Each x Other—the art-fashion line from Ilan Delouis and Jenny Mannerheim—just put on, maybe, the most perplexing show of the season. The event was outdoors, behind the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, but there was nary a security guard in sight (though a few machine gun–equipped French policemen did watch silently from the trees). Tourists literally stood on the runway. One was even holding a Paris Metro map as if to advertise their predicament. A hard-to-follow, pretentious dance performance took place. And Robert Montgomery, the artist with whom Each x Other regularly collaborates, had an ironically placed piece that spelled out “All Palaces Are Temporary Palaces.” It was lit on fire, obscuring the Louvre in the background with heat haze. All of it made the actual point of the presentation—the clothes, which were, in fact, created with the input of 10 different artists—feel like a sideshow.
But strip back the oddness of the spectacle and you’ll find salable highlights. See: a sharp black blazer with star patches on the sleeves, a very cool sleeveless washed-denim trench, and a denim vest with the phrase “The Light Is Golden” lettered down the back. That will play well with shoppers who are into slogans and text usage à la Hood By Air and Off-White and Kanye West’s Saint Pablo concert tees. Less successful were a frayed-edge camouflage skirt that fell shapeless, high-waisted cargo pants in men’s suiting fabric, and a fringe-sleeved black top inset with golden grommets. All in all, confusion reigned. If All Palaces Are indeed Temporary Palaces, then Each x Other would do well to reassess and fortify its foundation with a clearer sense of what it’s going for.
