Paris Men’s F/W 2021 Highlights Part 2

From serious to scene

Here is something that’s been on my mind. Is the same amount of people watching the live streams, as attending the shows? Or more or even less?  I admit, I feel challenged to watch a ten-minute plus stream. But then I cringe when I go to a 100 plus looks show as well which lasts more than ten minutes. Here our picks of what makes Paris special.

Wales Bonner

For Achtung, Grace Wales Bonner is the most exciting designer working in fashion at the moment. Her research driven approach to the garments and culture of her Afro-Atlantic ancestry represents l’air du temps and has helped her to carve out a niche. We are also happy to say that she is the Artistic Director of the Fashion department at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Let’s not forget Helmut Lang, Karl Lagerfeld or Bernhard Willhelm have elevated this teaching position in the past. This time Wales Bonner zeroed in on Black Sunlight, a good title for a collection in the first place, but her textile interpretation of a 1980’s poetry movement led by Derek Walcott. Her opening look of red shirt and black pants, her tailored jackets with patch pockets and a rigid waist plus big button coats convey soulful clothes, at ease in their environment.

Bonner gets inspiration from another distinguished scholar in residence for her new collection

A world of Caribbean Thought and Black British intellectualism

Jil Sander

In a way, 2020 was the year of Lucie and Luke Meier. Their Pitti show in January was a major statement in statutory big volume tailoring followed by an extremely tactile and beautiful women’s show in March. Then the show circuit stopped and the duo took a breather. Retail is working, the clothes are directional and now there are rumors that big companies would like to own this gem of a brand. The new collection is all about statement coats, which are accessorized with silver jewelry around the neck or giant black leather patch on pockets. This is where this Sander is brand new. It takes the stiff fabric DNA to achieve clean lines to new heights by adding jewel buttons or shells for buttons. Plus photographic portraits of female artists and designers of the Bauhaus screened on canvas and sewn on jackets and coats to add a moody touch. The video shot in an abandoned building in France felt super moody as well.

Taking Jil Sander to new heights with jewelry

The house does not forget its German roots

Casablanca

Charaf Tajer likes it bold. The clothes and world the designer creates for his label Casablanca are bright and colorful. He telegraphs unabashed opulence, optimism and believes that too much is still too little. For his film, he took over an entire hotel particulier in Paris and let his models roam about even grooming poodles in their colorful silk shirts with scarves and printed dresses. Clearly, no designer since Gianni Versace has embraced printed silk this emphatically. How the loose theme of racecar driving fit it was not clear, Tajer even showed up in the video playing an organ for the dancing crowd. But putting on such a production, which radiates good vibes, explain why these clothes are absolute top sellers on every luxury etailer platform at the moment.

Tajer goes bright Monaco

Mastering print silk