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With a Blend of Razor-Sharp Tailoring, Vivacious Colours and Gender-Fluid Elements, Paris Menswear FW Celebrated a New Zeitgeist where Utility Wear,
Uniforms and Ballerina-Inspired Paraphernalia Co-Exist in Harmony.

Balmain Homme

Image Credit Paris Menswear Week and Vogue

Paris Menswear Week, hot on the heels of its Italian counterpart, hosted the legends of French men’s fashion over the past week.

The standout trend may well have been the riotous colours we’ve seen in so many collections together with gender-fluid influences popping up everywhere. Layering was king, and so were sharp tailoring, humble everyday utility wear and military-inspired uniforms that were the backbone of many collections. Cargo pants, shorts, polished leather and faux fur kept making their presence felt in collections that some may coin ‘grandpacore’! (But let’s not forget ‘balletcore’ – as spotted Dior Homme.)

Sit back and enjoy a selection of the very best on offer in Paris – arguably the most chic and elegant of all the menswear weeks.

A model sported a turquoise ‘filling’ as a gold-alternative. Louis Vuitton

BALMAIN HOMME

Watch Balmain Homme’s show here:

Glitz, glamour and riotous colour kicked off Olivier Rousteng’s collection that celebrated the human face – eyes, lips, mouths, teeth… Lips, in particular, was a recurring theme, with luscious gold being the shade of choice in this collection that could only be described as one of the stand-out offerings at Paris Menswear Week, a week already showcasing the pick of the bunch in men’s fashion.

Rousteng set out to give this menswear collection the level of creative expression often reserved for women’s collections – and he totally succeeded. Not by resorting to elements like ruffles, flouncy skirts, polka dots, pussy-bows or transparency, but by embracing the unadulterated effect of colour and motif. Each ensemble was testament to the Rousteng magic, but if one must single out the most memorable of the bunch, it would have to be the eyes with their 3-D gold eyelashes! Beyond joyous!

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

Balmain Homme

LOUIS VUITTON

Watch Louis Vuitton’s show here:

So, on Day 1 of Paris Menswear Week creative director for the House of Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams, galloped into the Wild West – AKA the Jardin d’Acclimation – throwing a show rampant with cowboy, Native American and rodeo paraphernalia. He says in a post-show chat, “When you see cowboys portrayed you see only a few versions. You never really get to see what some of the original cowboys looked like. They looked like us, they looked like me. They looked Black. They looked Native American.”

To a desert backdrop we saw models sporting cowboy boots, stetson hats, gauchos, cactus-embroidered shirts, fringing and cowhide bags – all echoing a part of American history, with artists from the Lakota and Dakota indigenous tribes having been part of the design of the accessories.

The story-telling on the runway included denim jackets embellished with desert flowers, logo-ed track suits, cowboy belts with LV buckles, oversized logo-ed LV holdalls in vibrant tuquiose and shocking pink, tartan, plaid, dazzoflage, pinstripes, shearling jackets and chaps in saddlery patterns, amongst others. Oh, and the jewellery was something else! There was delicious turquiose aplenty – some models even sported a turquoise ‘filling’ as a gold-alternative in the mouths!

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

At Louis Vuitton

At Louis Vuitton

At Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

ISSEY MIYAKE

Watch Issey Miyake’s show here:

Against a virginal backdrop at the iconic Palais de Tokyo, Issey Miyake showed his collection that was, to put it mildly, a celebration of riotous colour. Like exquisite Japanese broad brush ink drawings the ensembles stood out boldly against the white background.

The collection aptly named Immersed in the Wilds of Creativity was aesthetically pleasing in every respect, from shapes to textures, colour combinations to artistry and composition.

French artist Ronan Bouroullec’s drawings were an intrinsic part of the magical fusion of knits, pleats, shapes and shades. The chunky rib knits in their clever shades were a constant building block in the layering, making this winter collection one that is light, ethereal and so, so cheery. Exactly what we need to combat those gloomy winters days.

