With fashion’s relentless pace and mercurial trends – which can change on the slightest whim – it takes a brave designer to imagine not only a wardrobe primed for 70 years in the future, but one which will also last for the 70 years between then and now. 

Step forward Chitose Abe, the endlessly imaginative designer behind the avant-garde Japanese label Sacai, founded after experience as a pattern cutter at Comme des Garçons under Rei Kawakubo, and later in the design team of Junya Watanabe. Revealed today, Abe has united with Moncler as part of its 70th anniversary year, creating a number of garments designed with longevity in mind – bridging the gap between the Italian outerwear brand’s first 70 years and the next. 

Moncler x Sacai: the wardrobe of the future

As ever, she does so through shapeshifting, hybrid garments, which contain a multitude of functional elements allowing them to be worn in several different ways. Comprising two full looks for men and two full looks for women, each one is made up of ‘multi-use’ garments – a jacket, for example, can be attached to a pair of trousers to create a boiler suit, while another down jacket has internal straps meaning that it can also be worn as a backpack. As such, pieces have a mood of both pragmatism and adventure – one which may prove fitting over the decades to come.

The collaboration continues both brands’ voracious appetite for collaboration: Moncler has created collections with Thom Browne, Rick Owens, Adidas and Pharrell Williams, among others, while Sacai has collaborated with Nike, Carhartt and, most recently, Mercedes-Benz AMG on a special collection and car wrap to celebrate the arrival of the F1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

The Moncler x Sacai pieces first appeared as part of Sacai’s A/W 2023 collection, shown in Paris as part of men’s fashion week this past January. There, Abe looked towards other time-travelling inspirations – notably, Christopher Nolan’s black hole space thriller Interstellar. ‘The importance of learning from the past and a future informed with what’s gone before,’ she said of the collection at the time.

Moncler x Sacai is available from moncler.com and selected Moncler boutiques now.

Start your engines – a new collaboration between Chitose Abe’s offbeat Japanese fashion label Sacai and Mercedes-AMG is revealed today, ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix which takes place on the neon-lit streets of Sin City this Saturday at 10pm local time (18 November 2023). 

The collection, designed by Abe alongside the AMG team – AMG is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, which competes as part of the F1 calendar – draws inspiration from the ‘Red Pig’, the playfully nicknamed Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, AMG’s first racing car. 

First look: Sacai x AMG

A blueprint for the Mercedes-Benz S Class that would follow, the 1971-built car debuted at the ‘24 Hours of Spa’ endurance race where, despite being a full-size sedan, it nonetheless ’against all odds’ finished in second place – an underdog story which has gone down in racing lore.

It provides the perfect starting point for Abe, whose work at Sacai has been defined by the fusing together of often idiosyncratic elements and materials into singular hybrid garments (for example, a trench coat might be melded with a puffer jacket, a walking-style sandal with a towering rubber sole). Much of this expertise is derived from her experience as a pattern-cutter for Rei Kawakubo and time spent as part of the Junya Watanabe design team, while her hybrid approach has also seen Sacai collaborate with a slew of other brands and figures – from Ghetto Gastro to Nike.

‘Our approach to design with purpose at Sacai is to always explore the quintessential forms and create something new,’ she explains. ‘The purest intention is to start from the archetype, which also applies to collaborations, working with the original and the best in its respective fields.’

Here, this results in a performance wear-rooted collection that spans racing-style overalls – adorned with the vintage-inspired Sacai AMG logo – alongside patch-and badge-covered varsity jackets, blousons and T-shirts. Mercedes-AMG says the collection was an ‘intellectual exercise’ in combining both parties’ distinct design philosophies and codes. The collection is available in AMG Speed City in Las Vegas from from now until 17 November 2023 and on nordstrom.com.

But that’s not all – for full Sacai x AMG immersion, Abe has also collaborated with AMG on a special car ’wrap’ in mirrored chrome – giving the somewhat unique opportunity to match your outfit to your car (though sadly, the one-off wrap is not currently available for sale). It also features a series of badges and embossed shapes which mimic those found in the collection itself.

‘[It’s] innovative, disruptive and unique,’ says Michael Schiebe, Mercedes-AMG’s CEO of the project. ‘AMG and Sacai sit at the intersection of luxury and performance in their respective fields, and we are thrilled to see the collaboration come to life in a way that feels authentic to both brands’ DNA.’

The collection is available in AMG Speed City in Las Vegas from now until 17 November 2023 and on nordstrom.com.

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mercedes-amg.com

In December 2022, Tokyo welcomed a food-fashion mash-up as New York-based culinary collective Ghetto Gastro – which promises to bring ‘Bronx to the world, and the world to the Bronx’ – united with Japanese brand Sacai on an ephemeral restaurant, ‘Sacai Gastro’. 

Housed in Tokyo Burnside, in the city’s Harajuku neighbourhood, the restaurant offered a menu that riffed on a Ghetto Gastro mainstay, the waffle – the collective sells its own ‘Wavy’ waffle and pancake mixes in an array of flavours – here shaped like the sole of a Nike shoe (Sacai is a longtime collaborator with the sportswear brand).

Ghetto Gastro unites with Sacai on capsule

Although the restaurant closed after a brief run, those who missed out are now able to buy into the project with a special capsule collection of clothing made in collaboration between Ghetto Gastro and Sacai creative director Chitose Abe. Originally designed as the staff uniform, the pieces draw on the ease of chef’s whites – an oversized T-shirt, wide-legged trousers, a wraparound apron – reimagined in a bold bandana print, a hallmark of Sacai’s own collections.

