With Paris Men’s Fashion Week underway, we’re taking a look at the houses presenting Spring/Summer 2022 collections. Here, we’re sharing what’s new from Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, Burberry, Wales Bonner, and more.
Courtesy of Issey Miyake.
Home Plisseé Issey Miyake’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection “Human Ensemble” set out to create pieces inspired by the movement and form of the body. The collection offered easy-to-wear silhouettes to be dressed up or down depending on the situation. With texture taking the spotlight, as usual, the collection was captured in a video by Kazunali Tajima, who highlighted the tactile nature of the materials and how the designs become one with their wearers. This season, there were the soft-yet-elevated Body Arch and Oblique designs made from recycled polyester yarn, the striped Body Movement prints that come alive as the wearer moves, and the woven textile Leno Stripe seen across pieces like vests, shorts, and trousers.
Courtesy of Burberry.
Set to an entrancing soundtrack of Strange Planet by Shpongle, Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2022 menswear collection was filmed outdoors in a landscape filled with sand, contrasting a raw urban backdrop. A cast of models representing the fluidity of gender was seen debuting the new designs that highlighted non-conforming silhouettes and focused on the beauty of self-expression and the energy of music and movement. Models were styled with an other-worldly look that included elements like multiple facial piercings, brightly colored hair, and even carrying other models that were their likeness, wearing garments with an experimental edge—like trench coats reminding us of armor and pants featuring flaps of fabric that extended away from the body. Looks we’re still thinking of included a sheer, bejeweled trench and chest plate in silver and zebra stripes; a look in hues of brown that included a graphic shirt, black jeans, tortoiseshell sunglasses, and hair dyed to match; and a suit that replaced an overcoat with a long, structured vest, outfitted with opposing-colored seams along each garment.
Courtesy of Wales Bonner.
Wales Bonner’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection “Volta Jazz” found inspiration in the tradition of West African portraiture—in particular the images of the artist Sanlé Sory—along with the music and movement prevalent in Burkina Faso’s nightlife. A playfulness and sense of autonomy permeated the collection, embodying the imagery of flamboyant festivities captured by Sory in the 1970s in black-and-white photographs of fashionable, young visitors enjoying the area’s newfound liberation. Dusty tones reminiscent of a retro landscape offered warmth to designs that combined shapes of the 1970s and 1990s, like tailored suits with roomy trousers, A-line dresses that accentuated the waist, and comfortable athletic styles with an elevated attitude. Standout looks include a white-and-navy set comprised of long pants and a hooded jacket with letterman details, a collared dress in orange and beige stripes, and a suit in cream with long striped sleeves sticking out from under a clean-cut vest.
Courtesy of FUMITO GANRYU.
Musing on ideas of compatibility, FUMITO GANRYU reveled in the luxury and freedom of choice in its Spring/Summer 2022 designs. The product was not the focal point of the collection, but rather, their compatibility with the body who chooses to wear them, ensuring that nothing was forced. Styles remained streamlined and contemporary through silhouettes like wrap coats and drop-crotch trousers rolled at the ankles, taking hints from the designer’s Japanese roots. Imagined in solid hues like yellow, navy, and pale blue, pieces we loved included a knee-length raincoat worn with tights and sandals, a pair of baggy khaki pants paired with a nylon take on a biker bomber, and a slate gray trench styled with a tee-shirt, shorts, stirrup leggings, and a bucket hat.
Courtesy of TAAKK.
Titled “Dance with the Earth,” TAAKK’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection displayed a collaboration of sorts with the glorious artwork that is our home—the planet Earth—captured in a film by the video artist Nagisa Kodama. Gorgeous graphics, fabrications, and embellishments are what stood out among the selection of comfortable, classic menswear styles, twisted to match the Japanese brand’s aesthetic through the use of texture, color, and print. There were patterns mimicking dark, rippling waves, sunset-reminiscent tie-dyes, and flowers captured out of focus, covering the entirety of trench coats, tank tops, and matching sets. Of note were a selection of suits and blazers in pale spring ombres, like yellow, robin’s egg blue, and tan (our favorite of which was a collarless jacket tucked into a pair of pleated shorts and), as well as garments like short sleeved polos, sweater vests, and loose-fitted slacks, given an eye-catching quality by details like tactile knits, appliqued flowers, and wispy embroidered threads hanging off like cobwebs.
