Paris Men’s Fashion | YSL Update

A still from Yves Saint Laurent’s PG-13 rated video presentation.

We know we promised to bring you the video of Stefano Pilati’s cerebral deconstruction of heteronormative gender assumptions. Slight change of plans. While we’d love to show the video here, due to the the nudity involved, it’s a no-can-do. Luckily, YSL has placed the flick on YouTube. Warning: If topless ballerinas and general weirdness offend you, don’t click here.

Men’s Fashion Microtrend | Bondage Shoes

Bondage-themed footwear hits the runways. Rubber bands at Prada, left, and Louis Vuitton. (AP/Getty)

Miuccia Prada’s runway footwear, which have warranted their own close-up screens in the past, are usually a reliable preview of what’s to come in the shoe world. And if the recent Prada show in Milan is any indication, it’s all about bondage shoes.

Paris Men’s Shows | Video Round-up

As the Paris men’s shows wind down to a close, it’s time for a men’s wear video retrospective courtesy of Suzy Menkes, a T columnist and one of our favorite colleagues over at the International Herald Tribune. The clips feature candid interviews with style guydols like Tom Ford (he confirms he is dressing Daniel Craig in the next James Bond installment!), Paul Smith (he plays peek-a-boo behind a pair of bright green shoes!), Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce (they describe Naomi Campbell as being like a little sister!), Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Maier (he says the key look in a men’s wardrobe is the jacket!), and, er, Fergie? Check out that clip, if for nothing else, to see Fergie call Menkes a “goddess” and confess to always loving the fetching IHT fashion editor. Suzylicious!

Dolce and Gabbana

Paris Men’s Fashion | Dior Homme, Lanvin and Raf Simons

The tree-lined runway at Dior Homme (Reuters).

Kris Van Assche loosened up a bit at Dior Homme — he chose a beautiful, tree lined garden as his venue (as opposed to the cavernous tents we had gotten used to), commissioned the band Justice to create his soundtrack, and mixed in bright, billowy blousons and sporty tanks with the label’s well-known skinny black suits. But the week’s finale belonged to Alber Elbaz and his men’s wear designer, Lucas Ossendrijver. They received a standing ovation after their presentation, which neatly encapsulated the season’s obsession with slouchy European elegance.

Paris Men’s Fashion | Comme des Garçons, Veronique Branquinho, Junya Watanabe, Givenchy

Left to right, Givenchy and Junya Watanabe; (AP).

Travel-friendly active-wear has been everywhere in Paris. Veronique Branquinho’s road trip collection featured sweaters that could be packed into their own pocket; Kris Van Assche showed cool, multi-colored fanny-packs and swimsuits that folded upon themselves and could be toted around the neck; Junya Watanabe’s voyagers carried old-school trunks and wore easy-to-pack, two-in one reversible blazers (the navy-gingham combos looked especially cool), as well as Eisenhower-inspired sports jackets made in collaboration with the British label Barracuta.

For the Moment | Kim Jones’s Inspirations

Kim Jones

This week’s guest blogger is Kim Jones, the British men’s wear designer who was recently hired as creative director of the British men’s luxury brand Dunhill. Jones started out designing under his own name in 2003 at London fashion week, made his Paris debut in 2004 and was named men’s wear designer of the year by the British Fashion Council in 2006. He also collaborated on a book with the American art photographer Luke Smalley, and has designed for companies including Uniqlo, Topman, Umbro, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and Iceberg. (Read Kim Jones’s previous posts.)

Since graduating in 2001 I have met and learnt from some of the most amazing people in and around the fashion industry.

I thought it would be nice to thank them and ask them all to provide something that has inspired them in what they do.

Alexander McQueen
Fashion icon and a friend who has always been a great support.

‘Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels,’ Jean Fouquet

“This is one of my favorite paintings in the world. What inspires me about this is the bold colour of red in the angels perceiving the darker side of heaven and the gray blue angels depicting the lighter side. I’ve always been inspired by 14th/15th-century art and this painting in particular.”

London Nightlife | Italians Do It Better

London is the night-life capital of the world; so if you can’t beat them, why not invite them? That’s what the Italians did last week for an all-night rave hosted by the designer Carri Mundane (aka Casette Playa) in honor of the annual Pitti Immagine Uomo men’s-wear trade show in Florence. Mundane, who is also a stylist for the likes of the recently “retired” singer M.I.A, trucked into town with her 50-strong crew of friends, muses and post-ironic ravers, setting up in an old gymnasium for a “live video jumpdance installation.” (Read: ecstacy.)

Paris Men’s Fashion | Louis Vuitton, Number (N)ine, Dries Van Noten and Yohji Yamamoto

A traffic-stopper look on the Dries Van Noten runway.

Milan’s color-blocking trend continued in Paris at Louis Vuitton, where head designer Paul Helbers sent out shirts in the faintest shades of green, mauve and pink; paired with ultra-light, baggy poplin trousers and shorts, they subtly referenced Charlie Chaplin’s Charlot. Guests of honor at the show included Pharrell Williams, the French actor Nicolas Duvauchelle and Kanye West, who after the show sported a little Lego man necklace that a teenage fan gave him on the street.

For the Moment | Kim Jones and Co.

Kim Jones

This week’s guest blogger is Kim Jones, the British men’s wear designer who was recently hired as creative director of the British men’s luxury brand Dunhill. Jones started out designing under his own name in 2003 at London fashion week, made his Paris debut in 2004 and was named men’s wear designer of the year by the British Fashion Council in 2006. He also collaborated on a book with the American art photographer Luke Smalley, and has designed for companies including Uniqlo, Topman, Umbro, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and Iceberg. (Read Kim Jones’s previous posts.)

The greatest influence on my life is my family, and when I say my family I also mean the friends closest to me, as I think of them as family too. My father’s side of the family is English and my mother’s Danish. My parents met in the Canary Islands and were married shortly after, then came my lovely sister Nadia and then, five years later, me. They separated when I was five and living in Botswana and from then on I’ve had numerous step parents and step brothers and sisters. I am still in touch with most of them, but it’s my real family — including my mother who sadly died when I was 17, so I am not going to talk about her here — that have been the major inspiration for me in what I do today. They are an interesting bunch and have made me ‘me’ and I wouldn’t want to be anyone else either!

Childhood passport photos of Kim Jones, left, and sister Nadia.

Now Screening | Coming Soon’s ‘Traffic in Italy’

A world-exclusive fashion video on The Moment.

While front row fashion audiences have never been denied theatrical runway presentations — John Galliano’s fall 2008 Xanadu show comes to mind — Coming Soon, a fashion collection masterminded by Yamamoto, takes it one step further. The Coming Soon collection is presented each season through a video directed by the British photographer Max Vadukul. The newest chapter “Traffic In Italy” (the last installment was filmed in London)