‘Besides loving the aesthetic of the manner in which Chitose fashions the Sacai bandana garments, bandanas have deep cultural resonance and range from Bronx gangs in the 1970s to the blue-collar labourers,’ say Ghetto Gastro. ‘As the Black power kitchen, it’s only right we rock the black paisley.’

Ghetto Gastro was founded in 2012 by chefs Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker and Malcolm Livingston II, alongside CEO Jon Gray, the last serving as a judge for the Wallpaper* Design Awards in 2022 (Livingston II is no longer part of the collective). Working at the intersection of food and culture, the collective say they use their work to tell stories about ‘where we come from and the cultures that inspire us, generating excitement by merging the cooking traditions of Black, brown, and Asian folks’. Previous collaborations include Cartier, Serpentine Galleries and Crux.

‘What I love about what we’ve been able to build is the respect and adoration for what we do, which is very Black,’ Gray told Wallpaper’s Pei-Ru Keh in 2022. ‘[We’ve] been able to put a premium on Blackness, especially in this vernacular that we have that’s really coming from being a product of divested communities.’

Abe, meanwhile, founded Sacai in 1999, and alongside her collections has been a prolific collaborator, uniting with Nike, Beats by Dre and Cartier, among others. She calls her approach a ‘melting pot’, a slogan which appeared across her A/W 2019 collection.

This latest collaboration will be available exclusively on Sacai and Ghetto Gastro’s websites, as well as Sacai Aoyama store and Dover Street Market New York, from today (28 April 2023).

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ghettogastro.com

Mood board: ‘Here's my chance to dance my way, Out of my constrictions’: just two uplifting lines from Funkadelic’s One Nation Under a Groove, so perninent in today’s fractured times. They bore particularly resonance with Sacai’s Chitose Abe for S/S 2020, who used the record’s cover as a pertinent t-shirt slogan. Constriction has never affected the designer, who is famed for creating hybrid garments from fractures of different silhouettes. For spring, her ‘harmonious’ designs included dresses spliced from ribbed knits and shirts, boucle suits with subversive pompom and transparent panels and gauzy pleated dresses overlaid with sporty paper bag skirts. The look was oversized and exaggerated, with rope belts and sculptural carabiners pulling silhouettes into place. Abe even create dresses which resembled chiffon lavalliere blouses trousers and a trenchcoat.

Best in show: A cartographical map print also evoked Abe’s harmonious vision. These were emblazoned in grayscale or in bold colour on transparent shirts, fluid dresses and flowing trousers. Finishing touches: Chunky chains have featured heavily on the spring catwalks, from Bottagea Veneta to Agnona, and here they were layered as thick chokers of varying thicknesses. Elsewhere, globe shape bags were carried or hung as pendants from long necklaces, like world-shape minaudieres.

Finishing touches: Chunky chains have featured heavily on the spring catwalks, from Bottagea Veneta to Agnona, and here they were layered as thick chokers of varying thicknesses. Elsewhere, globe shape bags were carried or hung as pendants from long necklaces, like world-shape minaudieres.

Mood board: Guests sat on pressed plywood and MDF boxes that slotted over the seat of French bar chairs, interrupting the black lacquer spindles with a hard modern line. The floor was strewn with haphazard rugs, embodying creative director Chitose Abe’s hybrid approach. Abe started the season musing on Dude’s observation from The Big Lebowski: ’That rug really tied the room together.’ It underlined her modular aesthetic, to jumble familiar forms and archetypes into complex, layered pieces. The traditional met the techno.

Best in show: The merging together of recognisable staples tricked the eye. Abe’s clothes had a studied playfulness and there was a certain nonchalance to her military jackets cut into shirts and the cable knit jumpers spliced into zip-up sports jackets. An over-sized denim jacket was attached to a shrunken version of the same; a child’s size MA1 jacket was lain over an over-sized adult version. Each piece was meticulously engineered. Cuffs from a denim jacket were cut off and applied to a striped shirt. Suit lining was used for sleeves, trouser hems interrupted with bands of contrasting fabric.

Team work: Prints – sourced from the archives of Hawaiian shirt legend Duke Kahanamoku – appeared on shirting, trousers and outerwear. The sense of the sea and the spirit of adventure was in the air. Models wore t-shirts made from a newly developed Brewed Protein Blended sustainable fabric by Japanese bio-tech research lab Spiber. Their fronts featured ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ graphics by Fabien Baron. New for S/S 2020 was a patchwork mountaineering pant made with Gramicci.

Moodboard: Hybridisation is a key word for Chitose Abe. More and more in the last few years, her brand Sacai has been defined by that concept, but its meaning has changed with time. Lately, it mostly meant clothes divided vertically, combining two different pieces in one. Monday’s show, however, proved that the Japanese designer has evolved. At the basement of the Palais de Tokyo, she showed a collection that was all about layering, but also one that perfectly exemplified where fashion is heading this season.

Best in show: It was a focused show that toyed with fashion’s current obession with bourgeois codes. The silhouette was strong at the shoulders, voluminous yet cinched at the waist, and what the layering did was combine different – and unexpected – pieces of clothing. Abe said the inspiration came from her own youth, when she layered Ralph Lauren kids’ button-downs over vintage dresses. Thus, cropped jackets, fitted perfectos and mini parkas were associated with maxi trenchcoats, elongated bomber jackets and quilted knee-length outerwear. But the designer also focused on knitwear, creating a series of chunky Fair Isle sweaters opened on the side and zipped horizontally. Pieces that clearly demanded less of the wearer yet were truly unique.

