You may not know his name, but buyers from department stores and niche multi-brands, specialist journalists and, above all, the younger generations do:
Kiko Kostadinov
is the most followed cutting-edge designer of the moment, who has re-boosted collaborations in the business of the equipment manufacturer Asics and succeeded, in just a few seasons, in creating a real cult around it.
Going to one of his fashion shows is a bit like reading science fiction: yes, some ideas are extreme, a little absurd no doubt for our current eyes, but they will make sense in a few seasons.
A little less than ten years ago, the Bulgarian-born designer trained at Central Saint Martins was among the first to combine details from technical clothing, like hiking shoes, with more classic elements of everyday life... An exercise which is today on almost all men's podiums.
If, this season, his words become more accessible, with Kostadinov, nothing is ever banal: when he cuts a simple black suit, he constructs the shoulder so that it forms a K, “
like a logo integrated into the sleeve, in a way
, he confided after the show.
I am very interested in how to signify a brand through the construction of clothing.
» And always these utility jackets with slightly off-center pockets, these snap buttons adorning jackets and pants, these very
Dune
hoods and togas , and these shoes between Santa's elf and the space hiker.
Future bestsellers, faded jeans and a bomber jacket with twisted seams, in collaboration with Levi's.
“
This is my first time using denim.
I wanted to appropriate this classic material, to treat it in my own way.
»
Read alsoParis fashion week: wonderful pas de deux with Nureyev at Dior
Kiko Kostadinov, winter 2024-2025 collection photo: Umberto Fratini / Gorunway.com
Covering the walls of the Monnaie de Paris salons with turquoise blue panels, you had to dare…
Valentino
did it.
This collection for next winter, soberly titled “Le Ciel” (hence the azure), opens with an entirely black look composed of a long coat with tone-on-tone baroque embroidery, short pants and loose and a knitted polo shirt worn over a turtleneck.
Pierpaolo Piccioli, the artistic director of the Roman house, may explain in his note of intent that he questions masculinity and the archetypes of our wardrobes, his wardrobe for next winter is all that there is more conventional.
Work or pilot jackets are there, as are hoodies (worn over a shirt and a tie, why not), pocket t-shirts (in ultra-thick jersey), overshirts, raw jeans... And, above all, the costume, sometimes revisited in a short, boxier version, but which, in black, becomes almost banal.
Fortunately, the little touches of color (azure, but also pale pinks, burgundy, greens, etc.) enhance a proposal that is unfortunately a little flat.
Too bad because, on a few exceptional pieces (double-faced cashmere coats, shiny sequin overshirts), the Romain catches the eye.
Valentino Valentino winter 2024-2025 collection
At
Balmain
, which hadn't had a men's show for four years, it's the extreme opposite.
Here, no minimalism, “
and especially no “quiet luxury!”
”
, smiles Olivier Rousteing backstage.
The Balmain man is experiencing a form of rebirth, accepting himself as he is.
Full of colors and hope, it borrows a lot of feminine codes, its colors, its sharp sizes…
”
We’re not going to lie, this maximalist proposition doesn’t exist anywhere else today.
It is certainly not for everyone, and Rousteing is aware of this, but it is for some, as Balmain's business proves - since his arrival at the head of the house in 2011, his turnover was multiplied by ten.
“
I have always pursued my path without following trends, and it works for me.
I don't think it's a good idea to chase what everyone else is doing in an attempt to stay relevant.
Fashion likes to put things into boxes because it needs to rationalize and reassure itself.
But customers don't think like that.
» His people don't want beige cashmere and long enveloping coats (if necessary, they will find them at others), but spectacular suits with an ultra-defined build, gold, polka dot prints, mixtures of colors that clash... And the way in which Rousteing traces his route is refreshing as can be.
Olivier Rousteing and Naomi Campbell in front saluting at the end of his winter 2024-2025 fashion show photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com