Dries Van Noten and Berluti toy with bad taste and gender fluidity at Paris Men's Fashion Week
Shiny suits gleaming in coppery metallics, leather trousers in chalky blue, boys in baby pinks... on paper, it sounds like a mixed bag of bad taste tropes. But in practice, on the catwalk at Berluti’s show during Paris Men’s Fashion Week and executed by Haider Ackermann, it was a rich, nuanced interpretation of how to make menswear modern and relevant today.
When he began at the house a year ago, his mission statement was clear: a fluid, unstructured approach to how men dress, with a thread of gender fluidity. His soft, louche suiting also translated into womenswear, which he introduced for the first time as part of his debut.
That kind of sensual cut and fabrication continued in his autumn/winter 2018/19 collection, albeit with a harder, more sculptural edge; alongside the plush silks there were heavy slabs of leather, a coat with a contrasting lapel unfurling instead of in a sharp fold.
Ackermann took on that most masculine of uniforms - army khakis - and applied his sensitive hand, rendering them in liquid silks. The blush-coloured setting parlayed into a series of clothes the tone of cherry blossom, given a harder edge with the addition of military boots and Blade Runner-esque leathers.
For his debut last year, Ackermann took classic baselines of a man’s wardrobe - the camel coat, for example - and shot them through with citrine velvets and glistening scarlets. For his autumn/winter collection, the designer applied that template to technical outerwear, with buttercup-yellow trims on parkas.
While he has the most exceptional materials to hand, Ackermann at Berluti still manages to apply a sensitive hand to his menswear, softening the sharp edges for a contemporary take on masculinity.
Dries Van Noten is another designer known for his quiet refinement, which made his parlay into the brash world of rodeo tailoring all the more intriguing, a tiptoe between good and bad taste.
Suits with studding; shirts with fringing; gold embroidery wending its way across Van Noten’s signature velvet bombers like the rhinestone cowboy had gone rogue in Antwerp - the showmanship was tempered by crumpled linens and plaids in brushed mohair that created a more rustic texture.
Van Noten’s previous collections have been distinctly muted - workwear-heavy and neutral-toned - which is why this autumn/winter offering felt like a shot of adrenalin had been added to the mix.
A series of flyaway silk parkas and ponchos in a heady marbled ink effect - swirling splashes of teal, saffron, periwinkle and violet - was proof that, while one of his grey suits will never go out of style, it pays to venture beyond the familiar flannels once in a while.
