Loewe at Paris Fashion Week Men's A/W 2024 (Image credit: Courtesy of Loewe)
By Joseph DeAcetis Published: January 21, 2024
Paris Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2024 Report:
Men’s Fashion Week is complete in Paris, showcasing autumn/winter 2024 menswear collections. Here, Stylelujo.com rounds up some of our favorite shows so far.
Despite the frigid temperatures and a slow economic climate, there was a sense of new hope at Paris Fashion Week men’s this season. The men’s luxury market is starting to embrace story-centered collaborations rather than product-driven ones. The name of the game is to drive inclusivity in their messaging. The continuation of interest is rising in influencer brand representatives over hollywood celebrity endorsements. Game on.
For Autumn/Winter 2024, the creativity ran the gamut of new founded masculinity. This was refreshing to see – especially after season and season of gender-fluid looks. Menswear has taken new steps forward to a more classic representation of masculinity. And if you want to know one main reason why, it’s because gender-fluid apparel does not sell. Plain and simple, time to man up and know your customer.
There was a new sensation of revived masculinity, expressed through fine tailoring. The shift is in response to past gender fluid overloads. The fresh approach is a more conservative reaction to a downturn in sales in the luxury market. In this complicated global climate, front of thought concerns for retailers are the sluggish economy, the proxy Israel-Hamas War and the proxy Ukrainian War.
As is the new line-up, Paris men’s started with the Louis Vuitton’s ready-to-wear show designed by Pharrell Williams. The show’s narrative paid tribute to the distinctive dress codes of the American West. Other highlights from the French capital included the highly anticipated Givenchy show sans Matthew Williams- the in-house design team curated the collection. And AMI’s autumn-winter 2024 focused on clean lines and sharp silhouettes, defining a fresh formal sophistication. Colors of cream, lilac, and hints of yellow began to appear, and Mattiussi’s concept of integrating night owls and early risers was executed well.
All too often, I enjoy focusing on dressing for success and corporate ascension. In today’s business arena, the Gen Z workforce is often perceived as unprofessional, underdressing for jobs, and refusing to follow a strict office etiquette that has been upheld for decades past. But this generation was not only permitted to dress as they wished, but this generation of commuters and their spirit of rebellion against uniformity and the daily grind, and a refusal not to express themselves on their terms that inspire.
Berluti:
For Fall-Winter 2024, Berluti re-contextualizes high-end dress codes through its own distinct iconography. The collection employs the Maison’s defining craftsmanship and emblems in the creation of an inevitably elevated everyday proposal. A Fall-to-Winter transition is illustrated in intriguing shake-ups of traditional wardrobe components: leathers as light as fabric, formal shoes morphed with the functionality of hiking boots, bags woven in cashmere, and stripe and check motifs composed from the signature patterns of Berluti. Throughout, the iconography of the Maison – the Venezia leather, the Patina, the Scritto– redefines the familiar through an individualist approach.
The Fall proposal lionises the icons of the elevated wardrobe. Rendered in an autumnal palette, workwear is raised to new heights in a cotton-silk-infused speckled denim suit as well as super-refined slim and regular denim trousers in rinse or medium blue.
Fall accessories elevate the lines of the collection through craftmanship and decoration inimitable to Berluti. The Cabas de Voyage – a new travel bag in the Toile Marbeuf monogram – materializes as a foldable square tote bag with zips.
The Rapiecé Reprisé story marks the first instalment in the Berluti Editions line Named from a term for the mending of cherished pieces, the Rapiecé Reprisé collection, originally created by Olga Berluti in 2005, is defined by the combination of patinated and Scritto leathers patched together with magnified hand-stitching and hand-painting across a string of accessories. As Olga explains: “In the past, in the 16th and 17th centuries, men never wore new clothes. Fabrics had to be strong enough to last a lifetime. For the marquis or the peasant, a man’s suit would feature alterations or mending as acts of bravery. Certain elegant Englishmen, artists or eccentrics have perpetuated this custom. In the 1960s, Andy Warhol asked me: ‘I’d like the right foot of my loafer patched. It has to show! It must be Andy Warhol!”
Balmain:
More than 75 years ago, when Pierre Balmain first introduced his “New French Style,” it immediately became clear to all that he was offering a distinctly fresh, bold, conception, one which broke with many of the well-established conventions of the era. His creative strategy paid off. Pierre Balmain became one of the handful of young French talents who ushered in the mid-century golden age of couture and helped to re-establish Paris as the world’s fashion capital. Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing has been inventively building upon Pierre Balmain’s legacy, to design clothes that reflect the way the twenty-first century Balmain man wishes to live today.
The result is a unique style and attitude that highlights the craftsmanship of the house’s celebrated ateliers, while consistently referencing a rich Parisian heritage.
