Paris Men’s Week: Lanvin

To be honest, recently I was thinking that Lanvin’s menswear was in danger of losing its clout. Its castings have been too same-y and the collections lacking in energy, sexual and otherwise. But the fall show changed everything. Lucas Ossendrijver sent out his best collection to date, a potent treatise on modern, street-wise dressing that worked on two levels. First, each carefully considered piece had something distinctive about it: a soft-shouldered coat, an intriguing fabric, frayed edges, a fabulous sweater with a zipper in the back or tufts of wool shag at the shoulders, the inventive hybrid of shoes and boots. Second, the way the pieces were mixed together brilliantly reflected the haphazard, slightly nomadic way people dress today, especially suits and tuxedos accessorized with huge camping backpacks, which might just reconcile a whole jeans-and-T-shirt generation with the notion of (relaxed) formality. With this tour de force, Lanvin joins Raf Simons, Givenchy and Rick Owens as the champions of Paris menswear—at least this season. 

Leave a comment