SHOWnews: Fashion of the Week

Glenn Martens Becomes APublisher

The publication A Magazine curated by (AMag) was founded when Walter Van Beirendonck and his graphic design bestie Paul Boudens decided Landed-Geland 2001 (do your homework Belgian fanatics!) needed a manifesto to commemorate their landmark festival. From there AMag grew to resemble a rigourous manifesto about what drives creative Belgian masters like Martin Margiela, Véronique Branqunho, Olivier Theyskens, Dirk Van Saene, Haider Ackermann and Belgian-adjace Bernard Wilhelm. While the past few issues were curated by Canadian, Italian and Jamaican designers, issue no. 27 brings Belgique methods back into AMag’s orbit with curation by Y/Project and Diesel creative director Glenn Martens. Expect Martens to bring his Bruges sense of Gothic lunacy. Expect to see his implicit ideas around idols. Expect a little Ursina visual here and some Robbie Spencer styling there. Mostly just expect to have a good time.

Marc Jacobs Goes Back To Then With Stephen Sprouse

Marc Jacobs keeps the anniversary party rolling through an updated collaboration with the estate of Stephen Sprouse. A limited edition Marc Jacobs Tote Bag, overprinted with trademark Sprouse graffiti scrawl, reasserts the revolutionary spirit of fashion and art collaborations Jacobs and Sprouse started for Louis Vuitton S/S 01. The new campaign celebrates the circle of friendship orbiting between Jacobs and Sprouse; Jacobs and campaign stylist Alastair McKimm; Jacobs and campaign star Christy Turlington. Turlington famously wrangled her model mates to support Jacobs’ shows during his Perry Ellis tenure. She made a runway return after a long hiatus to close Marc Jacobs A/W 19 presentation. A Stephen Sprouse quote — ‘Grant Me The Serenity To Chill’ — may adorn each Tote Bag. Yet the sentimental undercurrent quotes a famous Sylvester song: You Are My Friend.

Courrèges opens a retail clubland in the Marais

During a polarising political newsweek for France, Courrèges creative director Nicolas Di Felice shouts proudly for the Paris he adores. The new Courrèges store champions diverse landmarks, cafes, bookshops and matcha cookies that teach everything you need to know to land a man at The Labo. The Marais has been a historic home to both Queer and Jewish cultures. These characteristics no doubt wink at Di Felice’s commitment to a total cosmopolitan wardrobe that works for offices or nightclubs. To christen the new Courréges location, legendary photographer Mark Borthwick will autograph his own print outtakes from Courréges S/S 25 lookbooks. Andre Courréges’ groundbreaking work in 1960s Paris was designed to give women more freedom, not less. By opening a new boutique aimed at emancipating narrow-minded values around style, dress and culture, Di Felice bookends house values to societal ones.

Rosalía Books And Bodies Lady Dior Campaign

Grammy-winning artist Rosalía is Dior’s new global ambassador. The occasion blends Dior’s historic toughness together with Rosalía’s own, placing them both in a cinematic canvas powered by black, white and colour imagery from Collier Schorr to fashion multifaceted female aspects. This marriage makes total sense. Rosalía’s pop prowess combines old and new world Latin music traditions. Dior’s ateliers find constant ways to reinterpret the elegant cannage pattern to keep the maison’s savoir-faire in the present. The Lady Dior campaign then, represents a new song of freedom signified in Rosalía’s natural comfort with being herself. Schorr captures her silliness with a scrunched face, an easy laugh. The captivating campaign film suggests a conceptual air of melodrama Rosalía performances are known for. Get into an alliance that does not feel famous for the sake of fame. Lady Dior, Rosalía and Collier Schorr have an alliance that hits the ultramodern nail on the head.

A Festival GOAT’s Paris Men’s Fashion Week

MANIFESTO, the festival presented by hip artist manual Kaleidoscope and hype-but-editorial platform GOAT, returns to Paris for its third annual arts meets variant cultures series that gives a platform to recognisable names we generally like. Alright, fine! We will name names: Sterling Ruby, Grace Wales Bonner, ERL, Crystallmess. Now that you are fully invested in reading about MANIFESTO 2024, get excited about the latest round of visionaries participating in the installations, live performances and lively chats at Espace Niemeyer:

• A public talk with Michèle Lamy
• Art installations by Mark Leckey and Martine Syms!
• Live music sets by Fetva, Liv.e and Florence Sinclair
• Special projects and in-store capsules by BLESS, Nicholas Daley and Carhartt WIP
• A GOAT gift shop with exclusive product and a selection of rare books

Since we have your attention now, MANIFESTO happens on 20-22 June at Espace Niemeyer. And guess what else? You get to see Mark Leckey, Martine Syms and BLESS free of charge. Don’t say we didn’t tempt you.

Gucci Shows Personality In New Campaign

Gucci unveils their new A/W 24 campaign under creative director Sabato De Sarno’s watchful eye for reality. De Sarno tends to reinterpret energy he notices from street styles onto the catwalk. In drag parlance, we call that realness. What De Sarno, in collaboration with David Sims and Alastair McKimm, has found for the new campaign, reintroduces Gucci realness by way of George Barnett.

George Barnett — musician, designer and model — came of age on Gucci runways about fifteen years ago when Mathias Lauridsen, Jamie Stratchan and Matvey Lykov exuded stylish attitudes on Gucci runways, giving indie boy band hedonism with a distinctly Roman effortlessness that balanced elegance and punk. For those two years, Barnett inhabited Gucci’s youthful, luxurious qualities possibly without even realising it. Thankfully De Sarno did.

The new Gucci campaign reunites Barnett’s attitudes in a single gesture to promote authenticity laid bare in De Sarno’s stripped back Gucci menswear.

How Mens Skivvies Went Beyond Futuresex

As Calvin Klein announced a new flagship shop in Paris this week, as Skims debuted yet another athlete — Jude Bellingham — to feature in their men’s campaign, we couldn’t help but wonder…is high fashion underwear on hot men the new designer drug again? A few months removed from Jeremy Allen White posing on billboards in his Calvins, pausing our Only Fans payouts, Skims gifts hungry eyes with new merch on a new face. Now, if you follow football for strictly artificial reasons, none of this feels particularly new, except it kinda does. Jack Grealish, Jeremy Allen White and now Bellingham seem at ease with being disarmingly attractive. Their pictures do not resemble the metrosexual hysteria from Fredrik Ljungberd and Hidetoshi Nakata hyperpreening in Calvin campaigns past. Skims oddly shapes more than base layers. Skims, even JordanLuca triple elastic 2.0’s, rethink beauty to make these men appear less theatrical and more at ease with their bodies, despite our objectifying-inclined gazes. Bellingham playing a little footie in shapewear seems to suggest ‘What the hell, look if you like.’ And so we will. Gladly. After all, nude is next to nature.

Guess What? Guess Jeans Present Trent Alexander Arnold

Liverpool midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold is the new face of Guess Jeans, right next to first face Iris Law. They symbolise the Guess Jeans vision with eyes on tomorrow, not yesterday. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Iris Law are talents that Guess Jeans expects to translate their vision of an Americana whisper to a global audience. Photographed by Rafael Pavarotti, Alexander-Arnold and Law’s first mission is to promote the new Guess Airwash line. The new collection, modeled by both Alexander-Arnold and Law, features eight airwashed styles including mom’s jeans, yes, mom’s jeans.