PART THREE: IN WHICH FASHION WHORE JORDAN SILVER REPORTS FROM PARIS' MENS FASHION WEEK AUTUMN/SPRING 2006
The Number 1 line on the Paris metro took us to the very last stop. We had arrived at La Defense, the location of the A/W 2006 Raf Simons show. If it were New York, it'd be the equivalent of taking the L train to the very last stop in Brooklyn. Whatever that may be. Ihave no idea. I don't really go to Brooklyn.
Stepping out of the metro station, I laid eyes on the most awe inspiring sight of my entire life. La Defense Great Arch stands what seems to be hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air, although its exact height again I have no idea. After climbing the massive set of stairs, we were greeted by the most charming of Parisian doormen. He was more than happy to let us wait in the cold until we were frozen solid, regardless of the fact that we had invites.
It took a little finesse, but eventually we made our way into a small glass cylinder and were flying straight to the top in a small glass tube, Jetsons style. Stepping out of the elevator was like stepping into the future.
We were immediately met by a huge open loft space, filled with what seemed like a never ending maze of a single row of seating. in every corner of the room stood a large tower of lights, continuously changing color and setting the room aglow. After a bit of milling around and crowd watching, we took somebody else's conveniently nearby seat and waited for the show to start. Soon enough the lights faded to black and a strange alien hum was being pumped out of the speakers.
When the lights came back on the first look was already working his way down the long and tangled catwalk. The show started with a series of uniform pants and shoes paired with different pattern sweaters of extremely intricate and varied knits. Like his Jil Sander show, Raf chose to mainly focus on the top portion of the male silhouette.
Things then progressed into woven button downs, again of varying degrees of detail or intricacy. However it wasn't until Raf sent out the seasons outerwear ,which was clearly the star of the show, that things started to get really interesting. Amazing down jackets in techno fabrics gave the appearance of multiple layers, with opened unzipped jackets folding at the collar into a second closed jacket. I have honestly never seen anything like it.
The very next look, I was stunned again with a single pea coat. Again, the item looked like two separate pieces, one organic fabric and one techno. The Jackets and sweaters kept coming, keeping the focus trained on the top half of the body, however, even the pants were stunningly detailed with layered waists and minuscule pleats.
All in all, it was the clean lines and futuristic fabrics we've all come to expect from Raf Simons. However, this time he left out his trademark over sized silhouette. It took a while to exit the show seeing as the elevators only accommodated about 8 passengers at a time. When we finally made it out we were off the the Number (N)ine after party.
To Be Continued...
Comments