Catwalk tour: the top Men's fashion week venues of S/S 2014

Fashion / 18 Jul 2013

Salvatore Ferragamo
The screens that framed the show space at Milan's Palazzo Mezzanotte were emblazoned with moving images of a deep blue sky, superimposed with geometric elements that echoed the forms of the modular white seating.

Writer: Rosa Bertoli

Dior Homme
The Villa Eugénie team dressed the large show space at the Tennis Club de Paris in white, with a mirrored labyrinth guiding the models' path. The reflections played with Kris Van Assche's perfectly executed geometric minimalism.

Paul Smith
Pink was the hue of the season for Paul Smith, appearing in every shade on his finely-tailored collection. The Halle Freyssinet also glowed pink for the occasion, with a bright candy-coloured catwalk and a more muted rose shade for the walls.

Dolce & Gabbana
For their latest show, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana looked south to their homeland Sicily once again. Boys walked down the catwalk outfitted with garments bearing prints of the island's temples, while behind them an illuminated olive tree projected magical shadows on the surrounding space.

Hackett
The label took over the Victorian arcades of Old Billingsgate Market for its London Collections: Men show. The London Philharmonic Orchestra played by the models' entrance to the catwalk, while large prints of 1960s images by photographer Terry O'Neill were installed in an exhibition space behind the catwalk.

Ermenegildo Zegna
Opening Milan Fashion Week, Stefano Pilati's debut at Ermenegildo Zegna was hosted in a large industrial space in one of the city's up and coming areas. Large screens encircled the horseshoe-shaped catwalk, on which a video (shot and edited by Johan Soderberg) was projected, showing the rhythmical movements of Zegna's looms at work, interspersed with footage of a solo pianist.

Hardy Amies
Savile Row tailoring house Hardy Amies held its presentation at the top of London's Gherkin. Models stood on simple black blocks that blended with the floor, with the London skyline and the building's iconic architecture serving as a perfect backdrop.

Jil Sander
Every season, Thierry Dreyfus plays with the theme of white at Jil Sander's intimate Milanese show space. For the German designer's latest show, the catwalk featured an outer rectangle and three intersecting paths running through it, with transparent Perspex screens placed in the middle of the set up, referencing the geometric elements of the collection.

Valentino
The Hotel Salomon De Rothschild's frescoed halls served as the backdrop for Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri's Valentino collection once again. The simple seating set-up was centered around the multi-toned wooden catwalk, whose lines neatly juxtaposed the diagonal stripes of the parquet flooring.

Moncler Gamme Bleu
Thom Browne recreated a miniature cricket ground for his latest Moncler spectacle. Inside Milan's Padiglione Visconti, models dressed in a contemporary take on cricket clothing marched across an AstroTurf field - with lines of cricket balls outlining its edges. They congregated at the end of the 'field' for a group photograph.

Comme des Garçons
The rusty bowels of the Espace Vendôme were the backdrop of Rei Kawakubo's highly symbolic, dark collection. The moody interiors matched the punk vibes of the models' looks.

Prada
For her latest show, Miuccia Prada took tropical prints and gave them a gloomy, subdued feel. The set - conceived once again by OMA's think tank AMO - represented a 'menacing paradise', a ghost town of buildings that referenced the collection's prints.

Roberto Cavalli
The label transformed the courtyard of a 15th century Milanese palazzo on via Cappuccio into a Middle-Eastern paradise for its presentation, kitted out with lanterns, floaty fabrics and lush vegetation. The collection was shown on mannequins and large photographic prints by Rankin, which were arranged in the arcades around the garden.

Trussardi
For her debut show at the helm of her family's fashion house, Gaia Trussardi's set transported show-goers to the desert, with stylised dunes painted on canvas and a sand-coloured catwalk.

Versace
The catwalk at Versace clearly referenced Donatella's collection, with the same asymmetrical fluorescent strips of colour that made their way onto models' skin and clothing also found on the white catwalk. The Medusa logo at the top of the runway was reworked in lime green and bright yellow shades. Flanked by large trees, the energetic set was once again housed in Versace's Milanese HQ on Via Gesù.

Junya Watanabe
The models walked down the halls of a former brass musical instruments factory in Paris. Guests were seated on spartan benches on each side of the space, while the floors were covered in AstroTurf, which bounced a green glow onto the models and surroundings.

Z Zegna
A cross-shaped catwalk was installed in the Z Zegna's Milanese headquarters, which carved out grey seating areas. Walls were paneled with three-dimensional reproductions of the house pentagram logo.

