SS17 WALRUS MEN’S
THURSDAY 23 JUNE 2016, 12H30
PALAIS DE TOKYO, 13 AVENUE DU PRÉSIDENT WILSON 75116 PARIS
THIS MEN’S SPRING COLLECTION IS TITLED ‘WALRUS’, AN EVOLUTION OF FALL’S COLLECTION NAME,
‘MASTODON’— EVOLUTION BEING THE KEY WORD HERE.
FASHION IS ALL ABOUT REFLECTING CHANGE AND CHANGES ARE HAPPENING. WE CAN FEAR CHANGE AND CLING TO THE SENTIMENTALLY FAMILIAR OR CHEERFULLY FLING OURSELVES INTO THE UNKNOWN. REMEMBER HOW THAT USED TO FEEL? I SUPPOSE I PROPOSE A LITTLE OF BOTH. I LIKE THINKING NEITHER IS WRONG.
JACKET LENGTHS ARE CROPPED WITH LENGTHENED SLEEVES TO CHANGE THE POSTURE AND LIFT THE TORSO UPWARDS WHILE PANTS SWIRL WITH VOLUME AND CASCADE, MELTING INTO THE GROUND. THESE CLOTHES ARE REACHING AND STRETCHING AND SWELLING AND FLOATING AND SWEEPING.
FABRICS ARE CRISP LIKE THE THINNEST SILK TAFFETAS AND WASHED SILK GAZARS, OR STURDY LIKE THICK
INDUSTRIAL COTTONS. A SILK AND COTTON DUCHESSE BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN THE TWO AND CREATES AN ARCHITECTURALLY STATELY, MATTE SILHOUETTE.
T-SHIRTS ARE TWISTED AND MEGA-DRAPED AS IRRATIONALLY AS POSSIBLE, CREATING STRIATED VOLUMES
SIMILAR TO MUSCLES AND TENDONS IN A MEDICAL DIAGRAM— IF A MEDICAL DIAGRAM WERE SKETCHED BY
MADAME GRÈS, ONE OF MY PERSONAL, REASSURINGLY SENTIMENTAL, FAVORITES.
THESE DRAPES SHOW UP AGAIN ON THE EASIEST OF COTTON DOESKIN ZIP FRONT WORK JACKETS. WITHOUT THE
DRAPING, THESE JACKETS OFFER A SIMPLE, MODEST DIGNITY, ESPECIALLY WHEN INTERPRETED IN RIGID GLEAMING SILK.
BLACK LEATHER JACKETS ARE AS HIGH AND TIGHT AS POSSIBLE TO MOLD TO THE RIB CAGE AND THEN RELEASE THE VOLUME OF THE JUMBO BODYBAGS WORN UNDERNEATH, TO END DRAGGING ON THE FLOOR.
SOME PIECES ARE EMBROIDERED WITH LINES THAT RADIATE OUT FROM THE GUT— A LINEAR INTERPRETATION OF THIS COLLECTION’S SILHOUETTE AND A SIMPLE MOTIF HISTORICALLY USED TO SYMBOLIZE HOLISTIC BENEVOLENCE, AS IN CHRIST’S SACRED HEART OR A SMILING SUN CARTOON. THESE LINES ARE THEN REPEATED IN BRONZE
TURBO-BUGLE BEADING.
MY COLLABORATION WITH ADIDAS RESULTS IN OUR NEW ‘LEVEL RUNNER’, OUR SLEEKEST VERSION OF A PERFORMANCE RUNNING SHOE YET.
AND THE SIMPLE, MODEST DIGNITY OF NEIL YOUNG SOUNDTRACKS THIS COLLECTION WITH HIS GENTLE 1970
ECOLOGICAL DOOM POEM ‘AFTER THE GOLD RUSH’. I LIKE TO INTERPRET THIS SONG AS DEALING WITH INEVITABLE TRANSITIONS GRACEFULLY.