Raf Simons S/S 2020 Paris Fashion Week Mens

Backstage Raf Simons S/S 2020 — Raf Simons S/S 2020. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

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.

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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.