Four houses drop out of Paris June catwalk menswear season

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
May 22, 2018

Significant changes at Paris menswear season, which sees the official runway schedule trimmed by at least two shows, and the departure from the calendar of four fashion houses.

 
Most notably, Berluti – the hyper luxe brand within the LVMH empire, and arguably the nearest thing to men’s haute couture in France – will sit out the season. The move comes in the wake of the departure from Berluti of its acclaimed Colombian designer Haider Ackermann two months ago. His own signature fashion brand will also skip the upcoming menswear season in Paris, scheduled to run between Tuesday, June 19 and Sunday June 24.
 
Ackermann’s successor at Berluti, Kris Van Assche will stage his debut show for Berluti next January. Prior to joining Berluti, Van Assche headed menswear at Dior Homme, another label of the LVMH group. Dior’s runway will be one of the most highly scrutinised of the season, since it will mark Kim Jones’ debut at the creative direction of the house. Likewise, the industry-wide game of musical chairs will also see Virgil Abloh premier his first designs for Louis Vuitton this June.

Niuku – a genderless brand that showed men and women on the same catwalk in January - and Julien David – who showed models in latex animal masks - will not present a collection in Paris June either, according to the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), the Paris runway season's governing body.
 
The FHCM posted the official calendar on its website on Tuesday, showing the number of catwalk events reduced by two to a total of 53. Possibly three, as the Friday night 8PM slot filled by Berluti has yet to be still be filled.
 
Four brands that have shown before in Paris: Alyx – by California-raised Matthew Williams – Mihara Yasuhiro and Undercover (both from Japan) and Sweden’s CMMN SWDN  – have this season been invited onto the official Paris calendar for the first time. Meanwhile, Christophe Lemaire and Icosae have both decided against a runway show this season and opted for presentions.
 
However, the French menswear season here did resist a major trend in the fashion industry – seen notably in London and Milan – brands amalgamating their menswear and women’s wear collections into one show. That has not happened in Paris, a victory in and of itself.

Though, not completely. A spokeswoman for Ackermann has confirmed to FashionNetwork.com that the designer will present his next men and women’s collections together on the same runway during the Women’s Fashion Week in Paris in October.
 
“This decision reflects a desire to stage a new balance between the two collections by breaking with codes and re-creating magic with the interaction of two different identities,” the spokeswoman said.