Louis Vuitton menswear creative director Pharrell Williams took over the UNESCO Headquarter’s Garden of Peace to kick off Fashion Week’s pre-Olympic shows.
Paris is one heck of a busy city these days. We’re now counting down the days leading to the 2024 Summer Olympics, for instance. The city is also about to dive into two rounds of elections in the coming weeks.
But before the City of Lights bears witness to the world’s biggest sporting event and dutiful Parisians head to the polls, the city serves as the breathtaking backdrop for the catwalks of some of the fashion’s biggest names and labels in the Paris Spring-Summer Men’s Fashion Week.
It might already be summer in Paris, but the fashionistas who flocked to the French capital had the unexpected opportunity to don their stylish trench coats and chic blazers as they hop from one show to the next to behold the SS25 collections of fashion giants.
The POST rounds up some of the highlights of this season’s Paris Men’s Fashion Week, from June 19 to 23 .
Louis Vuitton: Celebrating the “human of the earth”
Louis Vuitton men’s creative director Pharrell Williams took over the UNESCO Headquarter’s Garden of Peace for the Paris Men’s Fashion Week’s opening show, which didn’t only dazzle but also sparked inspiration. His SS25, Pharrell said in his show notes, “celebrates the human of the earth,” a perfect theme for the garden that was designed by acclaimed architect Isamu Noguchi.
The American musician and singer-songwriter drew inspiration from the 1995 French film La Haine and collaborated with creative collective Air Afrique for a show described as having a distinctively unifying spirit.
The world’s biggest fashion label pulled off a travel theme for its SS25 men’s collection, complete with a towering globe sculpture and rows of different countries’ national flags, the Eiffel Tower as backdrop served as the cherry on top.
Models sashayed down the grass catwalk in crisply tailored suits, slick bomber jackets and fur coats, with rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses and chunky, airplane-wing brooches, while an orchestra and choir performed music produced by Williams, as per a report on Reuters.
The show attracted 1,500 guests including celebrities like NBA basketball player Victor Wembanyama, actor Michael Fassbender, and K-pop star Jackson Wang.
Wales Bonner: An homage to Caribbean coastal cities
Wales Bonner’s SS25 Midnight Palms show, meanwhile, saw the unveiling of another striking collaboration with Adidas, “solidifying the British designer’s innovative partnership with the sportswear giant,” according to an article on Russh.
The much anticipated collab birthed a new black and silver-sequined adidas Samba. A new footwear silhouette called the “Country Low” was seen in khaki suede and black and white leather featuring Adidas’ Three Stripe moniker. The collab also features a deconstructed version of the Superstar Hi-top in suede.
The collection paid homage to Trinidadian-born British artist Althea McNish, drawing inspiration from the throbbing nightlife of Caribbean coastal cities, “reflected in the shimmering black and silver sequins of the new Sambas.”
Kenzo: A Paris and Tokyo fusion
Parisian afternoons are almost always stunning, but especially so this week as Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey, record producer, and entrepreneur Nigo revealed Kenzo’s SS25 collection at the charming Jardin Du Palais Royal. The atmosphere awes and enchants, with the iconic Paris venue metamorphosing into a safari, attended by a star-studded guest list that included Pharrell Williams and Maluma.
The show was a mesmerizing fusion of Parisian sophistication and Tokyo’s boundless energy. Muted green three-piece sets were paired with wide-brimmed hats and multifunctional sling bags, while denim ensembles, embroidered neckties, and full-zip hoodies followed—all these punctuated by the multi-hyphenate’s playful cartoon tigers on cropped outerwear and plush shoulder accessories.
Issey Miyake: Dreaming of flight
Then there’s Issey Miyake, whose menswear displays in the show “Up, Up, and Away” featured “couture-like poetry,” replete with seemingly weightless textiles that billowed like parachutes, as per Thomas Adamson of The Associated Press.
In Mobilier National’s cobbled courtyard, the Homme Plissé show on Thursday, June 21, took inspiration from all things windy, transforming the element into wearable art.
The collection was a testament to the innovations with fabric techniques by Satoshi Kondo and the Homme Plissé design team. A vivid blue coat cut a striking figure, with stiff, angular sleeves that contrasted with the softness of its pleats. That was not just a coat, but a sculptural piece that transformed and moved with the air.
Rick Owens: A homage to Hollywood, inclusivity
Meanwhile, American designer Rick Owens left guests awestruck with a surreal Ben-Hur-style galley theatrical spectacle in a nod to “Hollywood epic.” With the Palais de Tokyo (nicknamed the “Dôme”) as canvas, Owens put on a show with unity as its overarching theme.
Staying true to the theme, Owens invited students from a wide variety of fashion schools to strut down the catwalk alongside models and circus artists, according to an article on L’Officiel USA—a powerful message of inclusivity and solidarity.
Gothic met glamor on the Owens catwalk: gym shorts were paired with chiffon capes, alongside basketball sneakers, creating a hip and edgy blend of streetwear and haute couture. Art Deco-crowns added a whiff of drama, which Owens loves to court, according to a report by the Associated Press.
A total of 200 looks made their way down the Palais de Tokyo’s grand staircase and marble-tiled plaza, as plumes of smoke blurred the model’s silhouettes. With his show, Owens emphasized the importance of “unity and reliance on each other” in the face of global “intolerance.”
