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Fashion

Paris Fashion Week: SS25 Menswear

Louis Vuitton SS25

Unveiled on the rooftop gardens of the UNESCO House in Paris, Pharrell’s SS25 collection for Louis Vuitton , titled “This World is Yours”, drew inspiration from travel and the Maison’s international community, celebrating humans and the planet we inhabit. Starting with an all-black Look 1, the collection progressed through the nuances of skin tones, from dark browns to tans, creams, and finally blues and greens, portraying “our kind from a solar perspective, humbling in breadth and harmonizing in force,” starting with where we first began.

The show opened with a cinematic prelude by Air Afrique, an African-French platform expanding Afro-diasporic arts, conversations, and knowledge. Models advanced down the flag-lined catwalk to the tones of “Triumphus Cosmos,” a composition by Pharrell Williams, echoing the sentiment that this world is everyone’s.

Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Rick Owens SS25

To the haunting melodies of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, an entirely street-casted ensemble marched through the Palais de Tokyo. Seemingly choreographed in the style of a funerary procession, hordes of models all in cream-white and mainstay silhouettes of the designer (pointed shoulders, oversized draping, a bevy of inflated and deflated boots) as well as delightful reinventions of the medieval halo and nun’s habit as headwear, communicated the house’s key themes this season.

“This season’s collection is named ‘Hollywood’ after the boulevard of vice I gleefully ran to… to find my people… weirdos and freaks… living in a world Lou Reed described in ‘Walk on the Wild Side’...” Owens said. Just as the referenced song narrates a story of compelling characters, so does this latest offering, resplendent with suede marshmallow splint sandals, silver silk charmeuse robes, and the enduring allure that’s a hallmark of each presentation.

Images courtesy of Owenscorp

Issey Miyake SS25

Go "Up, Up, and Away" with Issey Miyake this season. The aptly-titled collection is composed of billowy separates and smock-like dresses and coats, in rich variations of red, yellow, and more spring colors. A hand-pleated top creates wind-blown waves of fabric, and a distorted plaid and parachute-inspired coat further the theme. While the last collection for FW24 presented a much more pared-down concept grounded in wearability (aside from a particularly delightful zip-down sleeping bag dress) and playful, abstract splashes on tee shirts and scarves, this edition pushed the needle on day-to-day experimentation.

The outdoor scene was dotted with large, dandelion-like fixtures in the otherwise simple courtyard of the Mobilier National, a French government institution which administers state furniture and curates collections of decor and arts (chic). As guests rose for the next to-do on their busy Paris calendar, they were sure to do so with lightness, a spring in their step, and a suggestion on the wind that purred the name Issey Miyake.

Images courtesy Issey Miyake

Dior Homme SS25

“Dior for my real friends” – a phrase woven across a bag and the front of a sweater, clearly communicated the story of this season’s collection. Looks were elevated yet accessible, suited more for a night out with peers than for a boardroom or business lunch. Techy sneakers and printed socks walked the runway alongside a coat in Ming vase-blue and daintily-studded bags produced in collaboration with Hylton Nel, a longtime friend of Kim Jones.

Models wove between five larger-than-life Nel sculptures — four cats and a dog to be specific — in various stages of dress, from a blue frock to bright-red heels to painterly swatches of color down their enormous frames.

The latest in a long line of Jones’ masterclasses in contemporary luxury, the mix of playful experimentation and wearable intentionality was clear: a bag for a chic sister, a studded boot for a clubby cousin, and each look giftable to a dear friend.

Images courtesy of Dior

Dries Van Noten SS25

What is there to say about the last self-designed Dries Van Noten show? Of that Antwerp Six standard bearer, known for his kindness and famous home garden as much as his clothes. Perhaps that speaks best to the character of the brand — something, and someone, to rally around in a warmly thoughtful way. What will we miss?

First — the subversions of cosmopolitan workwear, evident in the black and palest-blue sheer trousers and overshirts that arrived alongside pleated pants and tightly buttoned trench coats. Next, the wearability that underlines the whimsy of the brand, a suit in timeless silhouettes but bathed in a bright silver tone, for example.

In a breathtaking homage to his 50th presentation (at the 129th, if you can believe it), the show progressed across a silver leaf catwalk harkening back to the golden one at the often referenced 2006 F/W presentation. While bittersweet, it’s comforting to know that Van Noten is stepping back in a place of satisfied affirmation and creative excellence, handing the reins to a new team (and soon, creative director) to carry the brand forward.