Highlighting a few vibrant inspirations from those sapeurs who had pledged to keep true to the ten commandments of the Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elégantes. Their spectacular style, which relies on an exuberant mix of tailored French silhouettes and colorful African patterns, is believed to have originated in Brazzaville during the 1960s. Six decades later, the dandy stylings of modern sapeurs continue to command attention.
Inspired by that positive example of blending together the very best of many cultures, for this latest Balmain Men’s offerings we’ve paired our atelier’s expertise in tailoring and craft with the a host of influences from all across the world.
AMIRI:
(Image credit: Courtesy of Amiri)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Amiri)
AMIRI set the stage where the viewers could feel the texture of the heavy velvet curtains which the designer confirmed was a nod to Hollywood. And the modern suits, with tailoring as a focus, harkened back to the silver screen glamour of old Hollywood dress codes. The expansive collection included shimmering crystals of sorts, dramatic brooches adorning jacket lapels – modernised by wearing body-revealing necklines, beanie hats and wide footwear.
Louis Vuitton:
This season Louis Vuitton menswear collection traversed the Atlantic ocean and turned to the USA for inspiration for the French House. The storytelling came through with lace shirts embroidered with lasso-throwing cowboys and denim jackets with yellow desert flowers. The only reason I think this collection will resonate with Gen Z is because on a global level, the new generation longs to get off -grid. In a roundabout way, the embroidered saddlery patterns seemingly tied in with the leather history of Louis Vuitton.
Dior Men:
This season, the Dior menswear invitation featured a photograph of Soviet-born ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who defected to the West on a 1961 trip to Paris. It was taken by Jones’ uncle, a photographer and former ballet dancer and a friend with Nureyev.
The liberation which Nureyev has come to epitomised in the ‘Dance to Freedom’ inspired Jones for his collection. The show was presented to the sounds of ‘Dance of the Knights’ from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet score, as reinterpreted by Max Richter).
The collection emphasized contrast- so there were styles evoking those worn by Nureyev in the dance studio. Tailoring, meanwhile, had a feeling of lightness and fluidity, gently flared and based on archival pieces from the house during the years when Yves Saint Laurent worked there.
LOEWE:
An algorithm of masculinity. Breaking away from formality, and the idea of one single look, a multitude of desirable characters is presented. The expression is so straightforward it becomes blatant, with a restlessness running throughout.
In a foray into a crystallized American iconography, action is trapped into each look. Direct and unequivocal: the coat, the suit, the blouson, the jumper and the long cardigan, the leather trousers, the fatigues, the tracksuit bottoms. And still: the Biker and Combat boots, the skater sneakers. Pieces are attached one to the other: shoes to socks, socks to trousers, trousers to jacket or coat, belt to waist, in a sardonic attempt to impose rather than propose a look, much like what happens in the collaged reality we are all living in.
Richard Hawkins’ work is turned into snippets that, in a further collage, end up on jewelry and clothing, becoming print, jacquard on knit, embroidery on oversized Squeeze bags —which also come in denim— as well as various embellishments on the Puzzle Fold tote, including embroidery, leather marquetery, glass studs, and fringes.
Artwork:
For FW24 Menswear show, LOEWE collaborated with artist Richard Hawkins (1961, Mexia, Texas), bringing his unique aesthetic universe within the show space and into the collection.
For over 30 years, Richard Hawkins has indulged his fascination for the male body, mining the aesthetic, literary and philosophical mythologies that underpin its representation in everything from art history to paparazzi shots and social media content. His practice is rooted in collage and the provocation of juxtaposition, forming a personal narrative of desire. Hawkins’s collision of disparate imagery long foreshadowed the constant online stream of disparate images we are now seduced by daily.
The show venue is a white cube with large screens on the walls that recall stained glass windows. Recalling 1960s LOEWE window designs by José Pérez de Rozas —the mastermind of LOEWE’s iconic window displays for over 30 years— as a starting point, Hawkins has created a series of 12 video collages, layering new footage and imagery of LOEWE brand ambassadors and internet personalities with elements drawn from his typically promiscuous variety sources
Newspeak:
Newspeak AW24/25 blends archival workwear shapes with the concept of a city wardrobe. The collection makes oversize shapes more relatable to everyday wear by keeping the notion of a layered, and therefore versatile silhouette.
The collection consists of classic menswear fabrics, such as virgin wool, cavalry twill, cotton poplin and rubberized cotton. Whether it be a long belted coat, a blanket pullover, dramatic balloon pants or a knee-length shirt – reminiscent of vintage nightshirts – every garment stands on its own, delivering a clear, yet subtle, point of view.
