Paris Fashion Week Menswear SS15 (Final Day)

Hey guys, once again sorry for being behind on uploading my last two blog posts, but here is my last blog post of PFWM so hopefully it'll be a good one, hope you enjoy reading it. On the final day Paris menswear collection we seen shows from Lanvin, which I find Albar Elbaz has been doing a fantastic job lately, we had Paul Smith doing it for the Brits, Thom Browne which I haven't seen properly yet, just a glimpse of backstage photos, however it looked really cool and fun and finally my absolute favourite collection so far for Saint Laurent under the creative director, Hedi Slimane. Great day so let's advance on with the blog post.

Lanvin

I've been loving design duo Albar Elbaz/Lucas Ossendrijver and Lanvin of late, especially the last menswear collection with the rockabilly punks and I loved this latest collection also, it looked really vintage yet modern and it had that sort of model-cool feel to it. The idea behind the concept was "Tattooed, art school rebels navigate surrealist doors to nowhere in skinny ties and leather" (thank you dazeddigital.com) ...whoops! The show also returned to a venue close to where Lanvin opened its first boutique, and the venue this season was actually the National School of Fine Arts, as it proved quite appropriate for the show (as mentioned earlier) but back to the clothes, they had an extreme bohemian  and artistic vibe, for me it's hard to find a better more suited combination. We all know I love skinny silhouettes in fashion, and this Lanvin show was on the money, just saying. It's also nice to see the skinny tie making a return, perfect accessory for this collection as was the neckerchiefs and bracelets. Leather played a key role at times in the collection, but the fact it was want overused which it so easily could have, made me love it all the more. In fact the same with everything else, the clothes were simple, minimal and not overused which was amazing. My favourite pieces were the blazers, especially the darker shade of red blazer, and with the sleeves rolled up, it just added to the art student rebel feeling I mentioned at the beginning of the post. And to finish with, I love a messy out-of-place quiff. As always my favourite looks to feature below.

Thom Browne

Another collection that took inspiration from the 1970s only this it wasn't Woodstock or hippie inspired, it actually took elements from Thunderbirds and cult horror film Alice, Sweet Alice (the clear plastic masks) and also a Gunther von Hagens autopsy special, which inspired the inflated muscles bursting out of the garments. For those who don't know who Thom Browne is famous for his outrageous avant-garde designs that will guarantee to light up any catwalk, no matter how controversial they may be although I often think that the more controversial things are, the more noticed and attention they get, but that's just me. As past seasons saw the designer use his audience members as inpatients at a mental health institution and this season, SS15 having an audience of men dressed in grey suits with masks sat like private school students, watching as models passed by. Both models and clothes were very puppet like, very military (Thunderbirds idea) and although the clothes weren't very wearable, as an art form, they were simply spectacular, and I really do mean that. I loved the idea of exaggerated proportions of the body-signature move. It's nice to see this type of collections, after seeing the more serious type and Thom Browne said so himself "I surround each collection with humour and irony" I read that statement about a year ago, and for that to stick in mind just sums up why I love the designer. My favourite looks below...

Paul Smith 

Once again the 1970s have inspired yet another collection as this Paul Smith collection was filled with sunset strips of colour and the ever-famous psychedelic prints. Again, to quote Dazed Digital "This season, Paul Smith made you feel a little like you had ingested some of the psychedelic mushrooms that adorned the garments in his SS14 collection" I really couldn't have put it any better, so thanks again Dazed for saving my arse and making me look a little like a fool haha!! The show space was filed with potted plans and cacti, and I would imagine that Paul Smith loved the seventies, seeing how he is now just makes me feel this way about him...the hippie. Anyway, back to the collection, the sunset tinted sunglasses were fantastic and where the only accessory that would have worked for this collection, but they still were perfect. I'm not a massive fan of the slouchy fitting suits, having said that the jackets I didn't mind but the pants looked a little too much like pjjamas for me. The knitwear I loved, and jumpers are fine for weather in the United Kingdom because let's face it, British weather isn't the best. Oh and something else I'm loving on models lately, is the Afro although I will never be able to grow an Afro. Just thought I'd throw that in there. And who doesn't love printed t-shirts, especially when they're from Paul Smith and inspired by the 1970s I mean come on. Paul Smith is always on point when it comes to fashion, it's very rare I see Paul put a foot wrong. Finally as always my favourite looks from the collection below.

Saint Laurent

It's no suprise that yet another fashion collection for Spring and Summer 2015 was inspired by the classic 1970s and this Saint Laurent collection has to be my favourite take on the decade, out of all the previous shows that have used the seventies also. The way I go on about Hedi Slimane and Saint Laurent you would assume I worked for them but unfortunately I don't, but I do think that Hedi Slimane has done a perfect job in every menswear collection since being appointed creative director of the fashion house. As always the show was truly electrifying as always and his rock n' roll take on fashion just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Hedi Slimane casts his shows with a mix of models, musicians and street boys and this season, for the first time in a Saint Laurent menswear show he included girls, which for some reason this time I found interesting. I don't know why I just did. Boys and girls emerged onto the runway this time covered in feathered chains, fringed leather and the most amazing capes you could ever imagine. As always the footwear was perfect, previously we have seen Suede chelsea and biker boots, then we seen metallic boots and then last season we seen creepers and this season we had cowboy boots, that were reworked in a classic snakeskin and girls walked in boots covered in red stars. The soundtrack to the show was by LA based psych band Mystic Braves with a song called 'Bright Blue Day Haze' which funnily took inspiration from the chilled sounds of the 1960s and what else I love about Saint Laurent is the way Hedi uses artists to collaborate on the show with, sometimes with the clothes, but always with the invitations. This time he joined forces with the late Bruce Conner. It's safe to say that I loved this collection, but I really loved the hats used in the show and my favourite garments included that Cowhide cape, the striped poncho and after seeing the show I realised just how much I wanted to see Hedi Slimane incorporate camouflage into one of his Saint Laurent collections, so I loved that fringed camouflage jacket and also that multicoloured 1970s rug style jacket, well that's what I can beat describe it as anyway, but I loved it. This is my favourite Saint Laurent Paris menswear show, but I'm curious about what has been your favourite Saint Laurent mens show? Leave a comment on your preferred collection...and it would be mean of me to ask you to place them in order haha because I couldn't manage such a task. This is the last time I'll mention this for the Spring and Summer 2015 menswear collections, but here are my absolute favourite looks from the collection featured below. It's been fun anyway and I hope you have enjoyed the last couple of weeks, because I have.

Well that's it for Paris menswear, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sorry if I get a little deep here but, I don't have many friends who share the same high level interest in fashion as I do, so for all of you who take time out of your day to read my blog, is just an amazing experience for me, so thank you.

xxx