Lanvin Men’s Spring 2019

“I really felt the need this to elevate; elevate clothes into fashion,” said Lucas Ossendrijver who, like the rest of us, is suffering from streetwear fatigue.

The designer took opposites – night and day, hard and soft, back and front, black and color – and made them come together to create hybrids, things that fall somewhere in-between.

“It’s not street, it’s not couture, and in the end, it’s all wearable,” said the designer in a preview of the collection.

Too right.

The strange mixes of color were super-cool, like on one of the opening looks pairing an oversized chocolate tuxedo – its black satin lapel migrating down the curve – with a large straight lavender-blue pant, a crunchy mint green taffeta hoodie and a pink T-shirt. High tops with velvet tongues finished off the look.

He also played with flatness and 3D volumes by inserting strips of fabric between the insides and outsides of bombers to create puff, layered under elegant, elongated jackets in an English mohair wool. By contrast, on the line’s reversible navy and green mackintosh, everything had been glued on to enhance the flatness.

The overall look was easy and simple; you had to look close to see the workmanship.

Sleeveless knits with open sides, cut slightly on the bias, and asymmetric long-sleeved sweaters in wool and metal with white tank tops spilling out underscored the easy, drapey attitude.

A tailored full canvas fisherman’s jacket was bang on trend, sporting a mesh panel at the back to keep things elegant but light.

Reversible back-to-front elements included a striped shirt with a red T-shirt back, cut to be worn either way, also revisited in an oversized version.

The hand-drawn prints came courtesy of Andrej Illic, a tattoo artist from Belgrade, based on an encyclopedia theme, with symbols including eyes, star signs and roses, which were revisited in necklaces.

In today’s celebrity-designer driven landscape, Ossendrijver one of fashion’s constant gardeners, where the attention is on the craft, workmanship and knowhow. For him, it’s not about making big statements, it’s about making clothes, and that came through here.

Launch Gallery: Lanvin Men's Spring 2019

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