Newspeak also tackles sustainability in its own singular way, using vintage Dutch army blankets to craft one-off garments. Made in limited quantities, these pieces are playful, yet versatile, a lighthearted addition to otherwise elegant silhouettes.
Givenchy:
(Image credit: Courtesy of Givenchy)
The house’s couture salon in Hôtel de Caraman provided the hsetting for Givenchy’s first runway show since the departure of American designer Matthew M Williams late last year. The historic location is renowned as the atelier where Givenchy worked for close to forty years.
Designed this season with fresh dress codes the duality of a sartorial formality energised by a fresh sense of cool. Tailoring, of course, ran throughout, in various iterations. There are strong codes of mixing textures.
Y-3:
Finding energy in the collision of sporting innovation and avant-garde design, Y3 continues to revel in visceral contradictions as the label enters into the second seasonal iteration of the Contra-Natural narrative established in Spring/Summer 2024. As Y-3 seeks further inspiration in the medial intersection between the organic and the synthetic, the narrative advances and undulates, this time shifting to the concept of Hyper-Natural.
Sacai:
Sacai’s Chitose Abe aimed to place shapes and forms in unity. For the AW 24/25 season, she firmly focused on the monochromatic approach. Sacai played with the words united as one and one love as she explored the house’s love of uniform. New shapes for men are born
of ultra baggy pants and suit jacket hybrids to make a new silhouette that Gen Z is capturing the attention of Gen Z customers. The double-breasted suit with silver hardware zipper and hood seems to be a spot-on trend for the new global marketplace.
The new rounded silhouette lends extra volume – so much so that the elongated vertical hybrid gave me an eerie sense that global totalitarianism could be on the horizon. *In the late 1950s, Chairman Mao Tse Tung, who for decades not only held absolute power over one-quarter of the world’s population but was responsible for well over 70 million deaths in peacetime, more than any other twentieth-century leader.
By implementing this design philosophy, this simplifying tactic draws the eye to shape alongside a new elongated vertical hybrid, made of long strips, twisted into a new vertical proposition, and sometimes accentuated by zippers.
TAAKK:
Japanese menswear brand TAAKK unveiled its newest collection for Autumn-Winter 2024. The narrative of the collection was created from pondering God’s immeasurable works-according to some golden rule? The religious movement is growing strong within the Gen Z generation. The collection has been dubbed “God is in the Details”- amidst the cycle of growth and creation”. The brand message wishes to let the fabric speak for itself, in whatever way it wishes -a layering of simple things that lead to awe
Designer Takuya’s passion for this collection is a series of perforated knit embroideries using hand-knit low-gauge threads that are threaded through an embroidery machine. While retaining the bold transparency of the skin that can be expressed because of the embroidery, the design creates a familiar sense of security with the cable pattern.
White Mountaineering:
White Mountaineering highlights Design, Function and Technology geared towards a frequent travelling Gen Z audience. Combining these elements the brand showcases the travel distance in proportion to creativity.Creating patterns and fabric based on the actual human movements is the basic philosophy for
the designs of White Mountaineering.
MAISON MIHARA YASUHIRO:
Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO approaches intentional processing, illusion and fabrication. A collection aims to present the world through its chaotic world of the night, it awaits the arrival of light in an age gone astray.
The collection hints at the present world with the ‘Big Silhouette’ series introduced in SS24, is now developed further into the AW24 collection, The radiance emanating from the nocturnal world was one of MIHARA’s sources of inspiration for this collection.
Hed Mayner
Hed Mayner expands upon the definitions and binaries of traditional menswear and the prosaic allure of ‘the classic’. This season the designer is interested more in the construction of recognisable clothes and of how shape comes from within. The research is technical and tactile. Comforting in their enveloping shapes and almost-normal look. The ongoing collaboration with Reebok continues with an exaggeration, extraction and elevation of classic sportswear construction and detailing. And a reworking of a brutalist basketball sneaker, first issued in the early 1990s.
Wales Bonner:
The Wales Bonner Autumn Winter 2024 collection is based on an imaginative encounter with the Howard University experience, a celebration of ashining lineage. Soulful exuberance continues in the expressive individual. The fluid suit seems just right for the Gen Z audience.
NAMESAKE:
In this collection, the brand aims to embrace the inevitability of reflection and the courage to embrace new scenery.
Every piece is a testament to the transformative journey. The swift decision to move contrasts sharply to digest both physically and mentally. Taking inspiration from David Hammon’s “untitled” textile series, the imprint of time versus usage through staining wash and discharge wash techniques. This contrast extends to handcrafted canvas fabrics, mirroring the pull and tear of moving covers. The integration of hardware elements, such as aluminum, fiberglass mesh, and resin, into natural weave fibers and wood establishes a rhythmic harmony, crafting, in a sense, a hybird of nature itself.
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