Finishing touches: Abe usually loves a good slogan tee, usually inserting one or two in her collections almost as an unexpected in-joke. This time, though, she swapped it for a dripping paint print, inspired, she said, by Jackson Pollock (not his canvases, but as in the paint-covered floor of his studio). Several long coats were covered in it too. Accessories also caught the audience’s eye. This season, Sacai collaborated with two other brands in their creation: French-born Charlotte Chesnais designed the golden pieces of jewellery, mostly in the shape of delicate earcuffs, while Tokyo-based brand Native Sons was responsible for the old-Celine-worthy sunglasses.

Mood Board: Sartorial hybridation has been Chitose Abe’s raison d’être ever since she founded Sacai back in 1999. In the past 19 years, the Japanese designer has consistently explored the myriad ways in which two garments can be assembled to create a surprise. But that doesn’t mean she has sat complacently in her success. Abe is still seeking evolution. This time, her focus was equilibrium. More particularly, the one found in the way asymmetry rebalances once on the body. An obscure premise, perhaps, but one that made for an interesting collection.

Best in show: This time, Sacai’s wabi-sabi sense of beauty concentrated on vertical lines, and the starting point of the collection were the ever-practical vintage military jacket and the trench coat, both of which were metamorphosed through the addition of organza panels, tuxedo sleeves, knitwear, lace details and even a fisherman’s vest. Details got more and more intricate as the show went by,  building up to a finale of flower-printed pleated skirts and dresses based on vintage prints by Henri Kvasnevski. 

Finishing touches: For S/S 2019, Chitose Abe showed a particular flair for handbags. There was a tote bag – asymmetrical too, you guessed it – with golden zipper details that looked appealing, but it was the leather shopping clutches (mimicking paper boutique bags) in black and white – and in medium and large sizes – which really caught our eyes.

Scene setting: The Sacai fashion show at number 11, rue Béranger took place in what appeared to be an abandoned six-storey car park in the middle of Le Marais, but this 1970s-designed building used to be the headquarters of Libération, one of France’s leading left-wing newspapers. It was only vacated three years ago, due to the damaging cocktail of spiralling rents and dwindling print sales. While the building remained unoccupied some newspaper vestiges still remained, including some colourful Noughties Macs. The first to trespass into this previously unchartered territory was Dries Van Noten who showed his menswear collection there a couple of seasons ago, and since then it has become more of a staple during Paris Fashion Week. And for a good reason: the light is bountiful and guests are treated to one of the most privileged views of Paris. 

Best in show: Casual or formal? The Sacai woman just doesn’t answer to that question. Instead, she combines both... at the same time. Designer Chitose Abe has always explored the idea of hybrid dressing, but this time it was ramped up to another level – blazers turned into denim jackets, coats into puffas and, of course, trousers into her signature pleated skirts. There was a prominent college theme, visible in horizontal burgundy and navy blue stripes and in handmade knits featuring intarsia coats of arms, the most exciting – and newest – pieces. Elsewhere, there were bicolour pieces (a recurring trend this season) in the shape of trenchcoats merged with dresses. It will interesting to see how Chitose Abe translates the most intricate pieces in the commercial collection.

Finishing touches: It appears zebra and leopard worn together are back in fashion... but only if decorating a pair of mismatched shoes: ankle boots, pumps, and chelsea booties in animal-printed calf hair accessorised most of the looks. But nothing caught our attention as much as the electric blue and orange rectangular bags sporting the logo of the legendary Shibuya vinyl store, Manhattan Records. The kind of delicious oddity which the fashion-savvy fans of Sacai will adore.

‘I got fired over that dress!’ says Carla Sozzani, pointing at a sculpted strapless black gown from Azzedine Alaïa’s 1988 collection. Sozzani and Alaïa’s partner, the artist Christophe von Weyhe (both founders of the Association Azzedine Alaïa), opened an exquisite show in Paris last night, showing 41 works by the renowned couturier, curated by Olivier Saillard. ‘I shot it for the cover of Italian Elle with Paolo Roversi,’ she adds. ‘It was a beautiful image – it flew like an angel – but a Parisian couturier on the cover of an Italian magazine! That was not considered a good move.’ 

The exhibition, covering a lifetime’s work and entitled ‘Je Suis Couturier’, was in the planning stages before Monsieur Alaïa’s unexpected passing in November 2017. Yet the work – dating from his signature flitty hemmed, sculpted black-seamed jersey dresses of 1981 – proves unnervingly timeless. ‘We decided to chose pieces in black and in white to show the essence of Alaïa,’ says Saillard. ‘Alaïa was always incredible in his technical research and his sensibility was always passionate. He was the heir of Charles James, Madame Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga.’

The essence? Alaïa sought to rebuild the sensuality of a woman in material; to create a shadow and allow a woman to ‘be’, says Saillard. On clothing, Alaïa has said: ‘I like when they are beautiful and timeless, not cluttered with details, ornaments and colours that prematurely age them. The simplest are the most difficult to create.’ 

