Mood board: The concept of travel and the meandering man are never far from the S/S season – menswear often looks to explore, subvert or explain notions of journeying. A man is always on the move, scaling mountains or running against the wind. It might have much to do with the activewear moment which has dogged fashion for a couple of years now; we are looking for newness in a samey world. At Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli often draws on faraway lands for inspiration and, for S/S 2020, the line of the Arabic djellaba robe and the moroccan caftan was key. They evoked a free spirit, with a touch of the handmade. Crochet and embroidery met with suiting, giving conservative clothes a couture consideration.
Team work: Imagined landscapes by English artist Roger Dean were applied liberally through the collection. Dean is known for the otherworldly scenes he created for posters and prog rock album covers in the late 1970s. Eight of his canvases were on show in January this year as part of the 24th L.A. Art Show. Collaboration with artists has become a standard of the luxury fashion market – and, for S/S20, Valentino’s elegance and modern masculinity was reframed by the dramatic, graphic pop of Dean’s sci-fi vision. Three of his works, ‘Yellow City’, ‘Dragon Garden’ and ‘Blind Owl’ were used on shirting and embroidered onto outerwear. Dean’s planets rippled on the surface of a roomy cagoule.
Best in show: Flowing outwear covered smart, lean suits. Floaty silk shirts, cotton blouses, a boxy cavalry coat in tan had mint green inserts. The look was gestural. Super-roomy coats kept their shape. Fringes were applied to the front of classic light denim jackets. Standout was a split leather trench in cornflower blue. Dean’s work was embroidered onto a zip-up jacket, an impossible yet welcoming landscape. The billowing trench and longer length shirts eased into a summer of the senses. §
