Paris Men’s FW25 Recap

The whirlwind of Paris Men’s Fashion Week has finally passed, and as the dust settles, we bring you the season’s most iconic moments and shows from brands like Rick Owens, Saint Laurent, and Dior.

Credit: Rick Owens

High collars, fringe boots, and black contact lenses riddled the runway at Rick Owens’ newest show, “Concordians.” In true Rick Owens fashion, models appeared as if they had descended from an alien planet in a galaxy not so far, far away, dressed as everything from lowly street peddlers to intergalactic foreign ambassadors. Rick Owens has crafted a world all his own, but every once in a while, he collaborates with one of us Earthlings. This time, it was with 25-year-old Parisian designer Victor Clavelly on a new rendition of the brand’s iconic Kiss boots. A wicked torrent of laser-cut leather fringe encased the models’ feet as they stormed the classic Rick Owens venue, Palais de Tokyo.

This season paid homage to Concordia, a small town in Italy where Rick Owens has held a factory for the past 22 years, and focused on the transition Owens and partner Michelle Lamy made when they left Los Angeles for Europe back in 2003. In the words of Rick Owens himself, it is a collection of “the basics,” albeit in a very Rick Owens type of way—cold-weather jackets, professional blazers, leather pants, and of course, the all-important fringe boot.

Credit: Dior

Dior delved into the realm of the senses for their FW25 show, with blindfolded models taking to the runway in a blend of ready-to-wear and formal attire. Heavily inspired by Monsieur Dior’s ‘H Line,’ creative director Kim Jones has reached into the past, returning with a modified, contemporary take on traditional menswear—one that involves refined simplicity. Draped silhouettes, tailored trousers, and tapered shirts all exist in a realm dominated by form. The power of each piece doesn’t need to be seen, but to be felt; and like the mentality of a crazed religious zealot, one cannot simply bask in and revel in their glory without shielding one’s eyes. It is with this blind faith, this unyielding belief, that Kim Jones has taken the dramatic leap to fully invest himself in Dior after leaving his role at Fendi three months ago. And if this collection is any example of what is to come, then Jones’s prayers seem to have been answered.

Credit: Lu’u Dan

Photography by Hung La

Lu’u Dan presented their newest lookbook, titled “YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE,” full of executioner-style hoods and latex butcher aprons. The London-based brand is best known for referencing Asian underworld figures donning flared collars and colorful prints, but this time, the focus was on the shopkeeper. As written on their Instagram: “In the dim glow of the shop, he works without pause, without thought or hesitation. Faith and guilt had been carved out of him long ago and discarded with the offal. He moves through the motions like a ritual, a silent worship to something unseen.” The collection uses texture and cut to elevate and highlight the beauty of common everyday workwear—worn by the butcher, the fishmonger, the grocer—the type of clothing one tends to overlook. But there is beauty in the shadows, in the simplicity, in the act of doing what is necessary to survive. Incorporating that beauty with the strength of will and determination to carve out a life inherent to the shopkeeper, Lu’u Dan has created a collection infused with an aura of humanity’s greatest qualities.

Credit: Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent explored the darker side of 1980s decadent yuppie fashion, once again drawing inspiration from the work of famous queer artist Robert Mapplethorpe and showcasing it at Paris’s own version of Wall Street, the Bourse de Commerce. Combining classic menswear suits and outerwear with thigh-high leather swamp waders invokes images of a Patrick Bateman-esque character dumping a victim’s body into the Hudson River before heading to a dinner reservation at Dorsia. It is this contrast that defines creative director Anthony Vaccarello’s work. Pulling from Yves Saint Laurent’s meticulously designed archive and mixing in elements of Mapplethorpe’s provocative and perverted aesthetic gives you Vaccarello’s beautifully macabre collection.

Credit: 032C

Berlin-based magazine and fashion company 032C delivered their third-ever ready-to-wear collection this season, “Suspicious Minds,” at the Maison des Métallos. As they write on their website, “A suspicious mind has an attitude that interrogates. It critically analyzes the status quo and acknowledges that certain knowledge is impossible, particularly what is presented as a mere belief or dogma.” Hidden underneath the complex layering, the sleek partial gloves, and obscured by the façade of innocence represented in the fawn, is the face of reality—constantly changing and evolving. 032C has created their own version of reality, one that involves the rebellious nature of breaking the rules and norms constructed by an overbearing society, of confronting the simulation presented to us and in turn freeing our minds in its revelation.

Credit: Willy Chavarria

Willy Chavarria made his Paris Fashion Week debut with his FW25 show, entitled Tarantula, presented within the intricately carved stone archways and tiled floors of the American Cathedral. The show featured familiar faces like musician J. Balvin, creative director of Lu’u Dan, Hung La, and social media fashion reporter Lyas. The brand brought a taste of East LA Chicano style to the streets of Paris with looks including flared-collar zoot suits, flannel prints, and rose-pinned ranchero hats.

Much like the brand itself, this collection is founded on an unwavering identity and culture, which is why partners Tinder and the NGO Human Rights Campaign championed the advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Willy made an appearance at the finale wearing a T-shirt with "How We Love Is Who We Are" printed across it, reminding the world that despite our current state of events, we as humans do not bow down to adversity or opposing political ideals.

Credit: Acne Studios

Yeehaw! Giddy up, cowboy! Acne Studios brings the Wild West to the city slickers with their newest FW25 lookbook. Shaggy fur coats, big belt buckles, and even cowboy boot-and-chaps-printed denim round out a collection that inspires visions of wide-open plains and Arizona sunsets. Taking staples from 1970s Americana, Acne Studios is pushing the world of the everyday working man into the fashion stratosphere, reinventing the denim work jacket, flannel shirt, sports blazer, and utility vest. Even when he’s not working, the Acne man looks good—whether in a relaxed, matching loungewear set or a layered, cropped gym outfit. With their signature Scandinavian ingenuity, Acne Studios delivers a collection that offers something for everyone, no matter the setting or occasion.