Alaïa created his first collection in 1979, in black and optical whites that he ‘carved’ into divine dresses that could be simultaneously dignified and erotic. Whether working in black leather (there are two fantastic ruched and knotted mini skirts worn with black bodies from 1983), cotton, jersey, leather or mousseline, Alaïa was a master of his material, silhouette and proportion, and he continually evolved his oeuvre, pushing the boundaries for what was technically possible and always with an invisible touch. The collection is shown on body forms rather than traditional mannequins to show off the personality of the dresses, including a sinuous hooded white jersey (recreated from a black version 1986) and worn by Grace Jones.

There are several looks in the exhibition from his last couture collection, shown in July 2017 to a standing ovation and featuring his long time friend Naomi Campbell modelling. ‘I wore that one!’ said Campbell, pointing to a long gown with a velvet bodice and metal-studded pleated skirt. Cindy Crawford, in a leopard trench, and her model daughter, Kaia Gerber, friends Marc Newson and Charlotte Stockdale, and Sacai’s Chitose Abe were also at the opening at the start of haute couture week in Paris at 18 Rue de la Verrerie, where Alaïa lived, entertained and worked.

‘My friendship began in 1959. I was a student at art school and we had a mutual friend in common. I first painted Alaïa’s portrait in 1972. Alaïa did not change, he always wanted to explore the possibilities of realising the dress and he did absolutely everything in the making from A–Z,’ says von Weyhe. A series of his works are on show in Alaïa’s home in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, until March 2018.

INFORMATION

’Je Suis Couturier’ is on view until 10 June. For more information, visit the Alaïa website

ADDRESS

Galerie Azzedine Alaïa
18 rue de la Verrerie
75004 Paris

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Mood board: The back of a sweatshirt in Chitose Abe’s A/W18 collection came with a warning. Printed onto it was the rousing declaration published in The New York Times on 26 Feb 2017: ‘Truth is more important now than ever.’ Abe translated this sentiment into an exploration of perception – championing a certain zany bravado that somehow managed to make a totally convincing proposition for modern dressing. It had a primal urgency. A cardigan composed of different spliced knits expressed a number of ideas coming together into one whole. Tops, leggings and shorts were fringed. MA-1 jackets expanded into shearlings; plaids puzzled together.
 
Finishing touches: In this time of fake news, the quest for truth is pertinent. Everywhere you turn, the politics of sex, gender and dress are being picked apart and redesigned for the new world. If the front row murmurings are to be believed, the future of separate seasonal menswear and womenswear shows is dubious. Kenzo, Burberry and JW Anderson have all combined them. Abe’s menswear was shown alongside the women’s pre-fall collection. The synergy between the two was a cool nod to gender-free style as Nordic knits were fused with American military wear; Fair Isle with pinstripe, arran mixed with cricket sweaters.
 
Team work: Hawaiian prints on corduroy, waffle and embroidery on outerwear were by the American heritage company, Reyn Spooner. Navajo feather charms were made by Goro’s. The real surprise for A/W18? Back are the stubby sheepskin boots that first came into their own in the early noughts as the footwear of choice for off-duty celebrities. Uggs went out of style for almost a decade so they have been suitably uncool for long enough to allow their status to be subverted. At Y/Project, Glenn Martens unveiled his version of the boot, which was elongated up to the thigh. He amplified its suburban slouch. Abe has collaborated with the brand on the tidy, mini style in tan, grey and black. They told a vital truth: comfort matters.

Mood board: For A/W 2017, Chitose Abe was preoccupied with the archetypal pieces of a woman’s wardrobe. Renowned for her hybrid take on design, combining silhouettes into new and distinctive forms, the designer reworked these traditional shapes spanning day to night – her opening look a pyjama-style suit with floral embroidery and a plethora of zips, or a high-performance ski knit, beaded and bejewelled with evening wear inspired attention. Military silhouettes – a Sacai signature, from MA1 bomber jackets, to double-breasted coats – were also in attendance, and alongside padding, tweeds, furs and plaids, Levi’s denim was also used, imagined in long skirts with sheer panels and gently flaring zipped jeans.

Best in show: The epitome of Abe’s hybridising aesthetic, a double-breasted coat with shining gold buttons featured double-sleeve cuffs, one pair rolled up to reveal a second MA1 bomber jacket sleeve in shiny khaki nylon. Another outerwear piece, a plaid cape, tapped into Abe’s ski-focused vision, and featured both elegant fringing and a raincoat-like yellow hood, lined with shearling.

Team work: Abe collaborated with Linda Farrow on sunglass frames which emphasised her interest in alpine imagery. The ovular and aviator styles resembled the shapes of ski goggles, with elasticated head-band details in different tweeds. Last season, the designer also debuted her bag collection with Katie Hillier, and her second collection also featured on the runway, with new styles including a hard beauty case (with studs and a shoulder strap) and a high-shine tote, inspired by recycling bags.

Mood board: Since launching in 2009, Sacai’s men’s line has established its signature style. Designer Chitose Abe is an alumna of Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe, and their influence is clearly signposted in her work. What Abe does, however, is tailor their eccentricity into something lighter, with a more delicate appeal. For A/W 2017 she explored the sense of mashing things together – creating garments from a hybrid of ideas. Fittingly, during a season which has focussed a lot on the heroes of art and the Beat Generation, the show was soundtracked by a lecture from the American novelist William S Burroughs. In it he spoke about making film or sound recordings by cutting and editing pre-existing material. Abe had applied the very same cut-up technique – famous for its influence on Bowie – to her clothes. 

