Get an exclusive look at Amiri‘s innovative Spring 2025 men’s fashion show from the runways of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, held in June 2024.
Outdoor Paris Shows Tempt Fate with Rainy Weather
This week, organizers of menswear shows in Paris have been tempting fate by staging events outdoors despite the incessant downpours plaguing the French capital. On Day Three of the spring shows, it might rain on Mike Amiri’s parade.
“That’s always the thing about having an outdoor show, you know — you take a little bit of a chance. It just keeps it a bit more exciting,” the designer, looking more nervous than excited, said backstage before the show.
Under a menacing sky, a dapper crowd including Maluma, French Montana, and Kyle Kuzma gathered around a pastel yellow carpeted runway to watch models parade to a live set by British drummer Yussef Dayes.
It was Amiri’s version of an exclusive jazz club, except in this one, the musicians weren’t the best-dressed guys in the room. That’s because the designer channeled the influences of their midcentury wardrobes into the collection.
“That was an era where you can wear suits and be so cool and so casual, and wear them from the stage to the street, and I wanted to revisit that in a modern way,” he said.
His elongated jackets with dropped peak lapels came with loose, gently flared pants. Amiri, who started his career crafting pieces for rock ‘n’ roll performers in Los Angeles, always brings a slightly theatrical element to the mix, and sparkle is never far.
Rhinestone embroidery and dégradé crystal trim brought Las Vegas and the Rat Pack to mind, while a pale gold shawl-collared suit was like a modern-day take on Elvis Presley’s famed lamé showstopper.
The Amiri man is comfortable in the limelight, and even his off-duty wardrobe is a little extra. Embroidered Aloha shirts and satin souvenir jackets looked like glammed-up versions of the vintage treasures.
Amiri has been accused of being derivative, but the magic is in the mix. “I look at design as multidimensions. It’s not just a silhouette. It’s silhouette, composition, color, fabrication — all these little things that make something just right,” he said.
With his palette of sun-bleached pastels, lush textures like mohair and suede, and lavish embellishments, he has carved out a distinctive brand of laid-back California glam.
Just ask Renzo Rosso, who flew in specially for the show. The Italian entrepreneur’s OTB group took a stake in Amiri five years ago and has supported his retail expansion, including an expanded, renovated flagship that opened on Rodeo Drive last year.
As a visibly emotional Amiri took his bow, the old saying came to mind: fortune favors the bold.
