Fashion week S/S 2014 invitations: menswear collections

Many various size and colour cards on a mantelpiece

Our modern mantelpiece overflows with some of the best invitations from the Paris Fashion Week S/S 2014 menswear collections. Writer: Rosa Bertoli

(Image credit: Jessica Klingelfuss)

By Jack Moss

last updated 10 October 2022

in Features

Various sized invites on a mantelpiece — ...and a few favourites from the menswear shows in Milan

Poster on fireplace mantel — **Kenzo:** Show details were printed in bold lettering on an accordion poster, with a black and white landscape photograph of California (the designers’ main influence this season) appearing on the reverse

Gold card invite — **Maison Martin Margiela:** A pleasingly heavy, rusted metal invitation hinted at the 'Marks of Time and of Memories' theme of the collection

Yellow Prada invitation card — **Prada:** The invitation came in the form of a French-folded booklet in an ombre palette, with the brand's black logo printed on the fore edge. Guests found a smaller version on their seats, executed in blue

Black rectangle card — **Rick Owens**: The designer sent out this rectangular card, featuring a combination of monochrome graphic elements, to announce his Paris show

Pink card and envelope — **Acne Studios:** A delicate, mauve envelope and card bore a handwritten message with details of the Acne presentation

D-Squared invite with pop-out model plane kit — **Dsquared²:** A balsa wood invitation from the Caten twins revealed push-out pieces of a DIY plane, referencing a favourite pocket-money toy of yesteryear. We tried it. It works

White laser cut out pattern on an invite card — **Louis Vuitton:** The die-cut, ivory invitation referenced both the house’s Damier check logo and the show set, which was designed in the same cut-out style

White card with black print — **Louis Vuitton:** The house's invitation came encased in an envelope bearing exquisitely rendered calligraphy

Bold abstract illustration — **Saint Laurent:** Each season, Hedi Slimane chooses an artist to create a limited-edition booklet for show guests. His latest collaboration was with American artist Matt Connors, who splashed his bold, abstract illustrations across the luxurious book

Printed gold foil on paper — **Dries Van Noten:** This gossamer-thin invitation was printed in gold foil, an allusion to the all-gold set that would greet show goers at Halle Freyssinet

Bright yellow dice design on paper — **Dior Homme:** Dior's graphic offering - bearing a yellow domino motif - was housed in a clear, plastic 7-inch record sleeve

Maze of yellow dominos as invitations — **Dior Homme:** Inside, a folded poster printed with a maze of domino pieces referenced the show’s labyrinthine set

deep blue invitation card — **Valentino**: Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri delivered much of their latest menswear collection in an exquisite shade of blue, which they replicated on the embossed invitation card

Polka dot invitation card — **Kris Van Assche:** The invitation was delivered inside a die-cut, black envelope, creating a striking, polka dot effect

John Galliano invitation card — **John Galliano:** Another polka dot motif in black and navy bedewed the invitation card. The reverse featured black lettering on a contrasting yellow background

White envelope with a black bow — **Delvaux:** The house's invitation was sealed with a sombre grosgrain ribbon, tied so perfectly that it was with great reluctance our Editor-in-Chief was persuaded to open the envelope

Black print on a white card — **Givenchy:** Once again, Givenchy delivered its show details on a small, Rorschachian limited-edition print by M/M Paris, stamped with the house’s gold-foiled logo

Bold print on red card — **Paul Smith:** The Rothko-esque invitation came in the shape of a minuscule Polaroid-like card (a photographic medium favoured by the British designer), while the barbeque party he held in town the same week was announced through oversized type, set against a chequered background

Paul smith invitation — **Paul Smith:** A close-up of Smith's Rothko-esque invitation

Pink card with cocktail glass lines — **Paul Smith:** This season, all of Sir Paul's invitations played with the colour pink, a shade that also featured heavily in his collection. He chose a playful illustration of a Vespa - the ultimate Italian icon - in bold Pop Art hues to invite the Milanese crowd to his summer cocktail party

Berluti invitation card — **Berluti:** The Hotel de Sully (the Parisian hôtel particulier that hosted the presentation) was depicted in silver on the envelopes sent to guests. Inside, the pull-out card was printed in bold colour-blocks that peeped through the die-cut hotel windows of the envelope

Bold typographic style font on a card — **Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe:** Invitations for these two Japanese brands featured their usual, bold typographic style. Comme des Garçons employed a restrained use of black text on white paper, while in contrast Junya Watanabe’s invite was superimposed on a summery mountain lake image - a clue to the collection’s outdoors explorer theme

Minimalistic line design on a card — **Lacoste:** Art director Peter Saville collaborated with Lacoste on an anniversary collection, reworking the 80-year-old crocodile logo in 160 unique ways. The invitation echoed his redesign work with a stylized version of the logo emblazoned on one side

White velvet card — **Gucci:** The Milan show was announced by a thick board, with a marbled effect on white velvet and the house’s bold logo embossed on one side. The white textured card effect was also used by Bally (right)

Blue tartan invitation card — **Gucci:** Lapo Elkann and Frida Giannini invited guests to celebrate the Italian socialite’s capsule collection at the new Menswear Store. A blue tartan featured on a coat from the collection was replicated on the simple invitation card

White card with graphic motif — **Bally:** A simple but elegant offering, consisting of a thick white board debossed with a graphic, modular motif

Invitation which looks like a flag — **Versace:** The fluorescent bands decorating the perspex invitation were part of an overarching theme for the house, also appearing on the clothes, the set, and even the models’ skin

postcard as an event invite — **Dolce & Gabbana:** This season, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s ongoing celebration of Sicily looked at the Greek mythology which shaped the history of the Italian island. Images of the Grecian temples found in Sicily were printed on shirts and suits, and the simple invitation card featured a similar eighteenth century image of the Segesta temple by French illustrator J.C.R. De Saint Non

Several black and white cards on a mantelpiece — Many of the Milanese brands chose an old-fashioned stiffy to deliver their show details. From left: Fendi, Jil Sander, Calvin Klein Collection, Brioni, Ports 1961

White card with a bright green edsge — **Jil Sander:** As usual, Sander’s logo was embossed on the thick invitation with a foil, ton-sur-ton effect. This season’s card also bore a fluorescent green, vertical edging

Luxury deep blue card — **Brioni:** This offering featured a silk-covered card in a luxurious shade of blue, with the brand’s signature red on the edging

Black invitation card with white typing — **Calvin Klein Collection:** It doesn't get more minimalist than a thick black stiffy, subtly embossed with black foil in san serif font

Big numbers written on a green card — **Salvatore Ferragamo:** The forest green shade that Massimiliano Giornetti employed throughout his athletic collection was also chosen for the invitation card. On one side a white, stenciled number indicated the current season - again referencing the garments, which were printed with oversized digits in the same style

Folded pattern on a grey card — **Z Zegna:** A discreet grey square with a silver-foiled edge was the invitation of choice for this Milanese show. The front of the card sported a debossed pattern, made of the house’s double pentagon logo

still of a short film as a picture on a card — **Emernegildo Zegna:** Guests received a glimpse of the short film that was to be played during the collection’s presentation, depicting the house’s luxurious wool being woven

white card with grey leather envelope — **Emporio Armani:** For his Emporio show, Armani sent out a soft, grey leatherette envelope concealing an elegant card with the event’s details printed in black foil lettering

Bold colourful graphics on a card — **Neil Barrett:** The English designer’s signature layered bold graphics were printed on a ply-board card, with a thick UV varnish creating a debossed effect

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.

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