At the Confluence of British, American and Japanese Street Cultures: Fall-Winter 2023 Men from Kenzo, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy

Men’s Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2023-24: runway recaps from Milan to Paris.

Fendi

Designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi, Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear, the collection is a perfect fusion of sophisticated comfort, relaxed opulence and the elegance of the unexpected. The designer sent out a wardrobe marked by classicism, with trompe-l’œil pieces that play with asymmetry and volume. Expressing exquisite craftsmanship, the House celebrates its hallmark materiality with double-faced cashmere, engineered leathers and jacquard silks. The sober palette undulates between shades of gray, oatmeal, burnt umber, mocha, mauve, lavender, navy and black. The Fendi astuccio motif is reimagined as Fendi Shadow, a larger-than-life logo woven into mohair scarves. For accessories, the Peekaboo evolves with bold metallic strap hardware and an all-leather Baguette bag is finished in suede or grained leather.

Givenchy

For its Fall-Winter 2023-24 men’s collection, the Parisian house unveiled a classic wardrobe in evolution. Artistic Director Matthew M. Williams spotlights a traditional approach to menswear adapted to a dressing culture founded in individual ideas of formality, ease and confidence. The collection rethinks tailoring, including four black suits created in the Haute couture atelier with unhemmed seams that unravel. A study of volumes continues with layered looks created with cropped sweatshirts or jerseys. A deconstruction of workwear is expressed in cargo trousers transformed into skirts or tartan kilts. This new masculinity takes form in an array of materials – denim, polyurethane-coated nylon, reversed sheepskin, tweed – with a color palette ranging from neon to pastels.

Dior

A deep dive into the history of Maison Dior, the new collection by Kim Jones explores the confluence of present and future, echoing the first collection by Yves Saint Laurent for Dior in 1958 with contemporary creativity infused by poetry. With a backdrop of poetry read by actors Gwendoline Christie and Robert Pattinson, the silhouettes formed slow waves against white foam, pearl gray and pink sand. Inspired by the flow of rejuvenating waters, the artistic director fluidly melded masculine and feminine with wide shorts, structured skirts, subtle touches of faux leopard and transparent effects. Amalgamating formal and casual, the silhouettes bring together the art of draping, with knits revealing shirt sleeves, and British tailoring.

The influence of the sea creates a resolutely contemporary conversation between the original Paris ensemble by Yves Saint Laurent – revisited in cavalry twill to become an elongated fisherman’s smock – and urban tunics, rain hats, leather dyed in yellow sea-faring outerwear or 3D printed boots.

Kenzo

At Kenzo, Creative Director Nigo presented his singular creative vision while elaborating on the legacy of Kenzo Takada in a wardrobe composed across cultures, eras and styles. At the confluence of British, American and Japanese street cultures, the Fall-Winter 2023 collection proposes a dialogue exemplified in collarless tunic jackets, tapered trousers and mini-skirts in a 1980s suiting shape. This Western grammar blends with the language of the Japanese martial arts wardrobe. The uniform of kendo inspires jackets, voluminous hakama skirts echo a British kilt and American workwear. The Japanese sashiko quilting technique is employed throughout the collection to develop new fabric expressions across nylon, denim, wool bases, knitwear and jersey. Jacquards and fil coupé appear alongside a multitude of velvets, from fluidly sophisticated to subversive devoré and heritage corduroy. Bags and shoes play on both Western and Japanese codes with a re-interpretation of the sporran bag and a Kinchaku pouch. And the Kenzo Western ankle boot is rooted in authentic cowboy boots, another celebration of archetypes.