Raf Simons S/S 2020 Paris Fashion Week Men's
![Backstage Raf Simons S/S 2020](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mp7JYz7v354ivFETA9KKg8-415-80.jpg)
Scene setting: Simons’s show was held an hour outside of Paris in an industrial hanger-like space – he enjoys presenting his work outside of the inner circle, and so the mood was both cautious and cool. There was a punky spirit to the S/S 2020 collection bolstered further by the bricolage set. Guests sat on standard-issue office swivel chairs, wrapped in glossy black plastic designed by Bureau Betak. The floor was a pale purple carpet. The music ricocheted off the metal walls.
Mood board: Earlier in the season, Simons’ longstanding collaborator Sterling Ruby debuted his own line of ready-to-wear and accessories at Pitti Uomo 96; the rumour was that Simons’ hand was all over it (his right-hand man Pieter Mulier even walked in the show). For Simons’ label, the painterly graphics and textures of Ruby’s work was there in T-shirts which were printed and then painted, almost lacquered over. Long collarless jackets – labelled RS lab coats – had scraps of fabrics pinned on as if ready to be resampled. Shorts were cut high on the thigh and covered in patches that read: ‘MY OWN PRIVATE ANTWERP, ‘STONE(D) AMERICA’ and ‘HOW TO TEXT YOUR TEEN.’ Everything Simons does smells like 90s teen sprit. The look had a rebellious collegiate kink. Smock dresses worn on top of shirting and rolled up trousers had ruched gloves which gave them a perverse punk.
Best in show: Standout were the outerwear and coats. A check dressing gown style and a camel trench came with lapels folded in on themselves. A double breasted blazer had its sleeves hacked off. Late 1980s dinner jackets with wide shoulders and white lapels were shrugged on over horror-movie-summer-camp-clothes. Leather wellies were embossed with upside down smiley faces.
Raf Simons S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
Raf Simons S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
Raf Simons S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
Raf Simons S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons rove the digital realm for S/S 2021
‘Technology is a part of humanity itself’ said the duo of their live streamed S/S 2021 show
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Alexander McQueen A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Akris A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Givenchy A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
By Laura Hawkins Last updated