Mood board: Designers were in a contemplative mood this season. At Officine Générale, creative director Pierre Mahéo handed out a letter explaining the self-doubt he had experienced as the creator of wearable, smart clothes in a sea of quick-fire trends; Rei Kawakubo’s jubilant ‘what’s on the inside that maters’ collection for her Comme des Garçons Homme Plus label turned both garments and our emotions inside-out. Thom Browne decided to smack the archetypal codes of menswear and womenswear together. The show (nay performance) was a ‘why not!’ to everybody else’s ‘why?’ Why not put men in what is traditionally considered to be women's attire? Why not apply seemingly feminine proportions and details to men's tailoring? Well, why not indeed. The result was a proposition for menswear that felt provocatively rational.
Finishing touches: Each of the 46 looks was modelled by men who walked the catwalk wearing Browne’s classic wingtip brogue with an added high heel. Three glass cases stood in the middle of the space, in each a bronzed pair of shoes; ‘mens’ brogues; a pair of tiny baby slippers; and then the heeled, feminised style. Each model glanced momentarily at the child’s booties in a symbolic gesture designed to reinstate a relationship to a time when clothes weren’t so gendered. The sharp clothes were of course, well cut. Browne’s cropped jackets, sack sport-coats and skirts were perversely recognisable in new ways.
Best in show: From the blazers and chesterfield coats to cardigans, pleated skirts and trousers, S/S 2018 is precise and mildly subversive with its bracelet sleeves, inside girdles and high buttoning necks. All in a somber palette of greys, navy blue, white, camel. For the more binary, Browne’s smart tailoring was still here; there were higher vents in jackets lined with his signature tricolore taping. His message wasn’t shocking or radically new. But that was the point.
-
A landmark show by ‘the godfather of the modern collectible design movement’ opens at Ralph Pucci, New YorkParisian designer Hervé Van der Straeten unveils a large new collection at Ralph Pucci, celebrating 20 years of collaboration with the New York master
-
The Spirit of Paimio brings new life to the modernist landmarkThe second edition of the Spirit of Paimio conference, ‘Reimagining Community’, brings together a group of architects, writers, designers, astrophysicists, and artists to think and talk about what it means to be in community at the sanatorium turned Modernist site
-
Kohler plunges into the world of wellness with an ice bath for your homeKohler has teamed up with Remedy Place to design an ice bath for the home, marking the brand’s first move into the wellness space
-
Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France FemmesMarking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu MiuIn this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear showsFrom giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
-
Why seersucker is integral to Thom Browne’s design DNAThe brand's ‘Seersucker season' S/S 2020 offering celebrates the preppy puckered fabric, which first attracted its founder in his youth
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s -
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's -
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
