boys boys boys boys

It's that time of the season and its all about the boys (hence the title, get what I did there?) I am super excited because mens week is right before the holy week, the week that is haute couture. I do love a cheeky peek to see what will be going down in the land of the penis packers though... I don't know why, I guess just because I am curious and it is a world so damn foreign to me and most of my other female counter parts... So here are some of my highlights for y'all to peruse...

  If I were a boy (as Baddie Bey sings...) I would definitely wear Acne, I would also be Swedish and fabulous and very tall and slender. And a model. Probably for Acne. So, back to the collection in question, I as usual loved it. Not just because I am a biased Acne lover, and love most things Scandi at the moment but because I think it is a brilliant mens brand. I love how they do tailoring that doesn't look too tailored, and because they do basics terribly well. The tee shirts are always of the highest quality, and not of the highest price either. The jersey is always super thick, and the knits just the right side of edgy, and making them not too basic. My favourite part of this collection is the silhouettes, not oft seen in mens collections... Super skinny on the trouser and all boxy, 60s Cristobal Balenciaga coccoons on the top. And lashings of grey. I love grey. Long live Johnny! And let's all move to Sweden.

   I heart Classics! was the name of Mr Bailey's foray into mens this season, after a metallic fun-fest for S/S 13 fall seemed on the surface to be a much more staid affair. Alas! Look deeper into it and the theme of the day was clearly classics with a twist... Outerwear sculpted in oxblood leather, ponyskin and a flash of zebra slinked down the runway. Duffel coats with toggles made of whip thin leather, and cable knits sitting cropped at the hip... Ohhh and the latex, with the heart prints flashing through to smbolise Monsieur bailey's LOVE theme. If the brand has had a bumpy ride pf late, it proved with this collection alone that one thing they do (and always have) outstandingly is classics. And loving them can't be a bad thing either.

After a rather colourful S/S collection, peppered with nautical details and sharp tailoring Kris van Assche went stripped bare to what he does best for next season, to the point where there was something almost repressive about it. In a weird, creepy Berlin sex club way I actually loved it... It is like the Dior Homme personification of austerity. This happened the last time there was a recession, well in womenswear anyway, but it is almost odd to see a mens collection reflecting times of money woes... Despite this it was eery, dark, edgy and well fabulous. There was something uniform, and repetitive, almost mathematical about it. The same silhouettes, and pieces marched down the runway with the only difference being the colour palette, it felt almost Nazi-esque and that only added to the concept. 

  I was devastated to hear that Riccardo wouldn't be showing haute couture this season, it is always one of the highlights and a massive fashion perv-fest for me, but alas! when I came to researching this post I was relieved to read that he was creating couture for men instead. And couture it was! I t was chic, polished and was filled with perfectly cut weight weight wool suiting. His usual fan fare of tee shirts were produced in cashmere and taffeta aswell as the usual super soft jersey. I loved the teeny tiny muscle man shorts outfitted with socks and the fabulous metal detailed monk straps. The best part was the casing, instead of the usual scrawn fest of skinny boys that stalk the catwalks Givenchy was all about the MAN! HURRAH!!! I don't know why I was so excited by this... probably the thighs. Mr Tisci referenced his favourite photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, along with his lust for the American Dream by way of the occult and all things dark side. I'm glad I got my couture fix, even if it was by way of the mens collections...