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Mythical Chic: Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe Menswear Spells Magic in Paris

A model presents a creation for the Spring/Summer 2025 Menswear Collection by British designer Jonathan Anderson for Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 22 June 2024. (EPA)
A model presents a creation for the Spring/Summer 2025 Menswear Collection by British designer Jonathan Anderson for Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 22 June 2024. (EPA)
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Mythical Chic: Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe Menswear Spells Magic in Paris

A model presents a creation for the Spring/Summer 2025 Menswear Collection by British designer Jonathan Anderson for Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 22 June 2024. (EPA)
A model presents a creation for the Spring/Summer 2025 Menswear Collection by British designer Jonathan Anderson for Loewe fashion house during the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 22 June 2024. (EPA)

Golden feathers cascaded down models' concealed faces Saturday, which opened Loewe and evoked the myths, setting the stage for Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson’s more refined and subdued collection this season. This was a quintessential Anderson move, blending whimsical artistry with high fashion.

Here are some highlights of spring 2025 menswear shows:

Feathers and suits at Loewe

Moments of poetry abounded, as usual. A stiff sleeveless pearl vest and another resembling armor, almost sculptural in its presence, shimmered like iridescent fish. Anderson’s talent for what he calls creating “collaged realness” was once again on display for spring, merging art content with high-end fashion.

Generous draping and ruching on pants and foulards showcased fine fashion design with curves swirling elegantly, all conceived with a light, minimalist touch. This was Anderson at his best, creating exaggerated, sculptural silhouettes that are now a hallmark of his Loewe tenure. The deceptive lightness and fluidity of the cottons, wools and leathers marked his ongoing exploration of materiality.

The tailored suit and pants — a mainstay of an office job — were touchstones, starkly contrasting the moments of whimsy.

Even here, styles were treated with Anderson’s signature off-kilter eye and in loose, generous proportions.

Elongated belts were in double vision, while patent Oxford shoes would have been ready for Wall Street, were it not for the fairytale-like surreally long toe that could have been worn by Rumpelstiltskin. Was Anderson trying to evoke a daydream of a bored city worker? This fusion of the mundane and the fantastical is an Anderson trademark. Spring was another example of his ability to use clothing as a medium to explore broader cultural themes.

Pastels, microbacteria: Kiko Kostadinov

Asian cross-over styles and sumptuous turban-like headwear mixed with the buttons and epaulet detailing of military garb created a distinctively avant-garde atmosphere for fashion-forward designer Kiko Kostadinov’s latest collection. The nuanced incorporation of pastels, often gently color-blocked into the outfits, lent the collection a vibrant yet subtle harmony, reflecting Kostadinov’s knack for blending unlikely elements.

The uncommon pastel hues made this collection sing. Kostadinov often uses vibrant tones to create eye-catching ensembles.

Other styles featured high, round collars that seemed to evoke Star Trek, adding a futuristic twist. Kostadinov has a penchant for integrating elements of science fiction and fantasy into his designs, as seen in past collections inspired by cinematic and bookish themes.

Indeed, one look — a striking industrial-style jacket and pants — sported surreal motifs of alien lifeforms or underwater creatures. This playful yet eerie detailing continued, resembling microscopic bacteria adorning a 70s-style pastel-striped shirt and pants.

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Fashion

Goosebumps and Stars as Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off

Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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Goosebumps and Stars as Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off

Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Kendall Jenner at the L'Oreal show on the first night of Paris Fashion Week. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Hollywood stars braved the rain to open Paris Fashion Week at L'Oreal's giant outdoor show Monday as rumors swirl of musical chairs at the top of fabled French brands.
The cosmetics giant persuaded Jane Fonda -- in snazzy silver sneakers -- Kendall Jenner, Eva Longoria and several of its other brand ambassadors to walk in a spectacular public show in front of the gilded glory of the Opera Garnier.
With invites to the big luxury shows strictly limited to the glitterati and fashion insiders, L'Oreal said it wanted to democratize the glamor of fashion week.
Introduced by singer Celine Dion, the "Walk Your Worth" show also featured Andie MacDowell, Indian star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, models with prosthetic limbs and Brazilian supermodel Luma Grothe proudly showing off her bump.
"The idea is to let the public see for themselves the beautiful clothes, settings and people that they would never normally have access to," L'Oreal's Paris director general Delphine Viguier told AFP.
Fashion's young guard had earlier endured a stormy start to the nine-day extravaganza -- Rising French star Victor Weinsanto staged his spring-summer show on the wet and windy roof of the Pompidou Centre museum, his fishnet and mesh ensembles created around Croatian drag queen Le Filip being tested by the elements.
The Paris shows started as falling profits at the two luxury giants LVMH and Kering have sent a shudder through the industry, fueling talk of a "Game of Thrones" among top designers.
Celine's Hedi Slimane and Simon Porte Jacquemus -- the young French designer who made tiny handbags and tiny everything else a thing -- are being talked of to fill Karl Lagerfeld's empty chair at Chanel after Virginie Viard, who took the reins after the death of "the Kaiser" in 2019, bowed out in June.
Hotly anticipated
Tongues are also likely to wag at the spring-summer shows over where John Galliano might go, with his contract at Maison Margiela nearing its end.
The first shows from the big-hitter French houses will come Tuesday with Dior and Saint Laurent, with a packed calendar confirming Paris's crushing dominance over rivals Milan, New York and London.
And there is no let-up at the end: Chanel opens the final day on October 1 by returning to the vast Grand Palais, the scene of some of Lagerfeld's most jaw-dropping shows, after an absence of four years.
The house is shelling out 30 million euros ($33 million) to stage its shows at the iconic Belle Epoque edifice, which reopened after a major facelift to host fencing and taekwondo at the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games.
With Viard -- long Lagerfeld's right-hand woman -- gone, observers expect a collection drawn from Chanel classics.
In contrast, there could well be fireworks from Alessandro Michele, the mercurial Italian designer who transformed Gucci, who may be keen to make his mark with his debut show for Valentino.
Equally anticipated is French duo Coperni, who are staging their show at Disneyland Paris on the final night, with an after party in the theme park that promises to go on into the wee hours.
The brand's founders, Arnaud Vaillant and Sebastien Meyer, pulled off a coup with their outfit for Belgian singer Angele for the Olympics closing ceremony, and are clearly in a mood to celebrate.
Another hot duo, the Olsen twins, the Los Angeles child actors turned designers, have kept their place for their luxury line The Row in fashion week proper thanks to a cash injection from the owners of Chanel and L'Oreal.
Paris will, however, be without Givenchy this time, with its new British designer Sarah Burton, a stalwart at Alexander McQueen for a quarter of a century, just made creative director.