春夏季巴黎男裝周:大叔的時裝盛宴
Now that the Paris menswear shows are over, along with the entire spring/summer 2014 men’s catwalk season, what remains isn’t so much trends but matters of age – not the age of the designers themselves or the brands they head up, but the projected age of their target customer. Which is not what you would expect (youth). Instead, what was apparent was a growing diversity in menswear and a sense that men are increasingly interested in looking better – or even older.
“2014春夏季”的巴黎男裝周落下了帷幕，這標誌着整個2014年春夏季男士時裝秀畫上了句號，接下來的事與時尚已無多大關聯，關乎的是消費者的年齡——並非設計師和其主導品牌的年齡長短，而是目標消費羣體的年齡。他們針對的消費羣體並非諸位通常認爲的年輕人。相反，如今男裝多樣化的趨勢越發明顯，男士對自己的良好形象也越發上心——甚至年長男性也不例外。Four houses in particular presented viable wardrobes for a grown-up consumer (ie, a man who’s earned the money to afford this stuff).
四家時裝公司特別爲成年男士設計了象模象樣的時裝（成年男士就是那些消費能力綽綽有餘的男性）。Berluti is only in its fourth season making clothes, but it has quickly established a signature louche wardrobe of functional separates made from enlightened cloth: a jacket that thinks it’s a shirt; a trenchcoat devoid of construction so that it can be packed up in a ball; a silk jacket with a ceramic coating that renders it waterproof and gives it the appearance of thin leather. Berluti’s clothes, designed by Alessandro Satori, are impressive enough but most striking of all is the strategy of owners LVMH, gunning hard for an older, wealthier but style-hungry customer.
伯魯提(Berluti)進軍時裝界只有屈屈四個時裝季，但它很快確立了頹廢型時裝風格——用亮色布料所做、功能各異的單件裝：夾克衫（讓人感覺更像襯衣）、無型風雨衣（可以揉作一團裝起來）、絲質夾克衫（外覆陶瓷塗層，既能防水、又有薄皮草的感覺）。由亞歷桑德羅•薩託利(Alessandro Satori)設計的伯魯提系列服裝，讓人念念不忘，但印象最深的是其母公司路威銘軒(LVMH)的營銷策略——努力吸引那些不差錢、但對時尚趨之如騖的年長男士。
At another LVMH house, Louis Vuitton, the models who wore the neat collection sent out by designer Kim Jones were all young lads. But it wasn’t hard to imagine these check jersey jackets and zip-up blousons worn by the sort of older man you see in Vuitton stores. Jones satisfied his desire for youthfulness via bandanna print shirts, varsity patch zip-ups and tie-dye jackets.
身穿金•瓊斯(Kim Jones)設計的路易威登（Louis Vuitton，路威銘軒旗下另一知名品牌）潮裝亮相T型臺的模特都是清一色的年輕小夥。但在路易威登門店，看到成年模特身穿運動格子夾克與套頭上衣(zip-up blouson)也並不足爲奇。瓊斯通過推出印花襯衣、拉鍊款補丁式運動夾克衫以及扎染夾克，滿足了自己展現青春活力的願望。If Jones’s collection was all about travel, Hermès was for those who have already arrived. Its show was full of some of the most appealing clothes of the week, including a boat neck long-sleeved top in washed and striped linen: simple and covetable.
如果說瓊斯設計的服裝系列都屬於旅行風格，那麼愛馬仕(Hermès)瞄準的目標則是那些功成名就的成年男性，其推出的服裝是本屆巴黎時裝週上最吸引眼球的款式，包括由水洗條紋亞麻布做的一字領長袖上衣：既簡約又讓人慾罷不能。Meanwhile, Haider Ackermann presented his first full men’s collection, which transposed his womenswear signatures to the male body: jackets and blousons of statuesque shoulder and neat waist, all of the most sumptuous jewel-coloured cloth, all made for a refined middle age (that is meant as the highest compliment).
與此同時，海德•阿克曼(Haider Ackermann)把他的標誌性女裝風格嫁接到男裝中，推出了自己首個男裝系列：呈現勻稱雙肩與勻整腰部的夾克衫與甲克衫，均用最奢華的寶石色布料做成，所定位的目標客戶是事業有成的中年男性（穿這類服裝最顯檔次）。It’s an interesting move, because fashion has traditionally been skewed towards youth, in the hope of selling to the gullible old who wish they were still young. Now it feels like menswear is finally comfortable talking to its natural audience (as seen so excellently at Zegna in Milan), giving their older customers relevant clothes, rather than looks that make them feel like also-rans.
這是個有趣的轉變，時裝業把目標客戶定位於上了年歲的消費者，這些人容易上當受騙，希望自己青春猶在，而時裝業的傳統是偏好年輕人。如今感覺男裝終於“迴歸正道”，服務自己的正常羣體（米蘭時裝週上傑尼亞(Zegna)的效果超讚，一目瞭然），讓上了年歲者也有了自己心儀的潮裝，而不是那些讓他們自感是失敗者的行頭。Such age diversification makes the brands that trend young stand out. Hedi Slimane’s designs at Saint Laurent continue to confront, with thin young men dressed in a variety of slender, shortened or cutaway jackets, their tight trousers hitched high with belts. Still, under (or over) it is very desirable clothing, from an army parka recut to Slimane’s slender code to some great pale blue jeans. As with Berluti, Slimane has rapidly created a complete and convincing new world at Saint Laurent.
