Vibe check-wise, the January 2022 men’s and couture fashion weeks seemed to really mirror the wintry time of year: picture a Caravaggian scene of sparse light accentuated by darkness, like sunbeams against pewter clouds. Designers in the age of worry put their best foot forward by putting on a side-by-side of offline runway shows and digital presentations, vagaries of the long COVID era. And at times, the splendour on display was so captivating that for a moment you’d forget about those reams of cancelled and postponed shows as the global populace was tag-teamed by another viral variant on top of – most relevantly, here – the shocking passing of multiple fashion giants in short succession.

Losing Virgil Abloh at the end of 2021 was culturally cataclysmic. Saying goodbye to André Leon Talley in the middle of fashion week was a mortal blow to a fantasy. And the stylistic legacy of Manfred Thierry Mugler is one we cannot afford to underestimate. It was and still is all too much, too soon.

So, this season, fashion aficionados clung to the future like an Alaïa bodycon original - savouring fresh debuts like Nigo’s at Kenzo (with an assorted celebrity front row plucked straight from the ‘09 blogs) or Bianca Saunders’ very first show. Or how about Glenn Martens making both Y/Project and Jean Paul Gaultier the talk of the town back-to-back? Not to mention the Marvel-Eternals-if-they-were-styled-by-Law-Roach glamour of Roseberry’s Schiaparelli. Moments like these cut through the fabric of today’s harsh reality, thanks to the designers’ sheer determination to give back to the world in kind, with beauty.

The show must, shall, will go on. Let’s start at the opening act.

MILAN

JW Anderson (digital)

Trust Jonathan Anderson to serve the palate cleanser we already needed, mere days into the year. His AW22 show was, in short, loopy and spacey and JWA at its best. Coming down the smoke-slicked stairs of an ersatz night club, models sporting pigeon and stuffed animal clutches invited the audience to partake in a night out ‘that never happened.’ Anderson was inspired between lockdowns by ‘weird-scrolling’ on the internet and his findings rippled out into this collection. Interspersed with women’s pre-fall looks, the show hit its stride by harking back to the Jonathan Anderson of the early London days, showing crotch-skimming men’s getups, totally tubular knitwear and enough lamé leggings to outfit a Power Ranger off-Broadway revival with TikTok-inspired ASMR sounds of the garments in movement. By also releasing genderless virtual avatars (I hereby point you to the vertiginous Google Trends graph of the word ‘metaverse’ ), AW22 seems to be less of a turning point than a Mario Kart speed-boost for a brand hitting its teenage years. Blessedly, there’s still room for silliness.

Alyx

Even though the Alyx design studio has been based in Italy since 2015, Matthew Williams has always showed Alyx in Paris. Taking to the Milan runways for the first time, with a co-ed presentation, ‘1017 Alyx 9SM’ – the brand’s full ‘government’ – chose a derelict church setting for their Italo debut. The crystal-mesh-covered womenswear on show had obvious appeal, though the hook-and-eye slip dresses enjoyed quite generous helpings from the font of Theyskens. However, the voluminous cuts, oil-slick glossy fabric choices and signature hardware of the men’s outerwear combined with the astronautical heft of the custom footwear accounted for the bulk of the aesthetic and commercial zest.

PARIS – READY-TO-WEAR

Walter Van Beirendonck

The Walter Van Beirendonck ‘OTHERWORLDLY’ collection pulsated with the kind of alien charge and forward energy you’d be forgiven to attribute to a designer fresh on the scene – let alone decades deep in the game. For AW22, Walter chose to display provocative hyperpower. The muscle-worship-inspired show invite featured a collaboration between Polish (tattoo) artist Mateusz Sarzynski, author and model Terry Miller, photographer Roman Robinson, graphic legend Paul Boudens and Walter himself. It proved to be a potent prelude to both the newer and historic totems of the brand that orbited the collection: from the W caps (which, obviously, “aliens need too”) to the cycling suits, masterful masks and hats created by trusted collaborator Stephen Jones and various kink indicia like leather padlocks and dog collars. There were belts that literally spelled ‘provocative’, claw-footed platform heel boots, glossy surgeon’s gloves, incredibly cut bulky trousers, lacquered shearling and bright prints featuring aliens cosplaying as Walter (self-referential but never deferential). And, since hiding behind masks is now our collective second nature, the time has never been more right for these staples of the Walter Van Beirendonck brand – whether they came in trompe l’oeil photorealistic print format, as balaclavas or massive face-shielding shades created with Belgian label KOMONO. In lieu of the traditional Paris show, the collection was presented in a film directed by Bjorn Tagemose, soundtracked by Hantrax (with a haunting ‘Walter Waltz’) with special thanks to Dirk Van Saene. A collection to take your W’s in.

