Now that the Paris menswear shows are over, along with the entire spring/summer 2014 men’s catwalk season, what remains isn’t so much trends but matters of age – not the age of the designers themselves or the brands they head up, but the projected age of their target customer. Which is not what you would expect (youth). Instead, what was apparent was a growing diversity in menswear and a sense that men are increasingly interested in looking better – or even older.
“2014春夏季”的巴黎男装周落下了帷幕,这标志着整个2014年春夏季男士时装秀画上了句号,接下来的事与时尚已无多大关联,关乎的是消费者的年龄——并非设计师和其主导品牌的年龄长短,而是目标消费群体的年龄。他们针对的消费群体并非诸位通常认为的年轻人。相反,如今男装多样化的趋势越发明显,男士对自己的良好形象也越发上心——甚至年长男性也不例外。
Four houses in particular presented viable wardrobes for a grown-up consumer (ie, a man who’s earned the money to afford this stuff).
四家时装公司特别为成年男士设计了象模象样的时装(成年男士就是那些消费能力绰绰有余的男性)。
Berluti is only in its fourth season making clothes, but it has quickly established a signature louche wardrobe of functional separates made from enlightened cloth: a jacket that thinks it’s a shirt; a trenchcoat devoid of construction so that it can be packed up in a ball; a silk jacket with a ceramic coating that renders it waterproof and gives it the appearance of thin leather. Berluti’s clothes, designed by Alessandro Satori, are impressive enough but most striking of all is the strategy of owners LVMH, gunning hard for an older, wealthier but style-hungry customer.
伯鲁提(Berluti)进军时装界只有屈屈四个时装季,但它很快确立了颓废型时装风格——用亮色布料所做、功能各异的单件装:夹克衫(让人感觉更像衬衣)、无型风雨衣(可以揉作一团装起来)、丝质夹克衫(外覆陶瓷涂层,既能防水、又有薄皮草的感觉)。由亚历桑德罗•萨托利(Alessandro Satori)设计的伯鲁提系列服装,让人念念不忘,但印象最深的是其母公司路威铭轩(LVMH)的营销策略——努力吸引那些不差钱、但对时尚趋之如骛的年长男士。
At another LVMH house, Louis Vuitton, the models who wore the neat collection sent out by designer Kim Jones were all young lads. But it wasn’t hard to imagine these check jersey jackets and zip-up blousons worn by the sort of older man you see in Vuitton stores. Jones satisfied his desire for youthfulness via bandanna print shirts, varsity patch zip-ups and tie-dye jackets.
身穿金•琼斯(Kim Jones)设计的路易威登(Louis Vuitton,路威铭轩旗下另一知名品牌)潮装亮相T型台的模特都是清一色的年轻小伙。但在路易威登门店,看到成年模特身穿运动格子夹克与套头上衣(zip-up blouson)也并不足为奇。琼斯通过推出印花衬衣、拉链款补丁式运动夹克衫以及扎染夹克,满足了自己展现青春活力的愿望。
If Jones’s collection was all about travel, Hermès was for those who have already arrived. Its show was full of some of the most appealing clothes of the week, including a boat neck long-sleeved top in washed and striped linen: simple and covetable.
如果说琼斯设计的服装系列都属于旅行风格,那么爱马仕(Hermès)瞄准的目标则是那些功成名就的成年男性,其推出的服装是本届巴黎时装周上最吸引眼球的款式,包括由水洗条纹亚麻布做的一字领长袖上衣:既简约又让人欲罢不能。
Meanwhile, Haider Ackermann presented his first full men’s collection, which transposed his womenswear signatures to the male body: jackets and blousons of statuesque shoulder and neat waist, all of the most sumptuous jewel-coloured cloth, all made for a refined middle age (that is meant as the highest compliment).
与此同时,海德•阿克曼(Haider Ackermann)把他的标志性女装风格嫁接到男装中,推出了自己首个男装系列:呈现匀称双肩与匀整腰部的夹克衫与甲克衫,均用最奢华的宝石色布料做成,所定位的目标客户是事业有成的中年男性(穿这类服装最显档次)。
It’s an interesting move, because fashion has traditionally been skewed towards youth, in the hope of selling to the gullible old who wish they were still young. Now it feels like menswear is finally comfortable talking to its natural audience (as seen so excellently at Zegna in Milan), giving their older customers relevant clothes, rather than looks that make them feel like also-rans.
这是个有趣的转变,时装业把目标客户定位于上了年岁的消费者,这些人容易上当受骗,希望自己青春犹在,而时装业的传统是偏好年轻人。如今感觉男装终于“回归正道”,服务自己的正常群体(米兰时装周上杰尼亚(Zegna)的效果超赞,一目了然),让上了年岁者也有了自己心仪的潮装,而不是那些让他们自感是失败者的行头。
Such age diversification makes the brands that trend young stand out. Hedi Slimane’s designs at Saint Laurent continue to confront, with thin young men dressed in a variety of slender, shortened or cutaway jackets, their tight trousers hitched high with belts. Still, under (or over) it is very desirable clothing, from an army parka recut to Slimane’s slender code to some great pale blue jeans. As with Berluti, Slimane has rapidly created a complete and convincing new world at Saint Laurent.