推出多個年齡段男裝讓各大時裝品牌（往往傾向年輕人）大獲成功。艾迪•斯理曼(Hedi Slimane)爲聖•羅蘭(Saint Laurent)設計的服裝依然範兒十足：身材瘦削的年輕男模上身穿各款窄版、短版與禮服版夾克，下身穿着緊身褲，皮帶系得老高。儘管如此，從改版軍大衣、到斯理曼設計的苗條板型、還是幾款洗得發白的藍色牛仔裝，總體依然非常賞心悅目。與在伯魯提一樣，斯理曼很快在聖•羅蘭打造了一片新天地，推出的服裝品類齊全、讓人心悅誠服。
Raf Simons is on a clever psychological trip, either recalling the complexity of his adolescence or observing that of men today. The juxtaposition of imagery and words in his large printed T-shirts, with open-top cars, athletic divers and the naive language of advertising, says much about the continued optimism of the young. Or, at least, it says more than Givenchy’s relentless mirrored prints of naive technology, which will please very young fans, sure, but felt targeted at the bottom of the food chain. This wasn’t innovation; more like capitalisation.
拉夫•西蒙斯(Raf Simons)採取的則是聰明的心理策略，既回味了自己青少年時代的紛紛擾擾，又目睹了當今時代男性面臨的諸多複雜境況。在大印花T恤衫上，各種肖像與字句並排印製，再配以敞篷車、跳水健將、以及天真的廣告語點綴，年輕人永遠的樂觀心態顯露無遺。抑或它至少比紀芃希（用既天真又很酷的鏡像式印花技術製作的T恤衫）傳遞更多的青春話語，沒錯，紀芃希(Givenchy)的服裝讓年輕人癡迷抓狂，但感覺針對的消費對象是社會的最底層。其營銷策略並非創新，更像是資產運作。Of course, Paris has for decades been a haven for committed sartorial radicalism, no matter what one’s age, and this hasn’t changed. The black shorts and singlets offered by Rick Owens looked as sharp on the models as they did on Estonian Eurovision losers Winny Puhh, whose catwalk performance featured two drummers strapped to a vertically turned spinning board, a screaming man with long grey hair and beard, and three Chewbacca-faced noisemakers being winched to the ceiling by their feet in a storm of feedback. No joke.
勿庸置疑，幾十年來，不管是哪個年齡段，巴黎一直是激進式時裝風格的大本營，而且這種流行趨勢也從未改變過。瑞克•歐文斯(Rick Owens)推出的黑色短褲與汗衫穿在模特身上很酷，穿在歐洲歌唱大賽愛沙尼亞選拔賽(Estonian Eurovision)的落敗者Winny Puhh樂隊身上同樣如此，在T型臺上演出時，樂隊的兩位鼓手被繩子綁定在垂直轉動的臺板上，一位灰色長髮與鬍鬚的男士聲嘶邊竭地喊叫，另外三位楚巴卡臉型的高聲喧鬧者的腳被絞掛在屋頂上，觀衆如癡如狂，這千真萬確。Comme des Garçons Homme Plus gave a bravura performance of tailoring and layering, its jackets occasionally pristine but usually sliced and altered by added panels in the tail or by extra layers buckled on. This December, the brand plans to open one of its Dover Street Market alternative fashion megastores in New York, and it is in the market for new talent. Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo, a hero to many, caused palpitations during the week when she visited young London designers in Paris to see their collections. Among those she met was Craig Green, whose tie-dye show was one of the best of the season.
Comme des Garçons推出的Homme Plus在裁剪與分層上大膽創新，它的夾克偶爾給人以質樸感，但通常呈現絲片狀，以及在衣服下襬處增加裝飾布料以及加層帶扣而顯得變化多端。今年12月，Comme des Garçons計劃在紐約開設自己的多佛街市場(Dover Street Market)時尚旗艦分店，它目前正在招募新銳設計師。本屆時裝週上，很多人心目中的偶像、Comme des Garçons創辦人川久保玲(Rei Kawakubo)在巴黎看望了來自倫敦的年輕設計師、並欣賞其設計作品，讓當事人激動不已。其中她拜見了克雷格•格林(Craig Green)，對方的扎染服裝展在本屆時裝週上大放異彩。Not all shows were so laudable. But there was a sense of optimism about the season; of designers realising the possibility of what menswear could be: less kempt, more intuitive, more relevant. Of course, many men will proclaim their allegiance to the same old stuff. But the rigour of the work shown over the past three weeks will have an effect. And like ageing itself, male consumers will one day wake up and discover that they have entered a whole new wardrobe stage.
並非所有展覽可圈可點。但這個春夏服裝季，瀰漫着一股樂觀情緒，設計師也意識到男裝的未來發展趨勢：不講究整潔，而是更直觀、更具針對性。當然，很多男士仍會公然表示自己是昔日風格的擁躉。但過去三週裏，各大品牌的不懈努力定會發揮影響力。與成長變老一樣，男性消費者總有一日會幡然醒悟，發現自己也一下子成了全新潮裝的擁躉。
