Lucas Ossendrijver, the Man behind all the Lanvin men, is one with such a vision. What occurred on the last runway day of Paris Menswear was no other than an elegant approach of all men’s desires in fashion. Ossendrijver was able to unravel the secrets to all menswear with the help of Alber Elbaz, which according to him a man’s lifestyle is reflected in the clothes he wears. With this, Ossendrijver was able to recognize the vision of “men do not change every season or every year; their lifestyles do”, creating a humble urbanized collection with a touch of personal elegance. Men are obsessed with their bikes or on public transportations, even using Uber: an active spirit life that does not always settle for suits and ties. Thus, this is where Lanvin’s menswear 2015 vision lies.
Every piece on the lineup was exactly what Ossendrijver ever envisioned: dressing up in a toned down manner. This means everything from suit coats with rolled up sleeves, coats, jackets and tailored blazers layered over with printed silk tops and paired with either pleated or full cut trousers, drop crotch pants, neck scarves knotted around the necks and those jacquard pajama bottoms. The sense of unraveling pace was clearly shown on the undone topstitching on the side seams of trousers and the saddle stitching on the leather jackets was unwinding. There was a twist of French couture with the extra thin lapels that gave a sense of rocker-esque urban Brit fashion boy look. For a more clean approach, Ossendrijver embedded square neckties and belts with hanging chains paired with leather dress shirts – not your typical business attire. There were also midi length vests overlaid with hand-stitched squares, loose fitted leather tanks and do not forget, the white coat with slashed sleeves with backs replaced in cotton voile. As said, it was as if Ossendrijver transformed men into the young and free-spirited with nothing to lose as long as they look their chic-est, all through refined fabric development, unstructured couture tailoring and hand-finished detailing.
Lanvin has never strayed away from its true identity; not even with those chains, slashes and overlaying hand stitching. The balance of both fantasy and reality was truly found without being mediocre or traditional. This collection may inspire more than those fashionable men, as it answered an accessible need of comfort and breakthrough from the Frenchdémodés in menswear. A vision very well executed, Mr. Ossendrijver. (Text Nadilla Sari Ratman)