推出多个年龄段男装让各大时装品牌(往往倾向年轻人)大获成功。艾迪•斯理曼(Hedi Slimane)为圣•罗兰(Saint Laurent)设计的服装依然范儿十足:身材瘦削的年轻男模上身穿各款窄版、短版与礼服版夹克,下身穿着紧身裤,皮带系得老高。尽管如此,从改版军大衣、到斯理曼设计的苗条板型、还是几款洗得发白的蓝色牛仔装,总体依然非常赏心悦目。与在伯鲁提一样,斯理曼很快在圣•罗兰打造了一片新天地,推出的服装品类齐全、让人心悦诚服。
Raf Simons is on a clever psychological trip, either recalling the complexity of his adolescence or observing that of men today. The juxtaposition of imagery and words in his large printed T-shirts, with open-top cars, athletic divers and the naive language of advertising, says much about the continued optimism of the young. Or, at least, it says more than Givenchy’s relentless mirrored prints of naive technology, which will please very young fans, sure, but felt targeted at the bottom of the food chain. This wasn’t innovation; more like capitalisation.
拉夫•西蒙斯(Raf Simons)采取的则是聪明的心理策略,既回味了自己青少年时代的纷纷扰扰,又目睹了当今时代男性面临的诸多复杂境况。在大印花T恤衫上,各种肖像与字句并排印制,再配以敞篷车、跳水健将、以及天真的广告语点缀,年轻人永远的乐观心态显露无遗。抑或它至少比纪芃希(用既天真又很酷的镜像式印花技术制作的T恤衫)传递更多的青春话语,没错,纪芃希(Givenchy)的服装让年轻人痴迷抓狂,但感觉针对的消费对象是社会的最底层。其营销策略并非创新,更像是资产运作。
Of course, Paris has for decades been a haven for committed sartorial radicalism, no matter what one’s age, and this hasn’t changed. The black shorts and singlets offered by Rick Owens looked as sharp on the models as they did on Estonian Eurovision losers Winny Puhh, whose catwalk performance featured two drummers strapped to a vertically turned spinning board, a screaming man with long grey hair and beard, and three Chewbacca-faced noisemakers being winched to the ceiling by their feet in a storm of feedback. No joke.
勿庸置疑,几十年来,不管是哪个年龄段,巴黎一直是激进式时装风格的大本营,而且这种流行趋势也从未改变过。瑞克•欧文斯(Rick Owens)推出的黑色短裤与汗衫穿在模特身上很酷,穿在欧洲歌唱大赛爱沙尼亚选拔赛(Estonian Eurovision)的落败者Winny Puhh乐队身上同样如此,在T型台上演出时,乐队的两位鼓手被绳子绑定在垂直转动的台板上,一位灰色长发与胡须的男士声嘶边竭地喊叫,另外三位楚巴卡脸型的高声喧闹者的脚被绞挂在屋顶上,观众如痴如狂,这千真万确。
Comme des Garçons Homme Plus gave a bravura performance of tailoring and layering, its jackets occasionally pristine but usually sliced and altered by added panels in the tail or by extra layers buckled on. This December, the brand plans to open one of its Dover Street Market alternative fashion megastores in New York, and it is in the market for new talent. Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo, a hero to many, caused palpitations during the week when she visited young London designers in Paris to see their collections. Among those she met was Craig Green, whose tie-dye show was one of the best of the season.
Comme des Garçons推出的Homme Plus在裁剪与分层上大胆创新,它的夹克偶尔给人以质朴感,但通常呈现丝片状,以及在衣服下摆处增加装饰布料以及加层带扣而显得变化多端。今年12月,Comme des Garçons计划在纽约开设自己的多佛街市场(Dover Street Market)时尚旗舰分店,它目前正在招募新锐设计师。本届时装周上,很多人心目中的偶像、Comme des Garçons创办人川久保玲(Rei Kawakubo)在巴黎看望了来自伦敦的年轻设计师、并欣赏其设计作品,让当事人激动不已。其中她拜见了克雷格•格林(Craig Green),对方的扎染服装展在本届时装周上大放异彩。
Not all shows were so laudable. But there was a sense of optimism about the season; of designers realising the possibility of what menswear could be: less kempt, more intuitive, more relevant. Of course, many men will proclaim their allegiance to the same old stuff. But the rigour of the work shown over the past three weeks will have an effect. And like ageing itself, male consumers will one day wake up and discover that they have entered a whole new wardrobe stage.
并非所有展览可圈可点。但这个春夏服装季,弥漫着一股乐观情绪,设计师也意识到男装的未来发展趋势:不讲究整洁,而是更直观、更具针对性。当然,很多男士仍会公然表示自己是昔日风格的拥趸。但过去三周里,各大品牌的不懈努力定会发挥影响力。与成长变老一样,男性消费者总有一日会幡然醒悟,发现自己也一下子成了全新潮装的拥趸。