Fashion Week 2019 Report
by Melony Breese Forcier
photography courtesy of Louis Vuitton Twitter
Men's Fashion Week Paris proved that menswear designers will continue to break boundaries and take risks in the fashion community. Designers brought their A-game when showing their collections for the Fall/Winter 2019 season this past week. While sometimes Men’s Fashion Week can be overshadowed by the Paris Haute Couture event that follows it, the collections showcased that menswear is not something to be overlooked.
Recently, menswear has been a particularly hot topic, with rappers and street style influencers pioneering the way in popular male fashion trends. When looking at these collections, it is clear to see that breaking the traditional bounds of menswear is not going to stop anytime soon. Some collections that stood out this season were Celine, Raf Simons and Louis Vuitton.
Celine showed that tailored suits are not something of the past. With crisp double-breasted suits and black leather shoes, Celine shined in showcasing that the classics should not be overshadowed by trainers and slouchy sweatshirts. However, the collection still incorporated ‘80s vibes throughout the accessories with new wave sunglasses, leather jackets and leopard-print drape coats.
After his shocking departure from Calvin Klein, Raf Simons highly anticipated collection was definitely show-stopping. The long silhouettes were the highlight of the show, with navy and black structured jackets grazing the runway. Graphic tees were also very prominent on the runway, with images of Laura Dern in the drama film “Blue Velvet” (1986) featured on many of the pieces in the collection.
“The reason why I liked this collection was because, while it is menswear, it still gave me inspiration for my own wardrobe,” said Puja Patel (COM ‘21).
Virgil Abhol delivered with his stunning Fall/Winter 2019 collection for Louis Vuitton. The show seemed like the place to be with stars like Timothee Chalamet and Frank Ocean amongst the attendees. The inspiration for the collection was Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” music video, and the runway was decorated like a New York sidewalk from the music video. The collection stayed true to his street style inspiration by transforming traditional pieces into pieces with a modern day flare. Fluid wide pants, oversized vests and layered grey suits were all highlight pieces in the collection.
Mandy Vasquez (CAS ‘21) explained that she now focuses much more on Men’s Fashion Week than she used to. “Before I thought it had nothing to do with me, but now men’s fashion is in some ways influencing women’s fashion as well,” said Vasquez.
Among other collections there were a few trends that were prominent throughout the collections. Denim was present in forms of vests, jackets and pants in the Off-White, Balmain and Maison Mihara Yasuhiro collections. Leather also made an appearance in the Dior Men, Hermes and Celine collections. While these trends were popular in 2018, it seems they will be translating into 2019 as well.
It will be exciting to see how these trends translate into street style in the coming year. Until then, it will be fun to see what Paris Haute Couture week has in store.