Enfnts Terribles

Dior Homme

Kim Jones took us back to different eras. From the era when Christian Dior was known for making classic suits to the Dior by John Galliano era and beyond. Together with American artist Daniel Arsham, whose job it is to anticipate future archeology. Meaning what people will make of the cultural traces the previous generations leave behind. So, the John Galliano references that were strongly present on the Dior Men runway, were the results of Kim Jones digging through the Dior archive. You could tell by the signature newspaper print on clothes and manbags.

What we won’t forget about Dior Homme’s SS20 collection is the on point tailoring. One of our favorite Kim Jones pieces were the suits with the diagonal satin sash. A technique from the women’s couture side of the house.

Berluti

Berluti’s collection was luxurious as always. The leather suit is a dream, the details and tailoring are remarkable. It’s actually super hard to tailor a leather garment, so this suit shows a big amount of skills from the Berluti team. Although Berluti is a menswear brand, they created some beautiful womenswear.

Kris Van Assche again mixed tailoring with moto-inspired pieces to evoke the complementary interplay of heritage values and fashion-forwardness he is working to achieve. Not the first, nor the last time you will hear us say that Belgians do it better.

Kenzo

This was the last collection of creative heads Carol Lim and Humberto Leon for Kenzo. This might actually be one of their best. Their collection was the perfect goodbye, they gave us some throwbacks to their past collections. But they also looked forward and brought us some refreshing new looks. The collection is very wearable featuring some unique accessories like the fancy fishnet sleeves dotted with pearls and more camp-inspired looks. Carol Lim and Humberto Leon ended in style and in cuteness. By bringing their kids on the runway for their last final walk. They will forever be remembered by Kenzo, and not only because they are the minds behind the iconic house, its best-selling Tiger merch, and giant eyes.

Celine

Celine was one of the last fashion houses of Paris Men’s Fashion Week SS2020, but definitely not the least. Hedi Slimane did it again; a collection with on point tailoring. For this collection Celine worked together with five different artists for artwork on the pieces; David Kramer, Zach Bruder, Andre Butzer, Darby Milbrath, and Carlos Valencia. Which resulted in a beautiful collection. We spotted the leopard trend once again in this collection. The glitter pieces were everything though. We do have to admit Heidi is one of the few designers who can make glittery things not look cheap. Also, can we take a moment to talk about the pants? The design is everything. We’re here for the perfectly high-waisted tailored pants. Thank you, Hedi, for giving us this flair. Hopefully, these pants will become mainstream.

But if we are completely honest, we do have to admit that we did like the previous collection better.

Hermès

Véronique Nichanian at Hermès is everything we needed and more. The collection was simple yet super luxurious. Typical French luxury was served, and we were hungry for that. She used a basic color palette of ice cream colors. A very wearable collection featuring great clothing pieces and good accessories. Although this wasn’t the most extraordinary collection, it still inspired us and that’s what counts.

Alyx

We’re happy that Alyx kind of reinvented themselves for Spring/Summer 2020. This collection gave us a lot less streetwear and way more tailored and luxurious looks. Since we were getting a little bit tired of the streetwear looks dominating the runway, this show was refreshing. But we have to admit that even the remaining streetwear looks were good, because of the silhouettes Matthew Williams used. Also spotted; bike shorts for men! And that wasn’t the only time we spotted those on the runway.

A very cute detail was that Matthew Williams let his wife walk in the show. So adorable!

Ludovic de Saint Sernin

One thing that’s for sure true about this collection is that it was the sexiest collection of Paris Fashion Week. The opinions about this collection are very mixed. There are of course – as always – some bootlickers that swear this collection is to die for. There are some haters as well. As for us, we must say this is definitely a sexy collection with good pieces. But this was surely not made for everyone. Sometimes the collection even felt a little too exclusive and pretentious at times.

Y/Project

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten was perfection, he is most definitely the King of Colors. We might even call him the best colorist of this time. The collection was a flawless blend of all kinds of men, color, prints, and fabrics. The prints he used were astonishing, we even loved his leopard. The collection was so good we already gave it an in-depth review.

Louis Vuitton

Virgil Abloh, Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton, created a beautiful collection inspired by the habitual and the natural. A big part of the collection are flowers, the wonders of nature. We’ve also spotted a lot of pastel colors, something we saw coming back a lot this Fashion Week. We must admit that Virgil has a great eye for details. The bags are just literal perfection. If you want to take a closer look at the collection, go check out the livestream!

Can we also take a moment to appreciate the scenery? Virgil wanted to create a combination of the ordinariness of everyday life with the idea of boyhood bliss. Combining the beautiful Parisian architecture of the Place Dauphine and that typical boyhood bliss –  a bouncy castle, ice cream and pancakes, balloons, and kite-flying made a perfect story. Virgil definitely succeeded in telling his story and showing the inspiration behind the collection.

Jacquemus

Simon Porte Jacquemus took his guests to the countryside on the fields of Valensole, in the Aix-en-Province, for the brand’s 10-year anniversary show. Also, the designer’s first decade was celebrated with a party that included the crème de la crème. But let’s get down to business. Influenced by the paintings of David Hockney, the Jacquemus runway was a pink carpet in the midst of a lavender field. “Provencal Pop”, as he calls it. Yes, the collection immediately went viral but how interesting was it?

