Mood board: Last year the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris staged a glorious exhibition unpicking the unique story of the Maharaja d’Indore – Yeshwant Rao Holkar Bahadur. Bahadur was a figure across both the European and Indian cultural set who commissioned The Manik Bagh Palace, one of the most well-known Modernist constructions of 1930s India. ‘He was an incredible drifter through different cities. He decided to abandon his past in India and embrace Modernism. He was photographed with Man Ray and went into the Surrealist movement – he was this person who just drifted into different things in life. This idea of an urban drifter was interesting to me,’ artistic director Clare Waight Keller said. A/W 20 featured glossed leather trousers and oversized patchwork knits, heavy metal capped boots, bullion thread and crystal embroideries. The look was eclectic yet precise.
Best in show: Slimline tailoring, double-breasted blazers and nipped-in coats were clasped shut with brooches, kilt pins and fob chains laden with charms. Backstage, Keller spoke of the different cultures the prince mingled with; in 1938, he married for a second time in Los Angeles and this mood was translated into a sharpness of suiting. A more urban style paired with the couture elements such as the latex high collar undershirts by Atsuko Kudo and full, hand-embroidered opulent evening wear.
Sound bite: One year on from presenting her first standalone menswear collection for the house, Keller is developing the 1970s glamour and élan she seems to enjoy. ‘A/W 20 is a slightly tougher guy. I have two sides of my menswear – last season was the more urban side but, in Paris, I wanted to remember that really sharp Givenchy, the dark, mysterious romantic that is running through all of my work here.’ An opulence flowing into the couture. ‘The Maharaja d’Indore had this incredible dynamic of moving though different cultures in life and I think that sort of speaks to the way we should be in the world today.’ A spontaneous elegance for new age nomads.
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