SS22 menswear: Go to the nightclub with silk shirts on
The joy revolution that started to emerge during the SS21 collections last September is fully showing up for SS22. The most prominent menswear shows have been the ones with a message of optimistic hedonism expressed through colour, music and a throwback to rave culture.
For example I loved Dries van Noten’s Primal Scream soundtrack serenading us through the streets of Antwerp, with the lyrics of Loaded encouraging us to “be free to do what we wanna do!” Van Noten expressed the mood of his design team as “clothes to go and have fun in. Just enjoy things. Go to the night club with silk shirts on.” The shirts were the big highlight; big in every sense, printed with artwork by Rubens and Breughel, as well as photomontages depicting Antwerp city scenes, teamed with loud sunglasses and washed silk outerwear (below x 2).
At Loewe (below), Jonathan Anderson embraced a hedonistic colour palette and trippy visuals with an even more rave-tastic soundtrack to ensure his customers dance like no one’s watching. (To reinforce that message, Fabric just announced it’s banning phone cameras on its dance floors. About time too.) Accessory-wise, overstated eyewear is definitely going to be a thing next summer.
Taking inspiration from decades past but bringing the positive energy into the here and now where we need it, Wales Bonner (top and below) looked to the studio portraits of West African photographer Sanlé Sory. His portraits of 1960s and 70s party people are enjoying new attention thanks to recent exhibitions at London’s David Hill Gallery. Style-wise, the takeaway is louche tailoring in hot-weather fabrics, stripy tunic shirts (top), track jackets and sporty tees. And there’s a Spotify soundtrack thrown in for added ambience. Read more here.
BELOW – WALES BONNER SS22
BELOW – SANLE SORY PHOTOGRAPHY
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Wales Bonner; Dries Van Noten x 2; Loewe 3; Wales Bonner x 2; Sanlé Sory
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links* and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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