Jacquemus is known for his desirable resort-y clothing pieces. However, the SS20 menswear collection he presented had many wearable pieces, a few must-haves and it-bags here and there. We never knew we needed a flashy pink oversized blazer until we saw it on a Jacquemus runway.

Plus, you just can’t ignore that long pink runway!

GmbH

Next up on our Paris Men’s Fashion Week favorites list is GmbH. This Parisian-based label always finds new ways to excite and innovate. It’s at the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris that GmbH revealed their next seasonal collection full of well-tailored and luxurious pieces. To be honest, we expected them to take the “luxury streetwear” route but surprised us with a high-end collection that was well put together.

What we remember was the detailing. Whether it was the wrap around the pink coat, the amulets pinned on blazers or used as a print.

Rick Owens

Rick Owens was very Rick Owens, which is perfectly fine. No fire or crazy acrobatics this time but, as always, a well-exhibited collection. The show was named after his grandmother’s maiden name: Tecuatl. This collection was the first one where he used his Mexican roots as an inspiration. The inspiration is very subtle though, as Owens explains: “I loved that combination of modernism with something so ancient. Looking at the drawings they made that were inspired by the sites was the Mexico angle I wanted.” A nice touch that Owens added to the collection is that some of the clothing pieces and jewelry will be sold to benefit the UFW (United Farm Workers), a labor union for farmworkers in America.

Vetements

Next up is Vetements’ SS20 menswear show that took place in the McDonald’s on the Champs Élysées. We don’t know if owning new Vetements garments is what we need for our future wardrobes. However, one coat, that low-key looked like a tablecloth, seemed nice. Our overall impression is that once again Demna Gvasalia didn’t bring anything new to the table for Vetements.

One thing we did like was the inclusivity of the show. Just the thought of randomly bumping into a fashion show in the center of Paris excites us. Now, imagine if the silhouettes were five times better and on point.

Raf Simons

We love Raf. And since there were a lot of references to Antwerp, we have to stan even more. Calling out America and president Trump is also big dick energy. But if we are completely honest, we would love to see him take some bigger risks next season. Especially now that he’s free from Calvin Klein. Do not interpret this the wrong way, though, we loved a lot of his looks and if we could afford it, we would buy some pieces. But we would love to see him step out of his comfort zone. Because there is no denying it, rage and alienation were nothing new for the designer.

Balmain

June 21st Paris was on fire. Entire streets were closed and filled with people drinking, singing, dancing and enjoying live performances. During “La Fete de la Musique” in Paris, which is also the longest night of the summer, Balmain threw a festival where they presented their new SS2020 Menswear Collection.

What we remembered is that Olivier Roustaing sent an army of Balmain boys and girls wearing amazing PVC and metallic jackets. We totally ignored the pleated hammer pants and hideous shoes, because the jackets were so intriguing.

Walter Van Beirendonk

We hate to say this, but this show was a bit of a mess. A lot of the clothing pieces looked cheap in real life and the whole collection felt like a costume-like, clownish kind of thing. But sometimes it was just the styling that was a bit off. Because if you take a closer look at the clothing pieces separately, there are definitely some good bits. For example, almost most all the pants and shorts were good, we liked the (black) glitter fabrics. Interesting costume cardigans as well. But everything with those weird dots was just … special. Just like the leggings and plastic-looks. We do have to admit that the theme, Alien Vintage, was well executed, it’s just not our thing. And we can’t help but wonder for whom it is a thing.

It is remarkable that both Walter Van Beirendonk and Thom Browne both created a very costume-like collection. If this is a trend for 2020, we will definitely skip it.

Valentino

Valentino, Valentino, Valentino! We loved this collection. Another brand that proved that luxury is the new streetwear. The whole collection was beautiful. And the shirts … *gasp*. Totally up our ally. The print is just pure perfection and very luxurious without being pretentious. Just like the accessories. Matching hats with the shirts? Yes, please. The jewelry, belts, and bags were on point as well.

Piccioli, shine on you crazy diamond.

Acne Studios

Once again Acne Studios showed a clean and very Acne Studios-ish collection. It was very basic with earth-like tones, in other words, nothing new. However, what we will remember from this collection, besides the woven pieces and Johanssen’s love for detail, is the beige/brown SS20 men’s silhouette with a printed bike short.

The bike short trend was huge amongst women only, now the style trend has finally reached the menswear department. And, we’re liking this trend and hope to see more and more guys wear them.

Loewe

Just last year Loewe was London-based, however, they recently made the decision to take their brand to Paris, where most of the big houses are located. Of course, they didn’t leave behind their creative designer Jonathan Anderson, who presented the SS2020 menswear collection for Loewe in Paris.

Although it wasn’t our favorite Loewe collection the brand has shown, it still was a nice one. Nothing exceptional to be spotted on Loewe’s SS20 runway show except for their long suède tunics and the guys wearing the timeless Gate bags in different sizes.

Lanvin

Next up is Lanvin with a very playful menswear collection during Paris Men’s Fashion Week. This time designer Bruno Sialelli delivered something less wearable than the previous spring collection.

Yet, we did like their menswear because it reminded us of our summer holidays growing up. Think sailor-collar leather jackets, nautical foulards, modern manbags and knitwear, just to name a few things that remind us of our childhood. Plus, is it just us or does the sailor-collar tops resemble the ones from Sailor Moon.