Images courtesy of Dries Van Noten

Sacai SS25

On the last day of Paris Men’s Week, Chitose Abe’s Sacai gifted audiences simple uniforms and a strong brood of Fair Isle knit sweaters (cozy, delicious, shruggable), which have become emblematic of the brand’s menswear offering.

Blended garments à la bomber-trenches, skirt-tops, and hoodie dresses provided a humorous bent to the wide range as well. Not to be missed were the real-world applications present – from books and smart clutches, to the simple spectacles adorned by much of the model set. These accoutrements seemed to suggest that the clothes on-view were meant to be worn and traveled with in broad application. A satisfying end to the flurry of the week, the brand solidified the thematic commitment to both style and practicality so present this season.

Images courtesy of Sacai

Fashion

Rock On, LỰU ĐẠN

June 17, 2024

Back in the 80s, the rockabillies ran Harajuku. Before the pastel decora girls of the kawaii wave, there were the Yoyogi Park goers with greased hair, head to toe in denim and leather, dancing to the rock music played from nearby American military bases. For his latest collection, titled "Do Or Die," LỰU ĐẠN’s latest campaign features the Yoyogi Rockabilies — the two entities unified by their defiance, courage, and love of leather. It makes sense why LỰU ĐẠN’s Instagram bio is "The Sheisty Asian Dude in all of US."

No models and no influencers, photographer Federico Radaelli followed around the Harajuku Strangers, a Tokyo rockabilly gang that's been active since the 90s. Every Sunday, the Strangers meet to dance in Yoyogi Park — and with their latest AW24 campaign, LỰU ĐẠN creative director Hung La proves that rock and roll has no age. While the culture itself faces declining numbers, the enthusiasm of its participants never wanes. After shooting in Yoyogi park, the leather-clad gunslinging grandparents take over a nearby karaoke bar. Sans firearms, the campaign looks like a normal night for my friends and I — in leather and funky hair, drinking in public, generally causing a ruckus. Rock on.

By Izzy Capulong
Campaign by Federico Radaelli

The "Do Or Die" spirit is certainly present in LỰU ĐẠN's collection — with oversized cheetah print suits, studs, leather, and fringe. While it's certainly not new for brands to dedicate entire collections to aesthetics of eras past, very few of them do so with the same guiding ethos. So many self-proclaimed 'punk' brands of today seem to forget that the punk movement came out of anti-capitalist efforts, labor rights, and sustainability. You can't just slap studs on a mass-produced Shein pleather jacket and call it punk. LỰU ĐẠN knows this, producing and advertising mindfully and with the same ideologies that filled Yoyogi Park back in the 90s.

See the campaign imagery shot by Federico Radaelli below.

Fashion

Portraits of Fatherhood: A$AP Rocky x Bottega Veneta

The tender, black-and-white images recall Weems' iconic Kitchen Table Series, as well as her first solo exhibition, "Family Pictures and Stories" (1981-1982), a rebuke to negative stereotypes about the African American family. For Weems, this project represented "an important gesture that cannot be understated." "Historically there has been a deep lack of honest representation of the Black family," she says. "It has been distorted for centuries. This was a unique opportunity to say something not just positive, but truthful — not just about Rocky’s own experience, but about how that reflects out to the broader population. In the wake of all the atrocities committed against Black men — particularly because of their masculinity — Rocky can be seen with his children, in love. To be able to speak that authenticity through him was galvanising.” Blazy first encountered Carrie's photography as a student, finding himself deeply moved by its originality, engagement and her longlasting quest for truth. "I am honoured that she has brought her lens and vision to this project with Rocky, exploring fatherhood and what it means today. The images show the realness of Rocky as a father and as a man beyond the public figure. What strikes me first and foremost in the pictures is their intimacy.” Beyond Rocky's interactions with his children, "Portraits of Fatherhood" also brings integenerational images into the frame with Rocky looking through a homemade newspaper comprised of family photos (such as a still life that shows a vinyl produced by Weems, with a cover image of A$AP as a child with his own father)."

For Rocky, "this is the evolution of Mr. Mayers," and an important statement within his wider community. “I don’t think there are many people in my culture who advocate for fatherhood and parenthood," he says. "This player persona is very pushed. When you think about a rapper, you think about adolescence, about the single bachelor lifestyle. When you think about A$AP Rocky, you think about a playboy, pretty boy, bras being thrown on stage. This is about me as one-woman man, as a family man. It is about what completes my life now: being present as a partner and a parent.”