What would happen if Givenchy's haute couture atelier moved to Venice Beach?
You don't need too much imagination, just explore Givenchy's autumn-winter 23/24 men's collection in detail, signed by artistic director Matthew M. Williams, and presented today in Paris in the spaces of the Ecole Militaire.
Williams, who since 2020 has been redefining the codes of tailoring signed by the French maison with street touches, takes another step forward and offers an "advanced" tailoring, influenced by American workwear (camouflage, flames, checks, neon colors): the iconic look it is represented by the skirt worn over the trousers.
There are short kilt-type pleated versions and knee-length ones in fleece or denim.
Even the work overalls are kept undone, and with the sleeves knotted at the waist, so as to recall the shapes of a skirt.
But be careful, it is not a choice dictated by trends, but a tribute to a sixties photo in which Hubert de Givenchy wears a sweater tied around his jeans, an image of infinite and timeless elegance that makes the shirt look knotted at the waist , a skirt resting on the trousers.
Here the deconstruction of workwear is expressed in cargo pants spontaneously opened and transformed into skirts, sweatshirts to keep tied at the waist, kilts, suit trousers combined with plush skirts.
A mood that is enhanced by the set (a clean setting with floor, walls and benches in optical white) and by the music, composed for the show by the British indie rock musician Bakar.
A clean set to enhance the artisanal approach employed in the transformation of garments and accessories, in the layering and personalization of sartorial clothing codes - including four black dresses created in the haute couture atelier.
Thus the classics of tailoring are mixed with oversized bleached sweatshirts, camouflage, denim and garment-dyed overalls, tweed coats.
Then the discussion continues in the accessories with shoulder bags, sculptural rings, work boots in leather, rubber or in the cowboy version (patent leather or fake snake).
This is how the new formal dress takes more and more shape, according to Williams.
Season after season, his idea of the classic is being defined, clothing contaminated by the community of artists to which the designer has always looked, influenced by streetwear touches and designed to satisfy the desires of the modern man.
(HANDLE).