Finishing touches: Merging familiar menswear classics, Abe reassembled ideas in idiosyncratic pairings. Concealed decoration was key, from the studded punk biker collars to the decorative braid applied to a gun club check blazer. Standout were the outerwear pieces in a pixelated-camo shearling. Utilitarian wool work shirts were adorned with ceremonial braids. 

Best in show: The show marked the season’s second outing for The North Face. A day after Junya Watanabe featured jackets cut from its classic duffel, Sacai unveiled its own capsule collection with the American brand. Central were the oversize parkas based on one of Sacai’s best-selling designs and a twist on the MA-1 bomber jacket. The project falls under The North Face Urban Exploration – a premium concept that aims to create more trend-led utility styles. 

Mood board: A lot always happens on a Sacai runway but Spring was particularly packed with choice options for the woman who loves to hybrid dress. Things began with a tribal motif and ended on a Jimi Hendrix Black Panther power note but in between we saw all manners of striping – from 19th century simple bedlinen stripes to bold umbrella stripes, preppy sailor stripes and even businessman pin stripes along with houndstooth and tartan plaids.

Best in show: The best of the mix were the new camouflage jacquards that glowed brilliantly in sassy asymmetrical skirts as well as a great segment on pyjama dressing that showed that banal silhouette amped up on huge wide legged pants and matching striped tops.

Finishing touches: Headgear was big at Sacai – from enormous feathered headdresses to military berets. Just as fierce was the footwear, which saw hiking boots redux as shiny black patent leather platforms with lug soles.

INFORMATION

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Prada: Mrs Prada once again partnered with Dutch studio AMO to build a backdrop for her menswear showcase at the Fondazione Prada complex. Decked out in hiking-inspired attire, models strode up and then down a continuous metal mesh ramp to a 1990s soundtrack.

Gucci: A huge serpent motif slithered along Alessandro Michele’s green-carpeted runway at Gucci this season. Deep-buttoned benches and wall panels upholstered in green velvet lined the space, while green lighting paired with a delicate mist created a totally immersive fashion experience

Acne Studios: For a collection that served as a tribute to the emptiness of the Swedish summer, Acne Studios staged a game of musical chairs within the dilapidated library space at Paris’ Lycée Charlemagne. Old-fashioned metal-legged school chairs were scattered along the runway with square mirrors placed on the floor in between them, reflecting the crumbling frescoes above. Meanwhile, multicoloured filters placed over the windowpanes created welcome chequerboards of colour against the peeling plasterwork and worn floorboards

Fendi: The holiday snaps of Pablo Picasso and David Hockney provided the inspiration for Fendi’s S/S 2017 outing. Decked out in terry cloth robes and striped totes, models made their way around a crisp-edged blue pool headed up by a bright yellow diving emblazoned with the Fendi logo

Givenchy: Riccardo Tisci presented his S/S 2017 menswear collection for Givenchy in the courtyard of Paris’ Lycée Janson de Sailly. Black and white cube-shaped stools, which echoed the optic checkerboard patterns in the collection, were laid out in three concentric circles to form the schoolyard catwalk

Dior Homme: Following on from last season’s skateboard ramps, Dior Homme returned to the Tennis Club de Paris with a rollercoaster set that swooped around the runway. Festooned with coloured light bulbs, Kris Van Assche’s fashion fun fair was designed to evoke the atmosphere of the Sinksenfoor amusement park in Antwerp, Belgium.

Moncler Gamme Bleu: Forty mosquito-netted one-man tents were erected along Moncler’s grass-lined runway this season. The elaborate staging, complete with trees and a campfire, provided the perfect backdrop for the label’s Boy Scout camping-themed show

Ami: Bathed in a golden glow that evoked early morning light, Alexandre Mattiussi’s romantic set occupied the length of one of the long curved walls within Paris’ Grand Palais. His models, clad nonchalantly in pleated trousers, nylon hoodies and knitted sweaters, walked alongside a series of tall windows, both real and fake, complete with billowing white linen curtains and slatted shutters that filtered the hazy light.

Balenciaga: With a blue sky overhead and a clear view of the 7th arrondissement and the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, the dazzling atrium of Paris’ Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague served as the setting for Balenciaga’s first ever men’s runway show. Arranged under the atrium’s spectacular curved, lattice-framed roof, a simple set with just three rows of seating lining either side of the catwalk let the spectacular cityscape do the talking

Belstaff: Inspired by On Any Sunday, a documentary about motorcycle racing made in 1971 starring Steve McQueen, Belstaff’s S/S 2017 collection was full of references to riding and motorcycle culture – as was the set. A dirt track peppered with pine trees, a vintage pick-up truck and motorbike transported the audience straight onto a Husqvarna in the California desert

Berluti: For S/S 2017, Berluti threw a lush poolside cocktail party complete with games, burger vans, champagne bars and a host of inflatable animals. To celebrate the launch of its opulent outdoor equipment – as part of a new lifestyle collection, which included skipping ropes, dumbbells, beach rackets and a set of boules – models skateboarded through garden paths, worked out to the sounds of Donna Summer and frolicked across a makeshift swimming pool, tossing a Venezia leather frisbee

Berthold: Presented in the dark concrete basement of London’s 180 The Strand, Raimund Berthold’s S/S 2017 collection was built around the outsized proportions of an old French cavalry coat. To reflect this, his minimalistic set, designed once again by Justyna Kabala, was filled with angular metal frameworks draped loosely with white fabric held in place by heaps of coral-coloured sand that spilled over onto the black rubber floor

