Bernhard Willhelm Men’s
“It was a warning, a sexy warning,” confided Bernhard Willhelm at the end of his whimsical men’s collection, where traffic signs were used as bright patterns on tights or as breastplates on colorful outfits. “It’s actually a feeling about now”, he added. “There is something wrong about the way people see sex, how they treat the environment, how they see color. People don’t like it anymore. All the fashion people now turn up wearing beige.”
Sex, color and hedonism have always been the designer’s mantra, so the kooky sportswear—hoodies, micro-shorts, knee-high socks, outrageously ripped tights, and tanks with plunging necklines—looked almost classic. Pop references kept us smiling, as a Pepsi logo read “Sexsi” and a model sported a nunchaku, Bruce-Lee style (there were also cropped kimono jackets).
As usual, the show was staged as a puzzling yet hilarious mise en scène, this time in a garden with colorful smoke and a classical statue as a backdrop. By the time the guests left the venue, the lawn looked like a giant bathtub, a result of models spraying it with foam during the presentation. Sweet, but those old enough to remember the infamous 90s’ foam parties at Paris’ Queens disco will get the innuendo.