Men's fashion week S/S 2013 show invitations

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The finest Men's fashion week invitations to land in our laps this season

Words: Apphia Michael

A mini survival kit for the great outdoors


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Kenzo sent out this tin box containing a mini survival kit for the great outdoors - a cryptic nod to the jungle-inspired collection revealed at the show

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A gold embossed card

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Acne also referenced its collection in a themed invitation pack: a gold embossed card came inside a white and navy blue stripe envelope, mimicking the maxi stripes on the runway

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Paris Invites


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Acne

White envelope


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An unassuming white envelope with a simple typewritten address label from Maison Martin Margiela...

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Map of Paris


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... folded out to reveal a vintage-style map of Paris, which guided people to the show venue

Paris map


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Maison Martin Margiela

A fold-out envelope


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Kris Van Assche also opted for a fold-out envelope for its mininimal invitation

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White Envelope


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Kris Van Assche

The back of the Dior Homme envelope


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The back of the Dior Homme envelope had an elegant horizontal slot for its flap - a small detail but a neat one

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The matte Dior Homme envelope


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Opened up, the matte Dior Homme envelope revealed a glossy inner lining - a nice prelude to the classically set out embossed invitation card

Sacai's A4 paper


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Sacai's A4 paper offering could be unfolded from its rectangular card base. Details were clearly laid out in unfussy sans-serif script, but the type was playfully reversed on the back

Sacai


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Sacai

The layout


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The layout of the Comme des Garçons invitation subtly changes with each season, but the bones of its visual identity remain unchanged

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An illustration of various abstract body parts


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Housed in a small envelope, Givenchy's miniature poster opened up to reveal an illustration of various abstract body parts

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White envelope with paper


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Givenchy

A photograph

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Junya Watanabe Man sent out this poster, featuring a photograph of an urban skyline, reflected on water

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A2-sized rice paper

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Also in poster format, the Ann Demeulemeester invitation, printed on A2-sized rice paper

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A thick white card

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Berluti's pack sleeve was embossed with an etching of its venue, the Palais Royal gardens. Inside, a thick white card with silver edging summed up the presentation details

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A discreet silver foil wrapper

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We thought we'd seen it all from Bernhard Wilhelm's tongue-in-cheek invitations, until we received this one. Sent out in a discreet silver foil wrapper, it features a random collection of excerpts; from diary-style notes about the show venue... to images of cock rings

Email-style question


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We can't help but approve of Willhelm's cheeky email-style question

The envelope

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A sliver of silver on the envelope for Issey Miyake Man...

The enclosed invitation letter

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... continued on the enclosed invitation letter

An embossed copper plate

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An embossed copper plate stood out at Dries Van Noten

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Plastic bag

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A simple grey 'plastic bag' envelope from Yohji Yamamoto...

Invitation ripped at the edges

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... enclosed with an ultra-thin invitation delicately ripped at the edges 

Sea-scape gilt-edged card

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An abstract sea-scape fronts Louis Vuitton's gilt-edged card

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Invitation Card

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Louis Vuitton

A black satin ribbon

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Details of the 3.1 Phillip Lim show were initially concealed behind a black satin ribbon

A black satin ribbon

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3.1 Phillip Lim

Thick card invitations

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Thick card invitations were a recurring trend this season, as championed by John Galliano Homme, Rick Owens and Paul Smith

A blue envelope

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John Galliono Homme's card - backed by a cloudy sky - was sent out in a blue envelope

A white san serif type

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On the card's reverse, the show details came printed in a white san serif type

The Rick Owens card

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The Rick Owens card was a play on contrasts, with a setting of grey, black and white blocks

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Collaged rose

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Paul Smith's glossy, collaged rose later appeared as a print in his Spring collection

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The Lanvin logo

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The Lanvin logo came stamped on the invitation envelope

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A classic gilt-edged card

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Inside, Lanvin's show details were revealed on a classic gilt-edged card

The die-cut text on duplex printed card

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Moving on to the Milan shows, Salvatore Ferregamo sent out a clash of colour, made all the more striking with the help of the die-cut text on duplex printed card

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Red card

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Salvatore Ferregamo

Graphic flags

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These graphic flags from Moncler Gamme Bleu referenced a nautically-influenced collection and show performance

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Debossed card

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A simple, debossed card from Calvin Klein Collection

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Marni's brown cardboard envelope

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Marni's brown cardboard envelope was contrasted with a bright canary yellow invitation

Marni

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Marni

Namesake label

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The push and pull effect of the embossing / debossing and gloss / matte detailing on Jil Sander's invitation pack nicely marked the German designer's return to her namesake label

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Prada's invitation pack

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Prada's invitation pack referenced the linear architecture of the Spring show space

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Prada

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Prada

A craft-focused suede card

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A craft-focused suede card from Bally, with a stitched border

Bally

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Bally

A simple die-cut logo

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Featuring a simple die-cut logo, Gucci's card was held together with a magnetic strip

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The reflection of the Gucci logo

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Notice the reflection of the Gucci logo on the mirrored gold surface

A leather strap 

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Giorgio Armani also held its invitation together with a magnet this season - concealing it discreetly in a leather strap 

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Leather strap 

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Giorgio Armani

Invitation sleeve and card

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Z Zegna lined its invitation sleeve and card with moss green textured canvas

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A decadent gold mirrored nugget

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A decadent gold mirrored nugget from Alexander McQueen

Grid of die-cut squares

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Stare long enough at Fendi's grid of die-cut squares and you'll notice its show details hiding underneath

Fendi

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Fendi

A perfectly symmetrical landscape

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A perfectly symmetrical landscape from Dolce & Gabbana

Nostalgic toy parachute

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Over in London, Christopher Raeburn sent out this nostalgic toy parachute to mark his 'Deploy' collection for Spring

Christopher Raeburn

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Christopher Raeburn

A colourful marbled foam

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A colourful marbled foam offering from Topman Design

Machine-stitching a thin later of brown tracing paper

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Martine Rose also chose foam to feature in her invitation, machine-stitching a thin later of brown tracing paper on top for contrast

A black and white photograph of a textured wooden floor

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A black and white photograph of a textured wooden floor gave a touch of understated elegance to Margaret Howell's invitation

Witty image fronted the invitation


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Taken on David Waddington's iPhone, this witty image fronted the invitation for the Fashion East menswear installations at London's Carlton Gardens

Jack Moss
Fashion Features Editor

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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