Canali: Inspired by the intersecting warps and wefts of its textured jackets, pants and knitwear, Canali’s models emerged from a spiraling web of tension cables lit with steel blue and burnt sienna lighting to match the collection’s clout palette

Mackintosh: An undulating platform made up of mirrored panels and eleven white plinths served as the catwalk at Mackintosh’s S/S 2017 presentation. As well as highlighting the details of the British heritage brand’s three-quarter length coats, the mirrored flooring reflected and amplified the Edwardian splendor of the show’s location in the Waldorf’s Palm Court

CMMN SWDN: Channeling the souks of Marrakech, designer Kimberley Harding conjured a sun-soaked market place show set for CMMN SWDN. With a sand-covered floor, makeshift market stalls in warm shades of ochre, burnt sienna and terracotta echoed the collection’s colour palette

Issey Miyake Men: The sun-baked quadrant within Paris’ Université Pierre et Marie Curie provided the perfect platform for Issey Miyake Men’s India-inspired ‘Journey from a white page’ collection. Taking advantage of its stepped grid design, models stalked up and down the steps in perfect formation to the sound of Japanese band Kikagaku Moyo who performed at the centre

Kenzo: Creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon took to Carreau du Temple, a former clothes market, to showcase the French label’s S/S 2017 offering. A raised tiled platform, sprayed with abstract graffiti lines in petrol blue, acid green and black, set the scene for a 10am Saturday morning rave with a thumping house soundtrack

Louis Vuitton: Held in the open air among the columns of Paris’ impressive Palais Royal, Louis Vuitton’s show set had no trouble in evoking the hot plains of Africa – Kim Jones’ source of inspiration for S/S 2017. Snaking around square pyramid-style seating arrangements, the subtle pink stonework provided the perfect backdrop for Jones’ sun bleached palette of brown, taupe and beige

Pal Zileri: An enormous backdrop burning with bright magenta and green created a horizon-like effect for Pal Zileri’s sharp tailoring. Models walked out silhouetted against the screen before taking their turn along a spotlit, v-shaped runway

Philipp Plein: The designer’s ‘Sportsworld Spectacular’ themed show got underway on a basketball court set created by Simon Costin. Backdropped by a giant screen flashing up NBA logos and player stats, the court was awash with models, NBA-mascots, a troop of neon-clad cheerleaders and a gang of slam dunk acrobats from the Harlem Globetrotters. Lights flashed, flames were fired up into the air and rapper Busta Rhymes performed – exactly the type of no-expense-spared show that we’ve come to expect from Plein

Qasimi: Over at Somerset House designer Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi of Qasimi drew influence from the Gulf War and contemporary architecture for his collection ‘Videogames Wars’. Inspired by the undulating titanium facade of Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao, a riveted metal platform conceived by set designer Andrea Cellerino served as a rippling sand dune in Qasimi’s dystopian desert

Sacai: Held in an all-white orangerie-cum-art gallery space at the Jardin du Luxembourg, Chitose Abe’s Clockwork Orange-inspired collection for Sacai was paraded around strategically placed heaps of beige gravel that created a Mars-esque landscape

Thom Browne: The designer welcomed guests to a perfectly square gothic tropical island complete with its own black palm tree and glittering black sands for his S/S 2017 outing. Models dressed in wet suits, as seagulls and as birds of paradise added to the jovial atmosphere – as did the suited model wearing a shark head who opened the show to the Jaws soundtrack.

Valentino: Returning to their usual stately spot at Paris’ Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino presented a collection that they said was inspired by ‘the Shakespearean world transformed into an emotional alchemy’. Contrasting the opulent surrounds with rough timber clad bench seating, the simple set design reflected the collection’s languid, intentionally ‘undone’ mood

Thomas Pink: The house used a gravity-defying wall of chairs to showcase its S/S 2017 presentation at the ICA in London. Nonchalantly sitting on non-descript white-painted wooden chairs suspended across a blue-tiled wall, were 15 impeccably half-dressed men in a range of shirts, crisp boxer shorts, long, fine-gauge socks and leather lace-up shoes

Hermès: Renown for its luxurious goods and eminent handbags, the famous maison's latest collection – proposed by Véronique Nichanian for the menswear line – were utterly stupefying in their expert finish and unequivocally French mood. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Dior Homme: Set in the midst of a sprawling mass of rollercoaster tracks festooned with coloured lights, Kris van Assche's catwalk was said to be a direct replica of a ride that once stood at Sinksenfoor Antwerp, a traditional Belgian fairground. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus: Transparency and pageantry were the message of Rei Kawakubo's S/S 2017 collection. A raft of tailoring was layered with fine gauze, longline cardigans underneath or PVC trench coats on top, models milling about the raw concrete runway. Photography/Videography: Antonio Camera

Berluti: Instead of a traditional fashion show, Berluti chose a rather more active stage on which to showcase their new wears: a poolside party. A rather fitting touch, considering they debuted their new lifestyle collection. Alongside skipping ropes, dumbbells, beach rackets and a set of boules, the label’s signature hide was also hand-stitched around a football which models kicked around in a friendly match. Photography: Antonio Camera. Videography: Courtesy of Berluti

Mood board: Sacai's latest collection tip toed around new territory this season, taking its hybrid clothing down a new winter path lined with light weight sheer fabrics, tulle overlays and plenty of colourful patch worked lace.

Best in show: Not everything in this show gelled together in the brand's trademark sporty cool, but there were still plenty of gems to be had. Best were the opened looks of printed wool outerwear dotted with fox fur and sliced with utilitarian zips. The knitwear was also great, especially on zip front sweater jackets that rumbled with fanciful pattern.

