The fact that Dries Van Noten made it known, through his press attaché, that he did not want to speak to reporters before or after his men’s show was probably the most intriguing thing about it (if, present company included, one is interested in learning a bit more about the backstory of a collection from the horse’s mouth). Anyway, Van Noten offered an email and a video he’d prepared in advance about the content of his collection. One has to respect his reasons; he belongs among those very few independent designers who long ago earned the right to be taken seriously whether they participate in, or abstain from, any aspect of the industry they wish.
This is a moment in which everything is up for scrutiny. That includes the swarm-frenzied behavior of desperately time-pressed news gatherers who besiege designers backstage with a forest of cell phones ruthlessly thrust in their faces. It’s horrible, dehumanizing, for everyone involved.
So in a way, it was instructive to have to revert to reviewing the show in the distanced, old-school way—the tradition of calling judgment just by looking. From a step back, what was there to see here? Many of the mixology methods Van Noten is known for: traditional British menswear tartans and checks; watered-down punk tropes (half-kilts over skinny trews); influences from the American West; lots of hybrids (like T-shirts with shirtsleeves); the floral, embellished embroideries the designer has always sourced from India. His use of white cotton broderie anglaise (or eyelet) in progressively emphatic iterations—trousers, jacket, coat—was the show’s highlight.
In terms of garments, continuity ruled. Yet from a designer so settled and who has so recently sensitized his audience to the issue of age inclusivity on the runway, it was a jolt to see a collection that was exclusively shown on such extremely youthful-looking models.
