June 1, 2021 |
After the global Covid-19 outbreak forced all menswear shows to be cancelled early last summer, a rescheduled and fully digitalised Paris Fashion Week Men’s, July 2020, was to be the guinea pig of what is now considered the new normal in our industry. Five days of solely URL fashions – where the kitchen table became the new front row and ticket-less shows democratised the catwalk – showcased the city’s menswear talent to an entirely new audience. Digital fashion week meant these designers were now operating on a global stage. The possibilities were limitless.
We’ve picked the Paris menswear designers who have taken virtual fashion in their stride, who have defied convention and used this state of flux to tear out pages from the rulebook and completely rewrite it. Each has made navigating this strange, on-screen fashion world we now reside in all that more exciting. Long live these digital shapeshifters.
The essential elements to Boramy Viguier’s fashion vocabulary are mythology, virtuality and surrealism. The mystical, heroic fantasies the Parisian designer envisions for his collections make him the ideal candidate for purely digital fashion spaces. So much so that he was one of the few emerging talents invited by Alessandro Michele to show a film at the first GucciFest last November.
For SS21, Viguier – who cut his design teeth training under Lucas Ossendrijver at Lanvin – created a series of characters who were about to attempt a sacred pilgrimage. “[The collection] was deeply rooted in local pagan traditions. A mystic and rural vision of society,” explains the designer.“I am not thinking about street style nor reality, but quite the contrary.”
With the help of a sign-language interpreter, who described each garment as it popped up on screen, Viguier displayed his subversive sporty-tailoring hybrids through a video game-style film, as each character hid behind their impressive coats of armour. “In fashion, I love when the outfit is stronger than the wearer,” says Viguier. “When the wearer has no choice.”
Which fashion designers were you inspired by when you were growing up?
“McQueen, Galliano, Rick Owens, Helmut Lang, Rei, Yohji, Raf, Margiela, Alaïa, Stefano Pilati, Phoebe Philo, Lucas Ossendrijver, Prada. I have to say that I was completely into Ghesquière’s Balenciaga – I still think this was a very impressive body of work that really was pushing the envelope. It’s still beautiful today. It is ageing well, which is an absolute rarity in fashion.”
What does home mean to you?
“A quiet place. With something cooking and a working space.”
What’s the best thing about showing in Paris?
“The fact that this is in Paris, my favourite city in the world. I wouldn’t show my collection in any other city than my hometown.”
Which of your fellow menswear designers in Paris do you admire?
“Lucas Ossendrijver. He is one of my favourite designers and one of the most underrated designers in the world. He is the person who taught me my craft, how to cut, how to source fabrics and trims, how to talk to a workshop. He is really one of my favourite people in the world.”
Portrait by Boramy Viguier. Taken from Issue 53 of 10 Men – NO PLACE, LIKE, HOME – order your copy here.