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake

At Issey Miyake

At Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake

ISABEL MARANT

If anything, this collection will make us delve into our wardrobes to see how we can utilize what we’ve already got in terms of staples, to create these very relaxed, almost grungy looks we saw at Isabel Marant’s.

That’s not to say we’re not coveting these delightfully fluffy knits, pocketed safari suits and shapely jeans – in fact, these comfy pieces would be welcome in just about every fashionista’s wardrobe, but especially precious to those who love Marant’s casual, boho designs, her ability to layer effortlessly and her almost impromptu styling. The runny ink printed shirts are as must-have-able as the soft mohair cardis, and the sharp tailoring in the denims and khaki twills is undeniably flattering

It’s Marant’s superpower to take simple pieces, put them together in a novel fashion (take the tweed jacket, printed Purple 80s shirt worn over a yellow T-shirt, for example) that keeps her loyal followers coming back season after season.

At Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant

At Isabel Marant

YOHJI YAMAMOTO

Watch Yohji Yamamoto’s show here:

We always expect Yamamoto to go the extra mile every season – and he never disappoints. From the ingeniously-designed, exquisitely crafted collections to his touch in every aspect of his by now legendary shows – the models, music, choreography reveals the hand of the creative maestro in every minute detail.

The AW 2024/5 collection is pure poetry in motion: the impeccable tailoring, the layering, the lettering, the fraying and rough hems are what make every Yohji Yamamoto collection so special. This time we saw Yamamoto resort to his beloved palette of black, grey, white, beige and red again, with the injection of pops of beautifully hand-painted flowers on shirts. Trench coat epaulettes, safari pockets, utility vests, tactile motorbike jackets, braces and berets all formed part of the subtle, romantic vocabulary of this veteran designer. As ever, this show was classic Yohji Yamamoto – immaculately tailored, avant-garde and utterly wearable.

At Yohji Yamamoto

At Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

DRIES VAN NOTEN

Watch Dries Van Noten’s show here:

At a first glance one may argue this was a fairly understated collection for the king of colour, but don’t be fooled: there was colour, albeit very subtle and forward-thinking. As for inspiration, van Noten predominantly drew on utility wear and military uniforms – all beautifully tailored and crafted of course with a touch of Van Noten’s unrivalled eye for shade and impeccable sense of compositional shape and balance.

These pieces were, above all, extremely wearable. The silhouettes were slimline and fluid, casually layered and some verged on the avant-garde, with knits, for example, asymmetrically zippered to reveal an arm. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the collection was the colour blocking: take for instance the bright orange anorak layered over a camel jumpsuit and lavender roll neck sweater… or the mix of dusty pink in a bomber, with mustard in the faux fur collar, slate gray sweater and beige trousers – inspired! A must-have piece in the collection is the subtle leopard-print trench coat.

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

DIOR HOMME

Watch Dior Homme’s show here:

Creative director Kim Jones didn’t have to look far for his inspiration for AW 2024/5 – his uncle was the iconic British Royal Ballet dancer and photojournalist Colin Jones. Jones used his uncle’s images of the famous Rudolph Nureyev and constructed his show around this.

Jones’ models elegantly sported ensembles borrowed from balletcore: ballet flats, colourful mid-calf socks, leotard-like sweaters, headbands, turbans, sparkly jewel-like tops and fluid pieces of tailoring enabling freedom of movement.

Dior Homme

At Dior Homme

At Dior Homme

Dior Homme

Dior Homme

COMME DES GARCON

White shirts in every guise, from cropped to frilled and tailcoat-esque – as well as cutaway tailoring defined Rei Kawakubo’s AW 2024/5 collection. As ever, the details in this avant-garde offering are awe-inspiring: trenchcoats, crumpled boiled wool suits, grey flannel and muted pinstripes, checks and plaids were layered over white shirts, to great effect. Models sported platinum white wigs to reinforce the white theme.

Overly tightly buttoned jackets, inside-out jackets and jackets with lining sagging from hems were also part of this collection that felt serene and ethereal, and almost spiritual in its presentation.

At Comme des Garcon

At Comme des Garcon

At Comme des Garcon

Comme des Garcon

Comme des Garcon

Comme des Garcon