Raf Simons returned to Paris Fashion Week for his Spring/Summer 2019 “Punks meets New Wave” youth quake revolution. His late-night menswear show held at a warehouse in the Montreuil suburb of Paris is sure to go down in history as the moment the backlash against streetwear began. The Belgian, is just one of the latest designer to buck the streetwear trend. Instead Simons embraced tailoring and Duchesse satin to create a bold refreshing statement. ‘’I was thinking of Yves Saint Laurent, when he was doing his incredible color combinations. Everything except the jersey and a couple of menswear suits was made from duchesse satin,’’ says the designer.
Tailoring for men, and the new millennial generation, is back at the top of the agenda at every major fashion house. And Simons is set on illustrating a whole new way of moving tailoring forward. Why? “We need it! We need a new outline. I know I was part of it myself, but too many hoodies with prints! You know, something needs to shift,” he stressed. Raf Simons is the type of designer that pushes the envelope in a direction one season, and when others follow suit, does a 360-degree turn and creates something completely opposite. After Dior and his stint at Calvin Klein, Simons was one of the biggest proponents of streetwear. But for Spring 2019, there was nary a streetwear hoodie in sight.
Simons signals a shift and a return to sophistication with glam jewel-toned duchess satin coats in oversized silhouettes and longline lurex sweaters. His colorful neon-hued satin coats reference Yves Saint Laurent from the 1980s. The youthful metallic lurex sweaters with holes, on the other hand, harken back to his days as an underground punk. The sweaters were rotated to give the appearance of having an extra arm or neck hole, and a some models sported dark, heavy eyeshadow. There were also skinny trousers mixed with heavy-soled boots, and printed tees with images of London punks. Above all, Simons’ collection reflects the new generation’s urge for something new and more refined.
Raf Simons Wants Us All to Move on From Our Streetwear Obsession
Simons signals a shift and a return to sophistication with glam jewel-toned duchess satin coats in oversized silhouettes and longline lurex sweaters. His colorful neon-hued satin coats reference Yves Saint Laurent from the 1980s. The youthful metallic lurex sweaters with holes, on the other hand, harken back to his days as an underground punk. The sweaters were rotated to give the appearance of having an extra arm or neck hole, and a some models sported dark, heavy eyeshadow. There were also skinny trousers mixed with heavy-soled boots, and printed tees with images of London punks. Above all, Simons’ collection reflects the new generation’s urge for something new and more refined.
See All the Looks from the Collection
