Edgy tailoring and luxury finesse defined this fast-paced show.
“Gender revolution!” Guram Gvasalia, cofounder and creative director of Vetements, declared after the Paris runway debut of his nascent second brand Vtmnts, which makes up for its lack of vowels with hrdcr atttd.
Male, female and non-binary youths hurtled themselves through a recently shuttered branch of French supermarket chain Monoprix as if someone was chasing them with a butcher knife — or as if they might come at you brandishing one. One scowling young man flipped the bird at the photographers, and half the front row during the finale, his boxy blouson swinging open over his bare, sinewy torso.
But strip away the menace and what you have are some very appealing clothes.
Among the many surprises about this collection were its relentless focus on edgy tailoring, marked by a shoulder line that is high, hunched and pitched slightly forward; the bold use of unusual colors like burgundy, dijon yellow and Maytag-repairman blue, and a level of luxury and finesse that could be felt even in the few denim looks — and despite the frenzied pace of the show. Several items, such as sleek coats lightly quilted in sumptuous leather, would not look out of place at Hermès if it went renegade and became Hrms.
“I think it’s time for something to happen in this industry that is not just jersey, and not just boring tailoring for old people that nobody buys,” Gvasalia said after the show.
No risk of that when single-breasted jackets button askew like a double-breasted style, and when the suit pants can unzip to reveal your tall, foam-soled neo-cowboy boots, a trend gaining momentum in the European collections.
The Zurich-based fashion house included small signs of the streetwear edge that first catapulted Vetements: an Eminem sweatshirt here; glossy puffers cropped like boleros there. But the revolution will have shoulder pads.