Paris Men’s Fashion Week featured two hotly anticipated designer debuts—Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton and Kim Jones at Dior Homme—as well as the return of Raf Simons after a brief stint in New York Fashion Week, the unveiling of Jacquemus’ first menswear collection in Marseilles, dozens of celebrity cameos, and a number of high-profile fashion shows. We already brought you the must-see looks from London and Milan Men’s Fashion Week, and now, we review the standout shows from the City of Light.
Louis Vuitton
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It was a day that will go down in fashion history. Virgil Abloh presented his debut collection as the artistic director for Louis Vuitton menswear at Paris’ Palais Royal on Thursday, prompting a standing ovation from the celebrity-filled front row, which included Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Rihanna, and an emotional Kanye West. The collection, which was inspired by “light hitting a prism”, featured expertly tailored suits, leather trench coats, neon colored vests, and a line-up of must-have accessories modeled by a cast of friends, including Kid Cudi, Playboy Carti, and Theophilus London.
Dior Homme
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Three days after his Louis Vuitton successor Virgil Abloh presented his collection, Kim Jones made his debut as artistic director of Christian Dior. The show unfolded at Paris’ Garde Républicaine in front of an A-list audience that included Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Bella Hadid, Victoria Beckham, and ASAP Rocky, to name but a few. Jones, who dipped into the Dior archives for the collection, opened the show with Prince Nicolai of Denmark (an ode to Jones’s Danish mother) wearing a white suit with striped paneling.
Raf Simons
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The Raf Simons Spring 2019 offering was a refreshing antidote to the streetwear trend that’s been taking over the men’s runways. Featuring brightly colored coats and jackets in satin (everything except the jersey and a couple of menswear suits were made from duchesse satin), expertly cut trousers, and satin T-shirts, the collection will undoubtedly find favor in men seeking exceptional tailoring.
Hermès
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Drawstring trousers in a multitude of hues, lambskin blouses, cotton shorts, leather sandals, and oversized bags made for a standout collection.
Alexander McQueen
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One of Sarah Burton’s most powerful collections for Alexander McQueen saw male models storm the runway wearing mismatched trench coats, zippered leather ensembles, and suits with nipped waists paired with pointed Chelsea boots.
Rick Owens
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Models at the Rick Owen’s Spring 2019 show emerged through clouds of colored, acrid-smelling smoke (the invitation doubled as a mask to protect the front row) in the courtyard of the Palais de Tokyo wearing deconstructed shirts, billowing black track pants, shrunken jackets, distressed denim, and sandals by Birkenstock, with whom Owens is collaborating on a line. The piece de resistance was undoubtedly the Russian Constructivist-inspired pop-up tents, designed to be worn as nylon parkas.
Now Read: Virgil Abloh: “I Want a Young Generation to Know There’s Someone Who’s Listening”
