Dries Van Noten´s cool combinations

Turns out that hitching up his business and selling majority control to outsiders has not done any harm to Dries Van Noten, who presented a truly accomplished collection on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in Paris.

He blended active sport with high fashion; like in his opening look - tying parachute fabric roll-up trousers with Alpine climbing cords, paired with shimmering lemon sequins that looked like rare plumage. That model wore a skullcap made out of micro feathers, as many did, adding to the sense of modern refinement.

He also jumbled up workwear with sophisticated silks with real audacity; combining a hipster Grande Dame evening coat with bold graphic optical striped asymmetrical skirts and sarongs. Though perhaps his most stunning look was an inside-out trench coat, finished with daubs and smears in egg yolk yellow, Yves-Klein blue and inky black.

Van Noten is also a great colorist. At the risk of laying it on too thick, possibly the most assured color mixer since Yves Saint Laurent. Take his most simple look, a mannish thick cotton workers warehouse coat done in the perfect bitter orange and tied up again with Alpine climbing rope and toggles. And just when you thought it got too much, he sent out the best-cut suit of the while season; a mannish blazer teamed with huge flowing pants: languid yet authoritative.

“Neither nostalgia for yesterday nor fixation for tomorrow,” commented Van Noten, looking a decade younger that his true age of 60.

A little gardening in his famed private garden outside Antwerp. No, a few sunny days in his house on the Amalfi Coast. Where grow the best lemons in Europe.

Beaming front row was Marc Puig, the CEO of the Puig Group, which acquired control of Van Noten´s house this spring.

“Did I like the show? Of course. We couldn´t be happier with Dries. It´s a great investment and he is a great designer,” said the CEO.

Dries Van Noten´s cool combinations

See also