fashion review by Chance Goode
all images courtesy of Totem Fashion and Public Image PR
Paris Fashion Week Gets Hot and Sweaty
Paris Fashion Week was hotter than ever, literally. It was as if the massive heatwave followed me from New York City to Paris. The menswear calendar may have been short due to the lack of shows in London, but the momentum was still alive in Paris. There is an air of seduction that can only be found at menswear shows, and it felt more prevalent than ever this year.
Walter Van Beirendonck
There was a mob of maximalists when I arrived at the Théâtre de l’Odéon for the Walter Van Beirendonck show. High fashion club kids wearing tutus and platform shoes pushed and shoved around me to get in. If I were to be trampled to death, at least it would be at a Walter Van Beirendonck show. When I was finally escorted to my seat, I noticed that I was sitting across from Mel Ottenberg, the editor-in-chief of Interview Magazine. We complemented one another in our signature looks: Mel was wearing a denim shirt and jeans, and I was wearing a leather vest with matching pants.
Models wearing oversized aviators and jewelry crafted from combs and hair rollers stomped in cartoon-like bulbous shoes. Van Beirendonck distorted family photos and printed them onto coats and pants. In his show notes, he stated that for this collection, he went on a time-warping, postmodern pilgrimage. Designs varied from imaginative clashes of floral patterns, faux fur, and ruffles to ultra-chic deconstructed suits. Some designers whisper with their storytelling, whereas Van Beirendonck screams with his. Swollen bowler hats designed by milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones had been pierced with lifelike paper flowers. After the show ended, I ran into Stephen Jones, who was dressed like a sailor, and told him how his hats left me gasping for air with their beauty.
Later that evening, a storm wrecked the streets of Paris. Trees collapsed, tables and chairs flew away, and roads flooded. I watched from behind a restaurant window as tourists under the Eiffel Tower were swallowed up by a gust of rain and wind. The next day, however, it was business as usual. No storm could be strong enough to stop Paris Fashion Week.
Lazoschmidl
Each season, I am always excited to see what Lazoschmidl will create, and this year, I got to see for myself in person. Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl, the designer duo behind the brand, design for young queer men who want to feel sexy and wear as little as possible. Lazo and Schmidl set up a voyeuristic experience for their SS26 presentation. Three dressing rooms were set up outside for male models to dress and undress into different looks from the collection. This was all done behind colorful transparent sheets, forcing the audience to watch. It was incredibly erotic.
Seven twinky models circled the courtyard, showing off yellow denim jackets and sheer tops with homoerotic manga prints. My gaze was fixed on a Jacob Elordian model who was walking around in Lazoschmidl branded boxers with cut-outs. He would smoke a cigarette, then take a selfie before changing into a see-through hoodie. It was as if I had stepped into a GRWM video that I couldn’t scroll past.
C.R.E.O.L.E
I was running late to the C.R.E.O.L.E show because I was out all night and morning dancing at FVTVR for the Herrensauna party. There was just enough time for me to swap out my sweaty Bottega Veneta tank top for a clean Loewe top, take some DoxyPEP, and find my front row seat in the scorching hot sun without missing the show. Blasting through the speakers was a distorted voice saying, “Dom Top” over a techno beat. When a muscular model opened the show in a speedo that read ‘DOM TOP FEVER’ on the butt, I lowered my Ray-Bans to take in every inch of the look.
A buzz of desire and attraction filled the space. Even the photographers were swaying their hips and dancing to the music. Baggy pants revealed plaid boxers that had been cleverly cut into the shape of a thong. A model in a mesh tank top walked out and put deodorant underneath his arms. Applying deodorant had never looked better.
C.R.E.O.L.E’s identity is rooted in Caribbean heritage and global consciousness. The brand’s designer Vincent Frederic-Colombo had a deeper message behind the sexiness. He wanted to shed light on the current structural inequalities within France’s overseas territories. There was also a celebration of his Caribbean culture, which was seen in the Pan-African color palette throughout the collection.
When the show was over, I walked around the block and found myself at the Paris Pride parade. Thousands of people were out in the Parisian streets celebrating queerness. I saw two guys from the C.R.E.O.L.E show take their shirts off and decided to join them in the celebration. It was the perfect way to end this hot and sweaty fashion week.