Dries Van Noten
The house's set was a shining affair. A giant metallic screen was installed on one side of the catwalk in the otherwise bare industrial space of Halle Freyssinet. The reflections glimmered on the concrete floors and the flower-print clad models. A live soundtrack came courtesy of drummer Cindy Blackman Santana.

Hermès
The summery catwalk was set amid the gardens of the Couvent Des Cordeliers. Taking full advantage of the landscape architecture, the catwalk was arranged in the garden's pathways, lined by rows of chairs.

Umit Benan
Benan's latest collection was a celebration of his heritage, with a plethora of Turkish references. The set, housed in Milan's Teatro Franco Parenti, was transformed into a smoky Turkish gentlemen's club, featuring a collage of ottoman carpets for the catwalk. A traditional orchestra provided the soundtrack for the show.

Kenzo
Guests arriving at the Académie Fratellini were greeted by a geometric carpet of fresh fruit. Surrounding this was a series of bars serving raw organic juices from Bob's Cold Press to show-goers. The show itself, with scenography by the Villa Eugenie team, was held inside the main hall of the Parisian circus academy and had a more intimate feel, with subdued lighting and a discreet geometric pattern on the circular catwalk.

Thom Browne
The École Militaire de Paris was a perfect match for the American designer’s exuberant take on army attire. Browne's eccentric soldiers marched through the academy’s porches and onto the neatly-manicured cloistered 18th century garden.

Brioni
A celebration of Rome in Milan - the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera played host to Collier Schorr's images of the Brioni S/S 2014 collection shot inside Roman landmark, Villa Medici. The dreamy photographs were arranged around the arcades of the Milanese academy's inner courtyard, the soft pastel tones beautifully matching the architecture.

Saint Laurent
Since taking over the house of Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane has shown a fondness for experimenting with lighting. This season, his catwalk at the Grand Palais was flanked by extendable poles with moving lighting panels projecting a dim light on the models' path, and a further set of dusky lights serving as backdrop

Raf Simons
Raf Simons presented his Spring catwalk show in Paris' Gagosian Gallery Le Bourget, where his collection was revealed alongside works by Jean Prouvé and Alexander Calder. Models weaved their way in between Prouvé's 'Station Essence Total' (pictured left), while some of the audience were seated within 'Pavillon Démontable' (pictured right), the portable gas filling station he designed in the 1970s

Savile Row
An army of navy blue, tweeds and pastel shades conquered the Lord’s cricket ground for the Savile Row presentation in association with Woolmark. The British tailoring houses joined forces and took over the Lord’s Pavilion, to mount an impressive sartorial pageant. Leisurely sitting on white field-side benches or drinking on the upper terrace, the models offered a spectacle aptly suited to the ‘modern gentleman’ identity of the collections.

Cerruti
For his latest effort at Cerruti 1881, Aldo Maria Camillo chose a venue of contrasts. His team set up a minimal tent with panelled lighting, evocative of a Victorian greenhouse, in the romantic rose gardens of Paris’ Institut National des Jeunes Sourds. The rain falling on the clear tent provided the perfect counterpoint to the moody undertones of the collection.

CP Company
For its second London Collections: Men outing, Italian brand CP Company took guests on a futuristic journey through a video corridor displaying projected details of its parkas.

Ports 1961
The 18th century Rococo halls of Milan’s Palazzo Bocconi played host to the Ports 1961 show. The bright Sala Bocconi was used as a show space, with a mirrored gold catwalk running through the elongated, gilded arcade, discreetly reflecting the collection’s modern cuts and fabrics.

Lanvin
Once again, Lucas Ossendrijver chose the Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts to present his collection. The architectural elements of the Parisian school’s main hall were left bare, and the space flooded with natural light, beautifully enhancing the garments’ exquisite details.

Burberry Prorsum
It was a momentous season for Burberry menswear, with the brand returning to show in its home town after over ten years in Milan. Christopher Bailey's boys strutted their stuff in the brand's beautiful showspace in Kensington Gardens.

Alexander McQueen
Sarah Burton chose an abandoned canal-side space near London’s King’s Cross railway to present her Spring menswear effort. The gloomy, run-down setting was enhanced by an ominous cloud of thick white smoke that encircled the models as they walked down a textured cobblestone pavement.

Catwalk tour: the top Men's fashion week venues of S/S 2014

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