PARIS - Carven designer Guillaume Henry channeled a day in the life of the suited city businessman — on the subway and at the office — for his fall-winter 2013-2014 fashion show.
The set — a sanitized post-WWII office, with a bare desk, a filing cabinet and an old-fashioned contacts folder — nicely set off Henry's elegant, retro 1950s suits for his menswear preview in Paris.
In Carven's fantastical world, these were no ordinary businessmen: Many of the models were also decked out for mountain expeditions.
Henry has, it seems, not forgotten his trademark sense of humour. A suit jacket was complemented with a worked flannel hood while a fleece collar was added to an office-going overcoat.
His palette of mottled greys, navy and camel contrasted with bright sporty colours like red, green and royal blue.
His men's office wardrobe also saw traditional fabrics like mottled flannel, banker stripes and oxfords spruced up with neoprene and technical fabrics. A suit pant — daringly for winter — was cut to mid-calf.
Fashion show realism can sometimes be cruel. No doubt to evoke the busy metro journey to Paris' business district of La Defence, Henry made all his spectators stand and squish together like people on public transport. It all made for much real-life grumbling.
On the catwalk, too, models were so convincing in evoking the concentrated businessman on his way to work that one actually walked straight past, forgetting to pose for the cameras.
____
Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
In typically cheeky form
Signature retro
