Raf Simons found a clever way to give classic wardrobe items the restless, subversive energy of youth: by stamping black jackets and embroidering white shirts with the lurid, goth-tinged graphics of rock T-shirts.
It was as if an old haberdashery shop in Antwerp was taken over by the cool kids, who also supersized striped dress shirts, vintage-looking ski sweaters and trenchcoats, while leaving the old-school labels sewn on the sleeves, or on the fishnet necklines of their outfits.
The Belgian designer recently expanded his signature label to women’s wear, though male and female models alike donned austere sack dresses and flaring coats.
Rain-slicked hair, heavy black shoes and bracelets shaped like skeleton hands were a gloomy foil to sweet accent colors like baby blue and pale yellow.
There was a whiff of Miuccia Prada to all the neat, half-pleated skirts. Simons is also the co-creative director of the Milan fashion house that bears her name, and her husband, Prada chief executive officer Patrizio Bertelli, attended the show in the ornate, main hall of the Palais de Brongniart.
Fellow designers Demna Gvasalia; Pieter Mulier and the Proenza Schouler boys, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, also took in Simons’ refined and expert tailoring, and more voluptuous and experimental shapes, including oversize bomber jackets in watery floral prints.
The backstage was closed due to coronavirus, so Simons dispatched a short list of artists and some quotes about youth. The one that seemed the most apt, given all the generous proportions: “One day, this kid will get larger.”
