48 Hours at Paris Menswear
'The big news for the autumn winter winter 2008 season is the coat', prophesizes a chief fashion hack currently reporting on the menswear shows. Radical news you may think, but finding a focus from the diverse style offerings is a quandry that style press and buyers assimilate on their biannual pilgrimage to the shows. But does the average guy really subscribe to trends? Not really but the fashion industry is required to spread the same message to stimulate business and keep consumers interested. In reality, unlike womenswear, menswear is evolutionary with designers developing their aesthetic from reason to season. On the whole men don't quench their style appetite with fluctuating trends but instead prefer their wardrobe to be contemporary, practical and consistent. This week in Milan the menswear shows focused on fabrics with texture being integral. Another prophecy! What the Italians do best is sound, wearable and luxurious clothes and the recent presentations confirmed no change there. With consumer spending down, designers aren't daft enough to send out crazy clothes to put off the already penny-pinching customers. Thankfully then there is Paris, the capital that celebrates innovation and new ideas. It is here that the more radical designers choose to unveil their collections. YSL set the tone of the week by shunning a catwalk presentation and instead unveiled a film. While fashion shows, held in various locations around Paris, are still the focus of the menswear circuit, there is a gradual movement towards other modes of presentation. Intimate showroom events favoured by some designers may shun the limelight but do focus on the nuts and bolts of menswear - decent clothes. As the autumn winter shows culminate in Paris this weekend Showstudio will highlight the best new ideas on display. And maybe a few nice coats too...
Great to have you guys at SHOWstudio covering the menswear shows. I am fascinated by the shift in presenting Fashion Collections,as it is something close to my heart. Very interesting to see YSL again deciding to present a film .They must have been won over by SHOWstudios ' 24 hours" film from last season. It makes so much more sense from a designers point of view to show with a live event like that and then make a film that virally goes all over the world via the internet and must be seen by hundreds more people than putting on a conventional catwalk presentation. I feel things are really changing in an exciting way in fashion at the moment.
By la at 13:14 Sat 19 Jan 2008 | reply to this >