Walter Van Beirendonck

Plaid, Pleated, Pocketed, Perforated Hope

Mr. Van Beirendonck had something to say per usual and continued what could be described as a playfully subversive approach to menswear. He always seems to present his vision which at times undermines certain norms. Take example his casting, almost always he includes men of differing size and color. This season he continued to show pockets on pockets- some of which spelled out hope, some that seemed to serve no functional purpose, and some purposefully placed to hint some sort of utility or military influence. On that note, I thought the play with pleating and pockets reminded me at times of cartridge belts. All things considered, while the show can seem silly I think that there is an underlying message pertaining to global awareness. If so, this is just another example of Walter’s genius.

Walter Van Beirendonck- Fall 10

Guns. Missles. Man Heels. Walter Warfare. I really liked alot of the pieces from Walter's collection. He did a great job by colorfully playing with military symbols. He definitely evolved from his previous collections, but gave nod to his past design details including W graphics and random pocket placements. I give him kudos for including man heels, making them noticeable, and not aplogizing. I particularly liked the rocket scarf and neon pushlight headphones.

Walter Van Beirendonck

All the models were bonified bears! Big hairy men similar to Walter himself which I thought was a good perspective for him, why not right? These guys were loving there time in the spotlight! It was quite the eye opener at first and then near the end of the show, half of them came out in their underwear. I must say though the show was interesting through the wow factor, clothes wise I couldn’t help but feel there were a lot of ironic tees and I found myself searching for more. There were textured jackets and faux alligator print blazers in neon colors that could definitely work as separates. The pants were interesting with the pocket placement choice, some circle zip pockets on the derriere which were funny and maybe useful in the real world. It’s hard to analyze one of Walters show in a purely sensical way, his clothes and his show were meant to have a sense of humor so in this way he did nothing wrong! It was interesting to see Suzy Menkes at the show, as I didn’t think she covered Walter last year, but was glad to see her nonetheless. I loved the sunglasses they were the best part for me.