Jardin du Palais Royal

Yes, summer sales!

Baroque prints: on the radar of the Parisians

Group of Italians after a show

On the right side the new-face Onnys. On the left side, legs exposed

Close-up at Ehud show

Vibrant colours will remain

And this is just the beginning…

Paris Spring-Summer 2012 – The men’s fashion shows would have started in calm way this Wednesday (22.06) here in Paris if it wasn’t for the trial of fashion designer John Galliano. He – who last February had been accused to utter anti-Semitic insults to a couple – appeared in Palais de Justice this afternoon to testify. The trial lasted more than four hours and was the subject of the day among the fashion community.

On the other hand, the day also marked the beginning of the summer sales in the city. The stores were completely full of tourists fighting for pieces with the locals. In the shop Colette, the most interesting concept store in the city, discounts were up to 50%. On the top floor of the store, an unmissable exhibition – “American M + B” – which celebrates the American culture. Among the images displayed are portraits of a young Barack Obama in 1980, photographed by Jack Lisa when he was still in college.

But what about the shows? Two presentations are worth to mention, the ones of the brands Thierry Mugler and Ehud. Mugler, who since the beginning of the year has the stylist Nicola Formichetti on its creative direction, took its guests to the Galerie de Minérologie, whose building is surrounded by beautiful gardens. The clothes came in citrus colors, sometimes with layers of transparent fabric and a sporty design – continuing a trend inspired by the sport that began appearing on the catwalks in Milan last week. What is perhaps most commented in the case of Mugler is not exactly the clothes, but the homoerotic videos that Formichetti promises to publish in the XTube site in the coming days.

The young designer Joseph Ehud showed a light collection, easy to use, filled with white pieces. It would work very well for the Brazilian market. Some bits came in strong colors, indicating that the trend “color blocking” – which we can find in the streets right now – should remain for a while.

In fact, on the streets something unusual is happening: the return of the baroque prints (usually with more than one motif, and often in golden colour), typical of Versace during late 1980 and early 1990. The prints of questionable taste first reappeared in Milan at the show of the brand itself. The collection was practically a reprint of their stronger classics, with many prints and strong colors.

While Versace celebrates its own identity (Donatella Versace will launch a capsule collection for H & M at the end of the year with the same proposal), Parisians seem to have gradually assimilate the idea of ​​using baroque prints. The shirts of gold chains prints, for example, are already at the very exclusive racks of the world’s most famous vintage shop, Didier Ludot, in the galleries of the Palais Royal. Fashion may be trying to look for summer 2012, but everything seems to scream 1992…

See you tomorrow with more about the men’s shows in Paris.

Text and photos: Hermano Silva © 2011