Julius
Tatsuro Horikawa of Julius, presented yet another rough and tough collection, working with his signature leather jackets and cargo pants. Though Horikawa tends to incorporate details that may have spilled over from a previous collection, the garments are not stale, at least not yet. It’s almost as if Horikawa approached his collection like a recipe adding a pinch of cayenne for flavoring in his soup of neutral tones.
YSL
Stefano Pilati alluded to the times where Monsieur Saint Laurent would vacation in Marrakesh with close friends, smoke hashish and take a break from the work load that the world of Parisian couture and pret-a-porter demanded. This was Pilati’s way of staying true to the essence of Saint Laurent himself, by infusing the North African culture that was very much a part of him (as he was born in Algeria and frequently vacationed in Morocco). Fez-like hats were coupled with single and double breasted jackets, nipped at the waist, in an array of desert tones and neutrals. The short-shorts seemed like another nod to YSL’s personal life, as he loved to wear them in his younger days. As much as this was a collection that reflected a bit of North African culture, it also served as an homage to Monsieur Saint Laurent. Pilati managed to intertwine his own vision with facets of YSL’s personal history whilst providing a brief cultural survey.
Comme Des Garcons Homme Plus
Just when we thought the plethora of man-skirts weren’t enough to drive the androgyny factor further, Rei Kawakubo one-upped everyone and did a full on man-dress. While we’ve seen men in dresses before from Rick Owens, Rei eliminated any traces of a man/woman barrier and is dressing her men in man-sized baby-doll dresses— flare, pleats and all. What fell flat in the collection, was Kawakubo’s use of disturbingly cliché prints, such as skulls and black and white-checkerboards, which resulted in a corny portrayal of punk-rock. However, in the middle the collection, simple, crisp looks (white dress-shirts and black, tapered, cropped trousers) came down and provided a small sigh of relief.
Givenchy
After being at the helm of the Givenchy house for 5 years now, Riccardo Tisci has really come into his own. There was an air of confidence that shone through his SS2011 collection, as he unapologetically sent out looks that were not for the bashful. Centered around leopard print, Tisci’s collection may have mirrored his fearlessness and new-found ferocity when it comes to fashion. The animal print against the impeccable tailoring plays on the idea of the duality between tame and wild, or classical and atypical. These kinds of paradoxes illustrate for Tisci, this is not just about clothing or aesthetics; he is opening up a discourse on the ethics of dressing.