Finishing touches: Some of our favourite pieces in the show were Sacai's hefty suede or beefy shearling winter gloves that were so long they reached the models’ under arms.

‘It can’t just be jewellery; it has to have something extraordinary about it,’ says Sacai’s Japanese creative director Chitose Abe of what first attracted her to the sculptural designs of Danish jeweller Sophie Bille Brahe. The pair met casually in London last year during mutual stockist Dover Street Market’s 10th birthday celebrations.

Abe was already a client of Brahe’s and on the Copenhagen jeweller’s next trip to Tokyo the idea for a capsule collection was cemented. Building upon Brahe’s Croissant moon and Elipse spear designs (already owned by Abe), the pair’s 10-piece earring project coined ‘sacaisophiebillebrahe’, debuted on Sacai’s S/S 2016 Paris fashion week runway.

Together, Brahe’s diamond and pearl designs were reconditioned with 18 carat gold chain fringe, exploring the notions of deconstruction and movement. ‘When a person wears Sacai and moves, a new element is discovered,’ explains Abe, who’s renowned from transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar. ‘I think that is the clothes’ strongest merit,’ she adds of her 16-year-old brand, founded after a decade at Comme des Garçons. ‘With regards to Sophie’s jewellery, I think it has the same element.’

For Brahe – whose business is currently transitioning from that of a ‘bright young thing’ to her well-earned status as a founding member of the powerhouse contemporary fine jewellery category – working with Abe widened her eyes to new creative and commerical possibilities. ‘As a small business, it reassured me to trust my gut, as Chitose has been so successful doing just that.’ Embodying that spirit, here two cult labels became one.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Sophie Bille Brahe’s website

Mood board: As usual Sacai designer Chitose Abe sped off on a spring highway of high quality cutting as she seared together panels of paisleys, stripes, animalia and intricate laces into her signature clothing collages. So many designers try to do the mix-mash thing but so few have the hand to slice fabrics the way Abe does, or the eye to stitch it back up into new, intriguing silhouettes that burn with the cool of the street.

Best in show: The best segment of this show was the first half in which Abe played with an intricate, gigantic open-weave guipure lace in black and navy blue that she cross-hatched with exotic animal printed silks to create swinging wide trousers, sporty bomber jackets and dresses with slashed, uneven hems.

Finishing touches: Abe anchored all of the artistry in a shoe that looked like a hard core, thick heeled mini cowboy boot. It came either lashed up in suede laces and buckles or was vampless and covered in black oversized netting.

INFORMATION
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

From the grandiosely impressive decors to quirky invitations, it's now a given that each meticulous detail of the seasonal show pilgrimage is carefully crafted to be entirely out-of-the-box. And the accompanying soundscape to this spring's men's season posed no exception.

Enchanting live performances (see Rhodes at Burberry Prorsum) and intoxicating DJ sets melodiously accompanied the S/S 2016 men's catwalk collections turning them into event spectaculars rather than just shows.

Jumping genres and eras we enjoyed Marylin Monroe's 'Boop Boop De Boop' at Dries Van Noten as much as Nile Rodgers' exclusive remix for Louis Vuitton's World Clique show. 'Nile is a hero of mine,' explained Louis Vuitton's Kim Jones. 'And he was perfect to work with this season as he is somebody that has crossed all boundaries with the many different artists he has collaborated with the world over,' he added of Chic's lead guitarist. 'Taking those global influences, mixing them together and making a new sound – Nile’s music is a metaphor for the collection.'

Louis Vuitton
'Chic Cheer' by Chic; 'Why' by Carly Simon; 'Like A Virgin' by Madonna
Music production: Niles Rodgers

Burberry Prorsum
‘Vienna’, ‘Breathe’, ‘Close Your Eyes’ and ‘I Put A Spell On You’ performed live by Rhodes, accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Duddell

Calvin Klein Collection
‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld; ‘Tormentor’ by Skinny Puppy; ‘Nobody Knows’ by Nitzer Ebb; ‘N.W.O’ by Ministry (Repeated); ‘Slippy’ (Vocal part) by Underworld

Diesel Black Gold
‘Leaving Forever’ by Junto Club; ‘Watch your Back’ by Body of Light; 'Dirt + Hamburg' by Oil Thief; 'Still/ Current - Orange (texture)' by Mukul; ‘Leaving Forever’ by Junto Club

Dries Van Noten
‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley; ‘Pretty Vacant’ by Sex Pistols; ‘L’amour’ by Salvador Dali; ‘Dialogues’ by Marylin Monroe (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot…); ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ by Public Image Ltd; ‘Pretty Vacant’ by Sex Pistols; ‘I Wanna Be Loved By You’ by Marylin Monroe

Paul Smith
Congo Dick Dale; ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ by Ian Dury; ‘Set Phazers To Stun’ by The Time And Space Machine; ‘New Kind Of Kick’ by The Cramps; ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks; ‘Pretty Thing’ by  Bo Diddley; ‘I Want Candy’ by  Bow Wow Wow; ‘Seven Nation Army’ by The White Stripes; ‘The Hardest Button To Button’ by The White Stripes; ‘Live Like An Animal’ by The Slaves; ‘Cavern Liquid’ by Liquid; ‘Badder Than The Rest’ by Beenie Man; ‘Have Love, Will Travel’ by The Sonics; ‘Tight Pants’ by Iggy Pop; ‘Day Tripper’ by  Shockabilly; ‘Voodoo Child’ by  Jimi Hendrix; ‘Master Of The Universe’ by Hawkweed; ‘Misty Mountain’ by The Silver Apples; ‘The Union Forever’ by The White Stripes; ‘Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt’ by Palais Schaumburg; ‘Sweet Like Candy’ by Winston Williams; ‘Johnny’ by Suicide; ‘Domino’ by The Cramps; ‘Young Ones’ by Formation

