Paris unveils a packed 68-event digital menswear season, with eight fresh houses

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 1, 2020

It may only be digital but the upcoming debut Paris Fashion Week Online - Menswear looks to be very busy, with 68 events crammed into this month’s five-day season.

 
Underlining the vibrancy of the Paris men’s collections, eight new houses have been added to the official calendar released by the Fédération de la Couture et de la Mode, French fashion’s governing body. The season, which will feature spring-summer 2021 collections, runs from Thursday, July 9 to Monday, July 13. 
 
Due to the radical overhaul of European fashion weeks caused by the pandemic, this summer Paris menswear is sandwiched between a three-day French couture season that ends July 8, and a four-day Milan menswear season that kicks off on Tuesday, July 14.

The menswear newcomers are composed of such notables as Kolor, the acclaimed fashion forward Japanese house making a come-back to the official calendar; Isabel Marant, the star of French rock-n-roll chic; and Ernest W Baker, which despite its names hails from Portugal, and is designed by Reid Baker and partner Ines Amorim. The other five new entrants include three French labels – Alled-Martinez, Cool TM and Egonlab; and two from the opposing coasts of the United States – Brooklyn-based Kidsuper; and Reese Cooper, from Eagle Rock, California.
 
The Paris menswear calendar debuts at 10AM on Thursday, July 9 with Etudes, an experimental French label noted for its unique collaborations – with everyone from Adieu and Porter to Keith Haring and Wikipedia. The season ends with a final display by Lemaire at 7.30PM on Monday evening. 
 
The opening day includes online shows and presentations by such influential players as JW Anderson, Y/Project and Berluti. Also on Thursday, Egonlab, from Paris-based duo Florentin Glémarec and Kévin Nompeix, will be the first debutant this season to unveil its latest collection.

 
Friday is a packed day with Louis Vuitton, Yohji Yamamoto, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten and a debut by Ernest W Baker.
 
Unlike the regular European season, where shows are traditionally staged an hour apart, this July’s Paris menswear sees shows often stacked up every half-hour. Among the the other major league brands presenting this month in Paris menswear are Balmain Homme, Loewe, Hermès, Lanvin, Dior Men and Thom Browne.

 
In related news, the Fédération announced: "The Board of Directors of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine has the pleasure to announce the nomination of the House Dunhill as a member.
 It is as such that the house will henceforth participate in our calendars.”
 
May the shows begin.