Get an exclusive look at Dries Van Noten‘s innovative Spring 2025 men’s fashion show from the runways of Paris Men’s Fashion Week, held in June 2024.
An Icon Plays His Swan Song
Dries Van Noten’s final collection was a rare experience of witnessing a creative at their peak go out on their own terms. One not reliant on rehashing his greatest hits, but presenting the living embodiment of why he is held in such high esteem, Dries took us through the motions with clothes whose designs will transcend time. Starting off with a playful tease by the designer, attendees may have been tricked into believing that for his last show it would be all about the modern phenom ‘Quiet Luxury’, but it was simply him flexing his muscle as a master tailor-with-a-twist (least we forget). As perfectly cut double-breasted pinstripe blazers, Bermuda shorts, and relaxed cargo pants were paired with sheer over-layers – trousers, tops, and outerwear – as if the designer didn’t want a single element of his collection to be hidden under solid layers. This sombre start broke out into a sprinkling of embellishment across jackets and utilitarian looks cinched in with wide waist belts, before emotions began to run high as a section of liquid-metallic tailoring also translated to metallic thread embroidery on asymmetric anorak style shirts.
His way of combining rich colors is part of what will be missed, but the blueprint for what could come next was laid out as the mixing of utility, sportswear, and ethereal layers was a masterclass in creating clothes that will be forever loved. Texture was also a keen component in today’s collection, from the first reveal of the silver leaf floor fluttering in the breeze to the high-shine technical outerwear in deep aubergine, velvet soft chenille knits and crinkled organza trench coats. There were many ideas that seemed to meld into one and prove that we were witnessing the end of a colour-full era, an era of clothes that simply beg to be lived in, that will allow you to stand apart, as if not purposely participating in fashion but in an artist’s fantasy.
The closing section, which came all too soon, was uplifting and vibrant with an increased presence of sporty silhouettes against easy separates, where his signature hibiscus flower blooms were mixed and matched with wallpaper prints in glossy finishes giving them a technical update. To conclude, colorful metallics made way for another Van Noten signature in the form of pure gold with a fascinatingly shimmery fabric – perhaps symbolizing the new elevated perspective which the designer has found, and in doing so has taken the brave decision to leave the stage on a high, on his own terms.