Raf Simons
‘Raised’ by IVVVO; ‘Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore’ by Mark Leckey; ‘The Realm (Acapella)’ by C'hantal; ‘Jupiter Acid (Skudge White)’ by Mono Junk

Rick Owens
Exclusive mix of Kat!e by Carnage (ft. Katie Got Bandz)

Sacai
‘Dance (Beats Mix)’ by Earth People; ‘Release Yourself (Dub Mix)’ by Aleem; ‘Tell You (Original 12 inch Instrumental)’ by Loose Joints; ‘Notice Me (Notice The House Mix)’ by Sandee; ‘Show Me Love (Acapella)’ by Robin S Happy; ‘Stick’ by Steve Pointdexter; ‘Stars’ by Carl Graig; ‘Are You Experienced’ - Jimi Hendrix; ‘Jack Your Body’ by Steve Hurley; ‘I feel love (Acapella)’ by Donna Summer; ‘Additional Beats And Sounds’ by Senjan Jansen

Versace
‘Ouverture’ by Maurice Jarre; ‘Oriented’ by Rikslyd; ‘The Curse’ and ‘Beat On The Drums’ by Craig Bratley; ‘Arabian Dance’ by Antares; ‘Let’s All Chant’ by Michael Zager Band

Mood board: Chitose Abe took her signature hybrid wand and magically touched the world of outerwear, creating a jaw-droppingly original line-up of cloaks split with coats, cable knit sweaters morphing with ponchos, monster furs colliding with Harris tweed men's tailoring and leather motorcycle jackets that mingled with green knitwear, all to rousing effect.

Best in show: Truth be told, this entire collection was chock-full of winners, from the ski knitwear that morphed into flounced dresses, or the cable knit sweaters that bonded with mannish shirts to create kick skirted dresses. But the biggest bulldozer was the finale of men's trenches, cut into tent shaped coats that were trimmed in coloured fur puzzle piping.

Finishing touches: Even the footwear got hybrid treatment with a stomping hiking boot that morphed into an over-the-knee boot and trailed up the leg into a leather legging.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Some 16 years since she quietly launched her brand in Tokyo, Chitose Abe has made a break for the mainstream – beginning a few years ago with her entrée into Paris Fashion Week and now with her first monobrand store outside Tokyo, launched in Hong Kong.

Abe’s elegant patterns and complex cuts – though easier and breezier than the Comme des Garçons lines of her former boss Rei Kawakubo – are now as accessible as her luxury neighbours, among the marble storefronts of On Lan Street in Hong Kong’s Central district. Abe and her creative team designed the boutique on 150 square metres, dramatically set back from the pavement by a foyer of concrete. Behind a wall of double-height glazing, a system of feature walls and voids bring to the fabric of the store the sort of architectural interest Abe is known for. 'I wanted to demonstrate the character of Sacai in the new store,' says the designer, 'by fusing different materials and elements into classical items.'

To wit: a palette of concrete brick and cobalt marble, executed in a labyrinth of ailses and rooms, mirrors the urban fabric of this chaotic commercial street near the pier, with five-metre ceilings echoing the extreme heights of the surrounding towers. Splashes of taxi yellow peek out from sculptural clothing rails and wood-framed chairs with concrete-block seats designed by Ryota Morikawa, founder of the Japanese art collective Gelchop. They create a delightful and unexpected juxtaposition that jives with the sensibility of the Spring/Summer range.

Speaking of which, Abe has designed an exclusive capsule collection for the On Lan store, featuring cardigans and sweater dresses with peek-a-boo panels of eyelet lace – classic items fused with the unexpected. That’s the Sacai spirit.

ADDRESS

Sacai
Shop 2B, G/F
18 On Lan Street, Central

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Sacai designer Chitose Abe has single-handedly ushered in the industry's current fixation with hybrid clothing. However, nobody to this day handles it with as much creativity and wearability as she does. Only Abe is able to take brightly printed orange and red houndstooth plaids and cut them up with astrakhan shoulder flaps, curly lambswool arms and fluffy Mongolian cuffs, and manage to make the entire confection not only deeply delicious, but absolutely digestible as a practical coat proposal. Perhaps being a woman helps in grounding her collections in functional ease. In any case, she continues to bring her rigorously original eye to the runway, this season working with layers of optically-printed silk with rows of dots and checks, as well as Aztec patterned wools. The pattern was cut into the wool bodies of cropped jackets, or on the fronts of sweaters that featured cotton poplin backs. Cable sweaters and cool biker jackets also got snipped into shreds, creating magnificently sculpted wool jackets with peplum backs and leather arms, or wool slit-skirts with pleated chiffon and naughty lace backs. Oftentimes one doesn't understand where one garment ends and the next begins at a Sacai show; was that a cape, a dress, or a jacket that just walked by? No one knows for sure until one fondles the clothes with bare hands. This is part of the fun of this designer's visual game and why she continues to rank as one of our top talents in Paris.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans