If fashion had a monarchy, she would be its queen.
Kate Moss certainly acted like one from her regally placed seat in the centre of Louis Vuitton’s front row in Paris.
The 41-year-old model held court in a large fur coat, giggling and chatting loudly to almost everyone in her vicinity, even ostensibly waving to people on other sides of the venue.
Moss shushed herself at one point, realising she was simply being too loud.
F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, singer Bryan Ferry and former R.E.M front man Michael Stipe shared the front row with the famed superwaif, but not her attention-grabbing effervescence.
Here are the tidbits and highlights from Thursday’s fall-winter 2015 menswear collections, including show reports for Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten and Issey Miyake.
LOUIS VUITTON’S DRAINPIPE CHIC
It was a luxuriant yet highly wearable collection from Louis Vuitton’s menswear designer Kim Jones, who brought back the drainpipe. Thin, Fifties-style pants with large, often contrasting, turn-ups came alongside cut-out shoes with huge visible white soles. It would not have looked out of place on Marlon Brando in the iconic 1954 movie On the Waterfront.
As ever, looks were rendered in colourful, but masculine, hues: indigo, cognac, dark brown, beige, black, navy and a flash of gold. Louis Vuitton’s mission statement is one of travel. And here Jones travelled to Japan with some incredible statement looks: such as one assorted white denim blouson and pants featuring beautifully bold, round Japanese-style prints.
R.I.P. CHRISTOPHER NEMETH
Jones’s Louis Vuitton show paid homage to undervalued British designer Christopher Nemeth — who died almost five years ago. “Christopher Nemeth is the most important designer to come out of London alongside Vivienne Westwood,” said Jones, whose show emulated the late Briton’s style of mixing Saville Row-type tailoring with street wear.
Nemeth was famed for his deconstructed look, and as the story goes, he would take apart old pants to reveal the frayed fabric, or collect old rope to use in his designs. In the Louis Vuitton show, jacquard motifs of yarn in close up were on high rotation. And a nod was given to Nemeth’s time living in Japan, where he is still popular, by Jones’s use of diagonal crisscross bag straps across the torso that conjured up the image of a Samurai.
TO GASPS, RICK OWENS SHOWCASES FASHION’S NUTS AND BOLTS
Deconstruction is always the playground for provocative American designer Rick Owens — with inner workings of clothes often visible on the outside in his collections. But Thursday’s interpretation by the fashion wild child really took the cake.
There were gasps, as fashionistas noticed that the inner workings of the male models (you get the idea) were exposed. Owens had moved the neck holes of gathered grey and brown jerkins down south, and underwear had clearly been outlawed. The looks would certainly get you noticed down the Champs Elysees avenue — but, potentially, also fined.
OWENS CHANNELS A SUBMARINE
The programme notes say Owens channelled an (unnamed) “forgotten black and white French movie set in a military submarine” for his strong and fierce collection.
Naval pea coats were given a fetishised Owens-style reworking in black leather or else in brown with aggressive black markings on oversize lapels. Loose sleeveless jumpsuits in cable knit beige and grey had the aggressive appearance of body armour.
The more “conventional” silhouettes were draped or flared at the bottom. This aesthetic veered imaginatively off course when sleeve shapes made an appearance at the waist, and were used as a skirt. The idea of a submarine was clear at the end in a few bursting grey metallic coats, with cool segments that resembled engineered polished metal.
ISSEY MIYAKE’S DANDY
The dandy, with his billowing silk scarf and devore velvet coats, made an elegant appearance at Issey Miyake. The collection’s luxuriant swagger proved a hit for menswear designer Yusuke Takahashi.
The inspiration behind Thursday’s show was the late 19th century artist and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, fused with the pioneering Japanese silk traditions of the same period. The result was a nicely eccentric display — and one that was more “Western” than we have come to expect from the French-Japanese house.
The strongest part of the show was what the programme notes called “elegant weekend” — beautifully draped multicolour knit shawls and tasteful colour-rich check sweaters in mohair and silk wool.
Standout colours included ultramarine, bright red, shocking pink and purple. But it was the velvet looks, in pants and coats, that really stole the show. Velvet is a serious new trend.
DRIES VAN NOTEN IN SEGMENTS
Dutch master designer Dries Van Noten’s collection was typically varied — but if one thing drew it together it was this: Form.
The body was segmented into horizontal strips. Be it a black band across the chest on a pea coat, a sharp storm flap on a trench coat cutting a line at the waist, or a kilt or Bermuda segmenting the leg at the knee with pants underneath that brought the silhouette down to the ankle. It was a study in precise geometry.
But the loose, large proportions in the fabrics ensured the collection cut a relaxed vibe. This was also true of the sumptuous, almost huggable fabrics in silk, quilted cotton and jersey — delivered in a pitch-perfect palette of Prussian blue, indigo, charcoal, russet and burgundy.