Y/Project

A near decade in, Glenn Martens is hitting stride after stride in his creative director position at Y/Project. It’s hard to fathom the Bruges native is simultaneously steering Diesel into renewed relevance and also crafting haute couture in the interval (plus adding ‘future jury president of the Hyères Fashion Festival’ to his Google Cal). Martens’ AW22 outing was immodest in two ways: obviously it showed various printed-on naked genitals and body parts – letting a sustainable new Jean Paul Gaultier x Y/Project EVERGREEN collab shine through before Martens debuted his guest designer version of Gaultier couture a few days later. It also represented a full-fledged, immodest flexing of the muscle of his genius. In a large DPD parcel delivery hanger, the Y/Project AW22 collection undulated with the signature push, pull and pinch of fabric manipulation the Belgian designer is celebrated for. Martens twisted our powers of perception via the aforementioned ‘Body Morph’ gender-diffusing trompe l’oeil prints based on JPG’s 1996 work, worn on top and layered below as styled by Robbie Spencer and modelled by friend of the house, Olivier Theyskens. Tulle was spun over trouser suits, check shirts were followed by ‘banana pants’, scarf coats, interwoven colour-gradient knits and suits ensconced in mesh, finished with suggestive belt buckles. Very big ‘the girls that girl, girl; the girls that girln’t, gorn’t’ energy. Operatic in its virtuosity, Senjan Jansen show soundtrack and sex appeal, perhaps the tiny belt details sum this collection up best for me: I ♡ Y.

Kenzo

Placing one of the foremost contemporary Japanese designers at the helm of Kenzo, after founder Kenzo Takada’s passing in 2020, is only the latest in a series of whipsmart LVMH picks and taps. The show was much-anticipated and served as a few-frills first foray into Nigo’s take on the youthful, positive and polychromatic essence of Kenzo. The legendary BAPE founder and cultural connector chose to hone in on floral denim for winter (resist a Miranda Priestly riposte here, please), original hand-drawn Kenzo sketch prints and reworked archive silhouettes. The foremost Kenzo hallmark, the poppy print, swole and shrunk in various permutations. Military influences gave the models an air of being proud foot soldiers of the new wave, sporting K medals and bulging berets with a ‘1970’ logo. The midcentury collegiate silhouettes that Kenzo Takada popularized in the 80s were re-established by Nigo in rich hues of burgundy and buttercup, followed by intarsia knits and great bombers. A personal highlight was the extremely elegant flip on the signature BAPE camo via a khaki floral print but I can’t pretend the front row wasn’t an equally major draw. For posterity, I will note Julia Fox wore conic-busted Schiaparelli denim and Pharrell posed in controversial Tiffany collab emerald-studded sunnies. Tyler, the Creator repping Golf le Fleur* and Pusha T proved that, they too, know Nigo. If you’re curious about copping your own Kenzigo (still workshopping the portmanteau): the plan is to release the collection in limited edition monthly drops. Because doy, duh, ofc!

