As the first Fashion Week free of Corona restrictions, ready-to-wear men’s fashion week returns to Paris in full force with the iconic return of Hedi Slimane to Celine.
The week begins on Tuesday afternoon with young brand shows and ends on Sunday at 9.30pm with the show of Hedi Slimane, one of the most influential menswear designers of the last few decades. Celine, the flagship house of luxury goods group LVMH, whose last runway show was in February 2020, had left the official fashion calendar at the time as it was considered “outdated”. Since then, Hedi Slimane has presented his men’s and women’s collections at his own pace and through films shot in historic French locations such as the Hotel Negresco in Nice or the castles of Vaux-le-Vicomte and Chambord.
Reunion after Covid
When asked by AFP about the return, the fashion house did not respond. “We have no comment to make other than that we are delighted. We are very happy to have Céline back,” Pascal Morand, executive president at the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, told AFP.
Louis Vuitton, another LVMH label that has yet to name a successor to Virgil Abloh, who died of cancer in November, will take the runway to present the men’s collection designed by the Louis Vuitton ateliers. With the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, American Tom Browne, known for his creative shows, British rising star Craig Green, who landed extraterrestrials in his first runway show in Paris in January 2020, and Japanese fashion house Issey Miyake, which has continued its collections during the health crisis, are returning presented through videos and installations in Paris, returned to physical fashion shows. “Now that it’s easier to travel the world, we think this is the perfect time to return with a fashion show,” the Japanese house explained.
Only for men, or rather gender-neutral?
In a sign of the importance of Mens Fashion Week, Givenchy’s American creative director Matthew Williams will be hosting a runway show as part of the week, having already presented mixed collections virtually and in person. For her part, the French avant-garde designer Marine Serre will present for the first time as part of the men’s fashion week and not for women. Ami-Alexandre Mattiussi, which began as a menswear brand for trend-savvy Parisians, now also produces women’s collections and caused a stir at the Cannes Film Festival with glamorous pieces worn on the red carpet by Rossy de Palma and Sophie Marceau. The likely mixed fashion show will take place on Thursday evening.
While London Fashion Week has gone gender neutral, this season’s Milan Fashion Week has put the man back in the limelight, eschewing mixed collections that “could overshadow what’s on offer for men,” which for Italian companies, which are large manufacturers in this segment, “is an advantage”, according to Carlo Capasa, President of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.
“In Paris, there will be both sides,” explains Pascal Morand. “The trend towards gender freedom brought by streetwear and sportswear is profound, societal and long-term,” but the ‘separation of men and women really makes sense,’ he adds . For houses with male and female creative directors like Dior or Louis Vuitton, this is a given. But there’s a lot moving in the menswear space and after years of rather muted offerings, there is “innovation and creativity” that deserve to be showcased in an event of its own, he concluded (AFP).
This translated post previously appeared on FashionUnited.fr.