rick Owens is the Prada of Paris. Among the shows in this city, his is the most anticipated. Moreover, it consistently rewards that anticipation. Owens turned Victorian. David Beckham and Victoria Beckham were both surprise attendees, but this was not in honor of Victoria Beckham. His collection was instead imbued with an "elaborate modesty" influenced by the 19th-century British queen. According to the designer, the silhouette is Victorian. Prudence is evident. Sensuality was suppressed in that era in such an elaborate way that you couldn't help but think about it."
Shearling cloaks, skirts, parkas, belts, and other pieces featured in the collection had a ladylike elegance, as did simple "donuts"-padded garments designed to reduce garments to their most basic form. His spike-shouldered denim and cowhide jackets, oversized pirarucu bombers, and a powerful new orthopedic platform boot typified the collection’s over-the-top aesthetic. In a collection usually charged with sexuality, Owens explored modesty as a central tension of the collection. Furthermore, Owens' work has an autobiographical element, with models such as Tyrone Dylan evoking his idealized youth.
Berluti
First time back since 2021, Berluti chose a different lane. This time, Berluti's VP of Marketing and Image Harold Israel led us through the showroom on Rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Its move away from transient fashion in favor of long-term style is central to its clientele-friendly repositioning. Nonplus ultra normcore: conventionally realistic menswear pieces made with almost unreal savoir-faire. It was a luminously gorgeous collection of essentials that you would want to live in forever. Look 20's uncluttered varsity jacket in a rich grapey tone and Look 18's teal overshirt were among my favorites: there was a broad population of (highly solvent) cultured menswear collectors putting their platinum cards down.
A Venezia leather hangs strap tucked behind the neckline at the back of look 3's hopelessly soft burnt orange knit sweater elevated an unpretentious garment. Despite the house's long-established calligraphic Scritto engravings, both on leather goods and leather-patched jersey pieces, this popular part of the house code was often overlooked by past designers. It was also patterned on cotton canvas into highly attractive day bags and rolling luggage with leather-rubbed wheels based on a wood carving at Berluti's Rue Marbeuf site. New, soft-topped shearling-lined Ultima boots (without the annoyingly unuseful top strap they once had) were perfect for tucking your finely draped cashmere track pants into. New prints of the house's woven Shadow sneakers are available, as well as old-school track sneakers. Berluti's discreet design team is producing some outstandingly attractive menswear without the pomp and circumstance of a show, and without having to conform to a design narrative beyond telling the house's rich story.
Winnie
It was evident that progress had been made on the runway: sequin-spangled herringbone tweed jackets from Nona Source were transformed into smart jackets that referenced a jacket Balogun's father gave him when he was a child. Due to economic fluctuations, he wanted to repurpose materials more resourcefully, such as repurposing past season denim, re-dyed, and repurposing. Warm hues of shearling and leather echoed past seasons' limited editions. Various mesh motifs abstracted from the designer's evil eye bracelet were applied to a wool flannel overcoat, sequined sweaters, or checks turned 90 degrees and cut on the bias. Balogun observes that living abroad helps him develop a new perspective, not least because a different lifestyle makes you see the world differently. Quality of life is better," he said. Sitting in the town square over coffee can inspire endlessly, he says. The designer wanted to make this a more mature collection through a collaboration with the cult French brand Adieu, building on his Savile Row roots. Overall, the collection is smart, covetable, and likely to last.
Sean Suen
Through contemporary fashion, Sean Suen explains the traditions and culture of the Yi People in the Daliang mountains. Sean Suen's Fall/Winter 2023 collection is inspired by the Daliang Mountains' natural beauty and explores the culture and traditions of the Yi people, an ethnic minority group that has long lived there. Embracing traditional oriental culture, the collection is woven with the myths and beliefs of this nation. Wearables such as the "Pizhan," a traditional Yi garment designed to keep out the cold, and the "Tuta," an ancient war knife repurposed for contemporary use, are part of the collection. The collection features cold-proof fabrics such as leather and wool, which add authenticity and comfort during the harsh winter months. Black and highly saturated colors characterize Yi aesthetics. Daliang Mountain accessories feature engravings of the sun, moon, stars, flowers, birds, fish, grass, mountains, rivers, and trees as well as engravings of the sun, moon, and stars. Silver bells on the Yi medallions and collar ornaments clang like the ringing of creatures that lead us to our true and final refuge. Besides being practical, clothing is also a carrier of culture and aesthetics. Through the lens of an ancient oriental culture, Sean Suen's 2023 Fall/Winter 2023 collection hopes to inspire wearers to consider the inner quality of self-awareness in humans, and to experience the most authentic beauty of all creatures.