Louis Vuitton

Swaying between gratitude for what was and grief about what might have been, the Louis Vuitton AW22 show landed firmly on the side of the historic. As the house put it, showing Virgil Abloh’s final collection was about "consolidating the themes and messages of the eight-season arc Virgil Abloh created.” They went on to specify: “Imagining a metaphysical space of possibility, the Carreau du Temple in Paris is transformed into a mind-expanding interior of ideas, prospects and encouragement." If that sounds lofty, that’s because the AW22 show was literally a cloud-shrouded reverie suspended in time. The “𝓛𝓸𝓾𝓲𝓼 Dreamhouse™” collection epitomised the wide-eyed fantasy-turned-reality that Virgil was able to create, communicate and inculcate towards everyone who, for the first time, could see themselves mirrored in his image. Featuring a symphonic soundtrack performed by the Chineke! Orchestra, composed by Tyler Okonma (who rode through the set on a bike and rended hearts with a wide-smiled hug at the end), the show shimmered onwards for 20 minutes as dancers (performing the famed Yoann Bourgeois choreo with staircase and trampoline) wove between the 67 models (including Naomi Campbell) that walked the set. Styled by the force that is Ibrahim Kamara, the collection fluttered from magisterial suiting to raw logo denim, spliced collage and De Chirico prints as well as glittering jeans ensembles and surrealist accessories - bending and transmogrifying before our eyes as the designer’s older ideas became anew. The finale of delicate lace kite wings brought softness to ‘the melancholia of departure’. As the multifarious and many members of the Abloh LV atelier spilled out onto the stage, it was almost like a visual reverberation of these indelible words Virgil left us with: ”You can do it too.”

Bianca Saunders

London-based Bianca Saunders, the 2021 winner of the Andam Fashion Award, landed at Palais de Tokyo to host her first full-fledged show. The Royal College of Art alum named her AW22 collection ‘A Stretch’, but the imagination didn’t need any such coaxing to figure out she was due to make an impact. After multiple seasons showcasing at London Fashion Week, Saunders has made her mark so far by focusing on rolling out precise collections that mirror Caribbean culture and take nothing about traditional masculinity at face value. By winning that €300K from Andam alongside mentorship from Balenciaga president and CEO Cédric Charbit, Saunders is now able to charge at a fuller speed, staying steadfast in her vision along the way. For this show, Biana Saunders drag-and-dropped the edges of menswear codes through the mesh of her technical prowess: warping geometric prints, pinning outerwear in unexpected places and creating the impression of stretch where there is none - never forgetting comfort when worn on the daily. We need more Bianca Saunders. We need more Bianca Saunderses. Cousin Naomi is on the case.

Dior Men

For AW22, the 75th anniversary of Dior, creative director Kim Jones collab’ed with the spectre of Christian Dior himself. Hallowed house codes - such as the ‘cannage’ woven cane dessin, lily-of-the-valley embroidery, gardening wear, Dior grey, the Bar silhouette, lady Dior elements - all warped into an amalgam of covetability walking along a lifesize set copy of the Pont Alexandre III (Dior has been gathering coins for 75 years too, and don’t you forget). The sweats of Kim Jones’ 2005 Umbro era resurfaced as lush track pants paired with peekaboo boxers and Birkenstock garden shoes as well as Stephen Jones-moulded berets (the bulwark of haute millinery, Jones is celebrating 25 years at Dior). My magpie eye was initially mainly drawn to the generous use of rhinestones and floral embroidery but, taking a step back, it’s the sharply tailored-then-louche cuts and drapery choices used throughout that should be best remembered. This was no French catwalk revolution but it was exactly what the Kim Jones customer wants to buy or set a ‘start saving bih’ reminder for. Jones will always have a beautiful garment for you to step into and because it is expected at this point does not make it less impressive.

PARIS – COUTURE


Gaultier Paris by Glenn Martens from Y/Project

Glenn Martens’ much-heralded return to Gaultier (his first straight-from-graduation job in 2008 was at the Jean Paul Gaultier brand and G2 men’s label) did not fly under the radar. It was more of a supersonic boom. In taking his turn as guest designer for Gaultier Paris couture, following Chitose Abe, the fabled Antwerp Fashion Department grad said he “took some inspiration from the most iconic codes of the house and translated them into my own language”. The result, 36 breathtaking silhouettes that dialled up Gaultier’s signature marinières, frayed tulle and satin bustiers to infinity - presenting look after look bursting with the subversive joy for the craft of fashion that encapsulates and typifies both Gaultier and Martens’ work. Coat dresses, bodycon gowns and suits were cut to echo Martens’ signature tribute to the iliac furrow - the suggestive V-shape that trails from the abdomen to the pubis on the human body, a staple of Elizabethan dress. The hallmark JPG Breton stripes were verticalised, like arteries running down the body. Tulle and coral-like spikes gathered on top while denim (of course), duchesse satin and sinuous chiffon rumpled or braided together below - all perfected by make-up by Inge Grognard and towering pairs of pleaser heels. It was a masterclass in creative symbiosis and if I don’t get to wrap myself into that off-the-shoulder billowing dark blue gown at least once in the future, I will be contacting the authorities.

