Political, Artistic and Genderless | Paris Fashion Week Menswear Fall-Winter 2021-2022

 

 

Teaming up with artists, facing some political issues, the protection of nature and also the topic of fluidity on identities, styles and cultures  were the main topics at Paris Menswear Autumn Winter 2021-22 Collections. Let’s say video-clips, classic moving editorial or even short fashion films, were looking for an inclusive world, challenging traditional thinking.

 
 

Change is fascinating! Yes, again, Covid-19 obligated luxury brands to take action and get more creative adding videoclips, documentaries, mini or fashion films to the traditional catwalk, as a  creative catalyst in sync with a changing world.  Designers can’t wait to get back to the runway, yes. But being honest, we love to see them showcasing their latest designs digitally via pre-filmed videos and livestreamed virtual shows. This digital world transport us to a closer place to their identity.

Paris Fashion Week Menswear Fall-Winter 2021-2022 proved that most of the fashion designers are up to the challenge. Here our favourites videos of the season.

 
 

TRENDS

The bell-bottoms trousers are the highlight of the season, as we have seen in a wide variety of styles at Louis Vuitton, Casablanca or Dries van Noten. This season, however, stylistically breaks away from the clichés that were imposed on the 70s, denoting a clear trend: the playful elegance.

The new blazer coats arrive with xxl shoulders, floor-length and often double-buttoned. Is this the new street-style revolution? Louis Vuitton and Jil Sander are talking this code.

Knitted sweaters become expressive and break all limits through the collaboration with artists. Collages, prints and pictures, symbols or logos are woven into knitwear thanks to collaboration with artists as painter Peter Doig for Dior; or Loewe, where JW Anderson gifted insiders a "show in a book" with cardboard packages containing a t-shirt printed with photos of the collection, as well as a coffee table book dedicated to the late queer artist and writer Joe Brainard, who died of AIDS-related illness. At his own brand, JW Anderson collaborated with photographer Juergen Teller on a series of irreverent posters. 

Gender boundaries are dissolving more and more on Menswear collections. In this sense we would like to highlight the collection of GmbH, in which the masculine becomes feminine and vice versa; or the full skirts with striking patterns at Loewe.

Also, fashion goes political with Abloh showing “American Racism” at Louis Vuitton Collection after years being criticized for his lack of engagement with issues that affect the Black community.

 
 
 
 
 

SUSTAINABILITY | FAVOURITE COLLECTIONS

WALES BONNER

Presented in a short film titled "Black Sunlight," a collaboration with photographer and filmmaker Jeano Edwards, the garments were inspired by postcolonial intellectuals from the Caribbean and Africa, as well as India, who immigrated to England in the 1980s. Nostalgia-tinged footage of tropical landscapes is cut with scenes of models wandering stone buildings in wide-legged trousers, slim-fit knits and immaculately tailored blazers.

CASABLANCA

Asked if it was hard to think about, given the world’s current and ongoing restrictions? Tajer, creative director at Casablanca, answered: “It is true, travel is so much more limited nowadays. But, to find creativity, I think it’s as simple as going into nature. I tried to do this, even if I wasn’t going places far away, or frequently.” Tajer introduced womenswear alongside menswear for the first time. Built of bonded or stretch Chantilly lace, jacquards and knitwear, Tajer’s suggestion ranges from formal elongated coats, contrasting diamond-inlaid moto-pants, drapey suits, and Casablanca hero items: printed silk shirts. Film and collection remember us to Gucci, we may say.

COOL TM

Questioning the beautiful, the genre, the normal, the bizarre. Cool TM want to blur gender lines joyfully. COOL TM is a French creator fashion brand for Men and Women. They merge rebellion and romance, punk and bohemia, vintage and avant-garde through diversity and irreverently plays with beauty standards.

 

 
 
 
 

EGONLAB

EGONlab claims to be a “genderless” brand with the motto BE WHO YOU ARE, WEAR WHAT YOU WANT”. Aware of ecological and environmental issues, the goal of this brand is to create unique and timeless pieces by shape & design. Colorful and playful, the collection explores the new masculinity, in which pleated skirts over flared trousers are a common denominator

BASSCOUTUR

Riad Trabelsi is the designer of BassCoutur. Fashion brands are scrambling to find ways to push into upcycling, recycling and making use of deadstock, but here’s a brand founded on the principle of breathing life into existing fabrics. Riad Trabelsi started out in vintage — ferreting out pieces for himself, then friends, and eventually setting up a stand in a flea market. Then he reworked the clothing, and his prototypes drew praise. Collections are fashioned according to what’s available — patching together old silk scarves to make new pieces.

GMBH

From migration, ecology and club culture, GmbH engages with global topics through our own lived experiences. The collection, between the gothic and the punk, reveals a hidden and interesting femininity with jackets with bateau neckline and interlaced on the chest that establish a new code in the wardrobe of the modern man.