Illustrator Megan St Clair scoured through the autumn/winter 2020 menswear collections during Paris Fashion Week Men's, and did what she does best—dissecting her favourite looks through colours, silhouettes and interesting details.
Read her brief reviews of the shows and scroll through the illustrations in the gallery above to get a first-hand recap of some of Paris Fashion Week Men's autumn/winter 2020 season's promising showings.
Dior Men
An elevated collection which took artistic director Kim Jones' work to new heights at Dior, utilising a minimal set to ensure the sole focus was on the clothes. In a smoke-filled tribute to Kim's late friend Judy Blame—the acclaimed British stylist and accessories designer—Jones led the collection with a satin pearlescent blue coat on a number of paisley combinations, with nearly every look given the finishing touch of safety pin accessories à la Blame's staple punk aesthetic. It felt to be a collection where you could make of it what you wanted, moving his work to couture-level details (see the final look for a clear depiction of this) whilst, as ever, delivering on his world-adored accessories which sat against, layer upon layer, of considered distressed knits, tailored notched collar jackets, and straight-cut trousers in fabrics ranging from classic suiting woollens to heavy leather. A triumph to say the least, it's a wonder where he'll take us next.
Dries Van Noten
Dries has a thing for concrete spaces. From one site to another, his consistent choice to show in a work-in-progress raw space each season, gives breathing room for his colour compositions. Although, at first look, I worried he'd taken a somewhat surprising turn to using real fur, draping a fox stole over a checked bomber and lucid yellow silk shirt; later, I was told that all the fur in the collection were in fact faux. But thankfully, it did not distract from Dries' ever compelling colours, textures and detail-led designs. From '70s ruffled shirts, and studded belts cinching high-waist trousers and oversized blazers, to his wonderful prints which sprawled across hard-shoulder shirts and oversized knits—styled one collar corner in, the other out—it was definitely a favourite of the season for me.
Yohji Yamamoto
Yohji is known for his classic, well cut, black wonders—as ever this collection served same, same, but different. Knowing his client well adds to Yohji's charm. Models went from draped shirting and sculpted hats to fastening-focused outerwear. From the outset you know what you will get as a base, but the combination of prints, playful extras and his multi-layer approach leaves you consistently looking further. A textured appliqué adorned suiting and wide leg trousers towards the end of the collection led to the beautifully dyed knits styled over suiting, lifting the mainly black collection with a flash of pillar box red and subtle blues. There is always so much to take in, surface level doesn't exist with Yohji, and I certainly want to dig deeper.
White Mountaineering
Opting to take it back to nature, White Mountaineering offered a commercial take on what technical dressing can mean for men. A multi-layered approach with printed camo-esque fabrics intertwined across neutral outerwear and accessories. Something for every man, from its raw-edge finishing to textile experimentation, it was a collection of oversized function-first pieces served in four shades.
