LANVIN SPRING SUMMER 2020 MEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK

PLEIN SOLEIL

Imagining his own Utopian summer, a sensual and indolent season of southbound cruises and explosions of color, Bruno Sialelli’s Lanvin spring / summer 2020 collection ‘Plein Soleil’ is an ode to idleness summer days.

Despite reminiscences of the 50s and 70s – of Marella Agnelli, Lee Radziwill and Bianca Jagger when the ocean was a second skin, the sun a living God, and incessant voyages were de rigour for jet set – the house of Lanvin sets sail on a new journey into the future.

The heart of Lanvin now beats to the tempo of an open era, where gender fluidity and diversity are part of the usual vocabulary as the mix of genres in forty-five menswear and fifteen womenswear silhouettes attest. Sailing between Taormina, Capri and the Greek islands, Sialelli diverts the codes of his “catamaran bourgeoisie” mischievously by opting for a form of naivety in masculinity.

Charming boys wear silk cardigans or oiled short coats with boy scout cotton shorts and gladiator shoes; cargo pants and cross jackets with oversized sailor collars; tunics and bags in XXL nautical pennants are playfully redesigned for the occasion where the emblems of the house – JL initials and daisies – make a discreet appearance in these Lanvin flags. Introduced in Bruno’s first collection for the house, the figure of Babar reappears as a reassuring and twisted fetish of childhood.

Lanvin blue is the main colour for summer. The historical shade of the house (Jeanne Lanvin worked with a palette of 18 different tones) is paired with the colours of the sun and sand – ochres, oranges, tobaccos and yellows. Sialelli looked to the archives for outerwear tailoring – blue wool gazar duffle coats inspired by Jeanne Lanvin couture opera coats – while suits come in striped seersucker or with all-over sequins, effortless chic without dressing up.

Accessories slip naturally into the collection. A sailor’s bag made of canvas, faded by the sea spray, and another in duvet down – as spectacular as they are ingenious – are essential companions to the bag of the season, the Hook Bag. Adorned with delicate leather marquetry and hand-painted hot air balloons, this season’s Hook Bags telescope between authenticity and refinement, between sensuality of the street and ultra-elegance.

Art deco pendants borrow from an art deco motif found in Jeanne Lanvin’s bathroom; malachite crocodile shaped cuffs shine brightly between travel inspired oversized charm necklaces with miniature suitcases and explorer tools.

Following in the steps of Jeanne Lanvin, a fashion pioneer who explored the world in her time – Venice, Toledo, Egypt and the Borromean Islands – Lanvin girls head out from Capri to Goa in long, silk, psychedelic printed dresses giving an Indian allure to the Lanvin women’s silhouettes. Like Lanvin men, they adopt a relaxed and luxurious approach, effortless and refined.