ALL OPULENT EARS
Paris: Rei Kawakubo showed a collection dripping with texture, pattern, and color. She draped damask overcoats and sport coats over lush, baggy corduroy trousers, and hung mariachi-style tail balls from blazer hems while attaching puffballs to oversized hoodies and shirts. True to her style, she showed unexpected materials like seersucker, and shot this cold weather collection through with
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Cobalt (a close cousin to IKB) stood out in Paris F/W 13 Men’s collections as a key color choice among designers. Spotted on a variety of items, from accessories to outerwear, this rich blue brightened the runways while commanding strong masculine coolness. – Andrew Luecke
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HOLY WANDERERS
Paris: Gothic goddess Ann Demeulemeester kept her trademark aesthetic in place for F/W 13, while exploring new ideas about layering and draping. Her men strode the runway swathed in romantic layers of wool felt outerwear, embroidered suits, and cotton dress shirts that evoked wandering preachers from some strange American West. Models wore bowlers trimmed with feathers and black mesh
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HIGH-END HOBO
Paris: Junya Watanabe continued his exploration of Americana and workwear with his latest collection that showcased models bundled in chore coats, dungarees and overcoats, all embellished with patchwork and repairs. Watanabe beefed up a mostly limited palette of grey, black and khaki with hits of royal blue and navy, but all colors remained true to a subdued work-ready palette.
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NO TRICKS NECESSARY
Paris: The visual trickery and subversive hallmarks of the Maison Martin Margiela label can sometimes prove puzzling, but for F/W 13 these cryptic elements were kept to a minimum, leaving room for simple and directional tailoring. Still, innovation ruled, finding one-pieces made to look like suiting, patchworked cardigans with a recycled flair and a handful of fur and
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Not to leave out the boys, Dries Van Noten presented a cold-weather take on lounge dressing to match his grunge-lite spring collection for women. Layers bore Van Noten's signature slouch: fluid silk pajamas, fuzzy oversized sweaters, lush sweatsuits, a shirttail tucked here and a shirt unbuttoned there. Even robe-inspired outerwear had a careful dishevelment, with belts haphazardly tied and seams
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SNOWCATS
Paris: Kim Jones showed a collection of sportswear basics, suits, and formalwear, all highlighted by subtle use of luxe materials, exotic prints and precisely classic tailoring. Standard double-breasted overcoats came highlighted by tonal leopard print that evoked the elusive snow leopard, while other coats featured similarly patterned fur trim on the collars. Other snow-ready gear included cropped, fur-hooded bombers, puffer
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MOUSTACHE MEN
Paris: Yohji Yamamoto continued his tradition of showing precisely tailored, if unusual, garments that included kilts, full tartan suits, and overcoats that closed with bondage straps. Curiously, every model also sported a range of false moustaches, ranging from dramatically curled to big and brushy. Yamamoto also played with scale as is his wont, showing double-breasted blazers in both cropped
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HEIRS IN REVOLT
Paris: Dries Van Noten’s fresh and airy take on grunge debuted at his S/S 13 womenswear collection, a theme which carried through to menswear for Fall. But where his feminine angst was diaphanous and layered, the masculine version carried weight through thick tweed t-shirts, leather cargo pants and tapestry hoodies. Slouchy and full of baroque drawing-room patterns, heirloom
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CAVEMAN FUTURSIM
Paris: Rick Owens' menswear often goes in one of two directions, either ascetic monk or apocalyptic nomad. For F/W 13 it was the latter, with modern versions of the arctic costumes worn north of the wall on HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones, complete with lace-up snow boots, fuzzy gloves, and “wildling” hairstyles. Built for a harsh environment, the
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JUST RIGHT REBELLION
Paris: Phillip Lim is always adept at producing unusual designs from a common theme and this season his exploration of biker basics was delightfully innovative and approachable. From the start of the presentation, Lim subverted the toughness of leather with cable-knit embossing as well as patchworking, lending a fresh homespun quality to moto jackets and tapered trousers tucked
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OH MAN
Paris: Raf Simons delivered a visually striking, if curious collection that appeared to investigate issues of masculinity. Shoulders, a man’s most defining feature, were highlighted by fabric bands that extended from shoulder to shoulder on suit jackets, evoking the lines of an artist’s rough figure drawing sketch. Butterfly collars and flouncy cuffs were 70s nerd, as were sweater vests
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Plaids made a distinct and strong presence in London F/W 13 Men’s collections, used for full suits, tailored separates and overcoats. Unique weaves and colors intertwined harmoniously in some collections, while simple greys were showcased in others. Motif scales ranged from tiny to giant. – Andrew Luecke
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SCI-FI PARODY
Paris: Nothing short of retro-experimentalism is expected at Mugler and for F/W 13 the inspiration was suitably vintage sci-fi. Outfitted in uniforms which could have come straight from the set of kitschy movies like Mars Attacks!, Mugler’s soldiers were seriously protected by full length monochrome jumpsuits, strapped on Kevlar vests and military cargo shirts. But this was something of
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OFFICE SPACE
Paris: Guillaume Henry’s latest collection might be read as an unhinged twin to Giorgio Armani’s recent showing, with adventurous parkas and military coats coexisting with business suits, and the looks even being presented in a bland office setting. Here though, there was a twist, as nearly every look featured trousers cropped to knicker-like lengths. What Henry meant by this
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