Looking at Hed Mayner’s fall collection, you get the sense that—despite all the attention that comes with an LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers—he’s still able to preserve his headspace. Working from Tel Aviv helps, he acknowledged; he can concentrate on what he’s doing and dip in and out of Paris as he wishes.
“It’s just the idea of protection, I guess,” he said backstage before the show. “I want these men to feel really good.” To that end, he blurred the classic boundaries of menswear with loose, elongated shapes in neutral shades of beige and lime. Ovoid shirts offset boxy, well-cut double-breasted jackets in traditional English herringbone. Up-size suits channeled Joseph Beuys’s Felt Suit and shades of Talking Heads, though the soundtrack was a Bowie cover. Knits lent themselves particularly well to the cocooning effect, in buttonless cardigans or turtlenecks with an integrated scarf. The jumpsuits looked ideal for winter days when you never have to leave the house, they were harder to envision on the streets. The designer proved himself deft at layering, and some of the outerwear, like a caramel blanket coat with red and black stripes (not to mention the pearl earrings worn with it) had clear crossover appeal. Fans will be able to lean in closer on what he’s doing when his latest installation opens in March at most of Dover Street Market’s outposts.
