Dior wins Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Men’s Fashion Collection A/W19

WINNER

Dior

Jones drew on his time as a gallerist, with a collection that explored a sense of translation – between art and fashion, masculine and feminine, couture and the street. Nylons were like silks; drapery and architectural tailoring came in a soft palette and deluxe textiles. Animal prints were inspired by the Panthère motif, introduced by Christian Dior in his first collection in 1947. It was joined by tiger and leopardprint patterns on knitwear and intarsia furs. The elegance of Dior’s sari-inspired ‘Soirée de Lahore’ dress from 1955 was here in the evening tailoring and the collection boasted a collaboration with American artist Raymond Pettibon, whose artwork for Black Flag and Sonic Youth helped define the punk aesthetic.

SHORTLIST

Hermès

The notes to Véronique Nichanian’s latest collection opened with the words: ‘a sophisticated simplicity’. Her menswear offering focused on daywear with smart, sincere flair, the finest textiles teased to behave in surprising ways. Blousons were key: the jacket-cum-shirt style is an ideal piece for trans-seasonal dressing, but also speaks to the fluidity of modern life. Elsewhere, overshirts had large curved stripes in rubberised lambskin, and the tailoring of trousers was relaxed and wide with a single-pleat and cotton gabardine tab. The standouts were the shearling pieces, including a short double-breasted black bomber with nubby collar, and a longer contrasted style.

JW Anderson

The clothes for JW Anderson’s first menswear catwalk show in Paris were layered, elongated and wrapped around the body in different ways. Models wore shearling collars trimmed in fluro orange or white overshirts and coats. Prairie-style check shirts had long pussy-bow collars, left undone, trailing down the front of the chest, while tweed coats had cutaway sides, exposing ribbed knitwear underneath, and knits had curved fronts. Technical fabric bloomers with elasticated cuffs were sometimes worn over pinstripe trousers or just on their own. ‘There is a kind of earthly, nomadic feel,’ said Jonathan Anderson of the collection.

Dior has been awarded the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2020 for Best Men’s Fashion Collection A/W19

Raf Simons

In a runway show set in a gilded couture-style salon, oversized silhouettes took centre stage. Sweeping doublebreasted, opera and trench coats were imagined in a range of fabrics, including bright or pastel couture-like satins, embellished with enamel flowers dangling from punky hooks. Accessories came in the form of stompy workwear boots, motorcycle gloves in leopard print and skinny skullprint scarves. Simons is a longtime fan of David Lynch, and for A/W19, chunky sweaters and sweeping outerwear came with patches emblazoned with scenes from films noirs – Twin Peaks and Wild at Heart – the latter title a poignant reflection of Simons’ own creative energy.

Rochas

‘The guy is a gentle rebel,’ said Florentine designer Federico Curradi of the hero of his debut A/W19 collection for Rochas, after the brand’s two-year menswear hiatus. There was an artisanal elegance to the offering, which featured fluid, oversized silhouettes such as beatnik trench coats and high-waisted trousers paired with berets and swishing scarves. Curradi was inspired by Love on the Left Bank, a book by the Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken that celebrates bohemian living in the mid-1900s. He is also committed to environmentally friendly fabrics, only using natural, cruelty-free materials.