A new formality. A modification of dress codes. An advancement of classics.
For the Fall Winter 2023 Men’s Collection, Givenchy re-evaluates and re-values the archetypes of menswear through the eyes of contemporary masculinities. In the arts-driven community that surrounds him, Creative Director Matthew M. Williams identifies an instinctive evolution of sartorial virtues reflected in his own relationship with clothes.
The customisation of dress codes takes form in tailoring – including four black suits created in the haute couture atelier – defiantly unhemmed at the seams, allowing for an unravelling process that elongates the physique.
The technique triggers a study of volumes that spill out – disobeying the tucked-in tradition – in looks layered to achieve the maximum effect of the idea. They are created with cropped sweatshirts or with delicate jerseys pulled tightly over baggy layers of sportswear to define an elegant silhouette.
Bags adapt archival women’s shapes in a conversation of code-switching: Pandora a holdall is relaxed in construction in a sling-over shoulder dimension, or a man-bag cropped under the arm, and interpreted in the materials of the collection.
These echo in a Voyou messenger bag with strap detailing created in an enlarged proportion or a very minimised edition whose faux fur spills out of the lining. The idea is re-evoked in gloves, complemented by sculptural rings.
Shoes zone in on archetypes: a magnified work boot in leathers and washed canvas; a formal shoe morphed with a cowboy boot in leather, patent or faux snakeskin; wellingtons altered with carbon fibre embossed leather; and the TK-MX trainer updated in the materials of the collection.
Throughout, the archetypes of the workwear wardrobe are hacked with exuberant motifs. From faux snakeskin to cheetah print and imitated wolf, they invoke the sudden explosions of pattern and texture found within Hubert de Givenchy’s otherwise classic private interiors.
The materials scratch the surface of fabric experimentation employed as another way of evolving traditional menswear codes: Japanese boro stitching reconstructs denim, a hoodie is hand-plumed, the tonic colours of metallic flight suits in polyurethane-coated nylon, the yellow paint of the back of a sheepskin flight jacket comes through its distressed front, and the institutional herringbone of Harris tweed.
The unpicking of classic shapes elicits a deconstruction of workwear expressed in cargo trousers spontaneously hacked open and transformed into skirts worn over sweatpants, reverberated in tartan kilts and boiler suits left undone.
The look conjures a fly-on-the-wall 1960s photograph of Hubert de Givenchy in a jumper effortlessly tied around his jeans like a skirt, further fuelling the idea of how you wear things: self-expression through the imbuement of personal gestures into clothes.
It inspires sweatshirts deconstructed to hang around the waist embraced by their sleeves, a generational evening silhouette that paves the way for a new formality: an austere all-sweats occasion suit styled with said sweat-skirt.
