Dior Homme celebrates updated classics at Paris fashion

PARIS - Dior Homme designer Kris Van Assche on Saturday celebrated the updated classic at Paris fashion while Korea's Songzio jazzed up cool, summer looks with metallic print and big pockets.

On day four of men's fashion, Van Assche said he delved into Christian Dior's world for a collection in which the "bourgeois meets the artist."



"I wanted a sense of renewal and an idea of Christian Dior's artistic milieu to come through as well as his love of formality and tradition," he said.

The result was formal, navy suits with an emphasis on the tuxedo and traditional pinstripe.

Nautical touches, a reference to the Normandy-born Dior's love of the sea, came in the form of toggle fasteners and striped knit vests over shirts to create what Van Assche called "a new form of three piece suit."

The Belgian designer said he was also influenced by a letter dating from the 1950s he found in the Dior archives.

In the letter, Dior, who founded the Christian Dior fashion house in 1946, wrote about the importance of maintaining traditions.

"Traditions have to be maintained so they can be passed on to future generations," he wrote.

"In troubled times like ours we must maintain these traditions which are our luxury and the flower of our civilization," he added.

Van Assche turned the handwritten letter into a print which he used throughout the collection.

Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld described the clothes as "very modern classic, updated classic."

"Classic—if it is only classic—becomes boring. You need to freshen it with modernity," he told reporters after the show.

US actor Ansel Elgort and Asian actor and boy band star Vic Chou were also among those on the front row at the show.

Elsewhere on Saturday, South Korean designer Songzio took the "configuration and shape of wood" as the inspiration for his latest collection.

The designer sent out oversized coats, boxy shirts, and wide, pleated shorts.

Standout looks included a knit tunic ensemble and sleeveless, transparent shirt with gold-coloured metallic print.

Big pockets popped up on the front of shirts and the back of shorts.

As well as his signature palette of dark navy and tones of black, there was also white and cream, vivid orange and midnight blue.

Songzio picked up the gold in black leather sandals while other footwear had big straps high over the ankle. — AFP

source: gmanetwork.com

Paris fashion tiptoes around lack of black models

PARIS - Paris fashion this week tiptoed around the scarcity of black models on the catwalk with reaction reflecting the growing controversy surrounding the issue highlighted by models Naomi Campbell and Iman.

Designers told AFP their only concern was to find models who embodied the spirit of their creations irrespective of skin color.

And one industry professional put the lack of black faces down to a minimalist trend that has sparked a demand for Asian models.

"I don't only do shows for white girls, but I don't do quotas [either]. I choose girls that please me," said Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello, whose show included Asian and mixed race models.

Another designer, Damir Doma, told AFP: "I never judge anyone by skin... I'm looking for the right personality."

Doma's show featured one black and two Asian models but the number could me "be more or less", he said.

"It depends on the season and the girl that comes to the casting. If she's right for the clothes I would definitely take her," he said.

Their comments follow a letter sent earlier this month to fashion governing bodies around the world by models Iman, Naomi Campbell and US model-turned-activist Bethann Hardison.

In their letter, the trio condemned fashion houses that used just "one or no models of color" for a collection, saying the result was "racism," even if it was unintentional.

Virginie Deren of the agency Ford Models Europe stressed the importance of trends in the industry.

"For the last two or three seasons, there has been a real passion for Asian models, especially Chinese ones," she said.

Chinese consumers have become increasingly important to the fashion world as their economic power has grown in recent years.

Other trends down the years had seen black models in demand as well as Belgians and what Deren called "healthy Americans."

"We have black models [on our books] but we are not asked for them for the catwalks [at the moment].

"It's not racism. Things are not like that. Models have to fit in with trends [and] the current fashion is a minimalist one that the designers associate with Asian girls," she said.

In their letter, Campbell, Iman and Hardison named dozens of labels they considered to be most at fault including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs.

"Eyes are on an industry that season after season watches fashion houses consistently use one or no models of color," they wrote.

"No matter the intention, the result is racism. Not accepting another based on the color of their skin is clearly beyond aesthetic...," they said, adding that the issue was specifically a lack of black models, not Asian ones.

Malaika Firth, 19, in Paris for her first catwalk shows, said she had not experienced any difficulties she could link to skin color but stressed that she was mixed race, not black.

"So far so good..., I support equal opportunities," said the half-British, half-Kenyan model who has appeared in advertising campaigns for Burberry and Prada.

Other models with more catwalk experience, however, were more nuanced.

Brazilian model Muriel Beal, 31, said that there were too few black models working in the industry.

But when asked if the lack of black faces at shows was for this reason or due to discrimination she replied: "It depends."

Others attending shows who were not employed in the industry expressed more robust views.

Some made it clear that they would like to see a concerted effort by designers to address the issue once and for all.

French visual artist Abby Regis, said he was appalled by the situation. "It is shocking," he said.

"You can do what you want to do but I see some designers using black models," he said, making it clear that if it was possible for some, it should be for others.

Laura Bestle, a 23-year-old German international business student, said she suspected some fashion houses included a single black model as a way of "getting critics off their backs".

And she said described the idea black models were not cast because they were not right for particular clothes as "just an excuse."

"I don't believe it," she added. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com