Mood board: The men’s S/S 2018 Issey Miyake collection was titled ‘Through the Desert’. The show notes talked about the presence of a powerful man in an immense landscape. Fashion hokum or a case in point? Sometimes it is hard to tell, but Yusuke Takahashi’s collection, which was shown in the modernist stepped courtyard of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie was the utmost in urbane elegance. With technical fabrications deft of hand, these clothes are rigid yet languid, minimalist yet rich.
Finishing touches: Standout were a series of overshirts made from fabrics that use a salt-shrinking technique. Applied in a ripple mark pattern on polyester broad cloth and cotton, the pattern had a tribal modernism that underscored the rigorous minimalism of the suiting, which closed the show. Takahashi’s trekking man will need lightweight clothes that require minimal care; the tailored suits are treated with pleated pressing after being sewn, which means that the vertical wrinkles create a clean sharp look that needs no ironing. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Best in show: The house revisited its classic double face cotton textile, which has been a constant in the collections since the 1970s. And, taking inspiration from the dryness of the desert, treated cut-jacquard woven with wool, polyester and cotton to create ripple textures. In contrast to last season, there was less billowing. S/S 2018 made a stronger statement for what to wear in the wilderness. A shrunken opera coat-cum-bomber jacket had a utilitarian drama.