Valentino

After Pierpaolo Piccioli took full creative control of Valentino in 2016, it quickly became clear that the designer’s vision for the house was one of craft-focused and heterochrome exuberance, capturing the imagination via couture (never skimping on the chiffon, taffeta and technicolor plumage while mostly selling V-arched logowear) to guide the house into a modern era. Piccioli’s gowns have brushed with every major red carpet, staunchly embraced by the world’s glittering set in need of a standout number. The ‘Anatomy of Couture’ SS22 show stayed true to this course, but also eked out a wider track. Sad to say, at couture, it is still somewhat of a revolution to send out models of varying body shapes, ages and gender expressions rather than the teenage size zero uniformity of old. Though the concept could have been taken miles further, you can only hope this more diverse lineup - including major leaguers like Adut Akech, Hannelore Knuts, Kristen McMenamy, Lara Stone and Jon Kortajarena as well as young high-fliers like Angeer Amol, Apollo Yom, Nyangath Lual and Devyn Garcia - will be the writing on the wall every other house will heed. Couture in its essence is about individuality, so the thin-and-white cookie-cutter approach to the physicality of its future wearers never made sense on the runways of the past. Lightness of hand is essential for those working in this particular subset of fashion but this push forward by Piccioli - gentle as it may be - is worth remarking if couture has any hopes of making it beyond the history books.

Schiaparelli

Whereas Valentino embroidered more reality through its SS22 playbook, Schiaparelli went fully celestial. Fantasy met whimsy in Daniel Roseberry’s couture laden with references to classic space and sci-fi cinema. These gowns are what you’d imagine a goddess popping up on a craggy shoreline in, completely stopping the unsuspecting townspeople in their tracks. Paring it down (if you can call it that) to shades of white, black and gold (punctuated with cabochon stones from the 30s) was the right move for Roseberry. Custom-poured breastplates - including satellitic cone bustiers as furthered by Julia Fox in a denim version at Kenzo’s front row - met dramatic standup collars and pencil skirts, sometimes circling the look protectively like planetary rings and other times flaring out like solar prominences. Inspired by outer galaxies as well as the more down-to-earth “loss of certainty; our loss of surety; the loss of our collective future”, Roseberry completely leaned into his role as a chef d’atelier, hammering precious metals and piling accessories onto the spectacle - rarely overwhelming the impressive silhouettes beneath them. There has been a lot of loss in couture these past few years, but this was more of a homerun from the designer hailing from Dallas, Texas (as much as it must pain the Parisians to admit). Now, all we need, is for Beyoncé to get first pick.

Fashion month will restart in February with Womenswear from 10/02 in New York until March 8 in Paris.

• Read more KNOTORYUS fashion week coverage here.

• Listen to The Most podcast conversation with Walter Van Beirendonck here.

• Listen to The Most podcast conversation with Paul Boudens here.

• Listen to The Most podcast conversation with Glenn Martens here.

• Listen to The Most podcast conversation with Inge Grognard here.

Header & bottom image: (c) Arnaud Lajeunie courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier

Before you exit stage left, I invite you to linger for a moment over these two quotes:

“Virgil lead by example. showing us what is possible even in this anti black time/space. a resonant, unrepentant, jet blackness. he moved me. when I die_I want to to be thought of like Virgil. Grace_creativity_humility_creativity_positivity_creativity_warmth_creativity_joyful_creativity. he showed us what god looks like, not in the heavens, not in our dreams, but god in the flesh. in the body. in this life. V moved me.” – Arthur Jafa

“There is not one Black person in fashion who doesn’t owe wherever they are to the sacrifices, generosity, and sheer brilliance of André Leon Talley. He shifted culture in ways we’ve yet to discover, and behind the largess of his presence, he quietly and anonymously supported and pushed so many of us. Some say “trailblazer” but do you know what it means the blaze a trail? To endure the thorns and snares, to navigate the thicket and clear the path for those behind you by sheer force of will? Andre is pure inspiration, and his spirit will echo through the halls of American culture for years to come. Rest well, my liege. I know it wasn’t easy, but damn, you did that. I am forever grateful.” – Dario Calmese