Sacai
Inspire by Christopher Nolan's 2014 film Interstellar, Chitose Abe's latest Sacai collection combines luxury and rough workwear. One of Chitose Abe's most intriguing menswear missions, the Interstellar-inspired Sacai collection, also took a very long time to launch. In terms of concept, there were three references to the movie; Murph's bookcase print and the morse code/anomaly print featuring Cooper's porch line "it was never meant to die here" were both fun references. Cooper's chore jacket supplier of choice, Carhartt, produced collaborative pieces that really impressed me. The chore split was a through-collection theme in outerwear, and a protruding khaki underlayer rounded out Look 32. Oversized "fleeces" and amazing MA1 bombers with skirts strapped against the model's shoulders were given extra dimension and could be loosened to create longer-form outerwear.
A series of Catholically black looks were evoked by the inky blackness of space, contrasted with the disruption to come. Throughout the experimentation, multi-color degradé layers gradually supplanted the blackness and signaled the transformation. Close to the end, Sacai created a series of looks with Moncler, an old co-creator it's reuniting with for its 70th anniversary. Within each look, piumino outerwear combined with tailoring, accessories, and skirts to create a micro-universe of disassemblable elements: single pieces containing a multitude of elements. The collection also included chunky knitwear and ombré twinsets. It is a collection that is not only practical for fall but also timeless, with pieces that can be worn for years to come.
Marine Serre
Known for its edgy fashion sensibilities and commitment to upcycling, Marine Serre's latest fashion show was held at the Grand Halle de la Villette. As a reminder of the environmental cost of textile waste, three 26-foot towers of secondhand clothing served as both a model for a zero-impact set and as a reminder of the sustainability of the show. Clothing on display will appear in future collections of the brand. The Marine Serre brand is at a turning point, and she's taking up cycling to the streets. In order to generate momentum for her climate change activism, she hopes to bring more people into the fold. There were looks featuring upcycled denim, household linens, T-shirts, and silk scarves on display. The show notes state that each bag needs to be used 20,000 times, or 54 years of daily use, in order to offset the brand's overall impact on production. The collection used repurposed materials such as gray and black denim, household linens, tees, and leather to create a familiar aesthetic. Recycled fishing lines and nets are used to make Moiré fabric, which has become synonymous with the brand. This collection's rebellious attitude was reflected in its leather accessories. Tailored suits, body-skimming patchwork, and fluffy knit designs added an elegant touch to the runway. Serre used curves with a feminine touch to create designs that were both complex and minimalist.
Patchouli Studio
The fashion industry is reorienting itself towards ethical values, longevity, and, to put it bluntly, common sense; consumers need smaller wardrobes. A concise-yet-cohesive new Patchouli collection is sexy, but in a sly way—he's all about the wink of a well-cut, skin-revealing knit or breezy-style texture that can be buttoned up or down. Seductiveness isn't the designer's intent, but it serves the purpose of making easy-to-wear clothes with a naughty undertone. Founder and design director Andrea Zanola says the “Patchouli Studio Man has evolved into a more sophisticated and sensual silhouette by using fine mohair, baby alpaca, and metallic yarns. The act of knitting becomes a tool for seduction, not blatantly, but powerfully and mysteriously,” said Zanola. Even though Zanola's collection was body-hugging, he summoned a sense of loucheness, emphasizing textures and providing a sense of specificity that enhances versatility. There was a consistent sense of poised yet seductive clothing: more vintage than pioneering, but just what many teenagers want.
By Rashmi Goel
