Walter Van Beirendonck Brings Aliens To Paris Fashion Week Men’s

Graphic by Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez

Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck, fashion’s predictably unpredictable statesman, delivered a quintessentially eclectic show Wednesday afternoon during Paris Fashion Week Men’s. 

The show was held just outside Paris’s 18th Arrondissement in Saint-Ouen (shows are typically in the 8th or 9th) — a simple reminder of Van Beirendonck’s subversiveness.

The models each wore Everything Everywhere All at Once-esque finger prosthetics — a nod to the uncanny. Outfits seemed to come from another world and follow Van Beirendonck’s code of the wholly original while also referring to the future, rather than relying on nostalgia 

Ties made of the same tweed fabric as jackets, shoes with rubber nubs, suits made of mohair and scarves, with what could be best described as fingers, welcomed audiences to Planet Van Beirendonck.

While most looks pushed the boundaries of the common definition of “wearable,” some of the refreshing takes on suiting, like Look 4, could easily be envisioned on Timothée Chalamet (a huge fan of Van Beirdenocnk’s fellow Antwerp 6 member, Dries van Noten) on his current press tour for A Complete Unknown. 

Additionally, the bold knits and unconventionally tailored jackets of the show would look right at home on Russell Westbrook in the tunnel before a Denver Nuggets game at Ball Arena.

A far departure from the more wearable looks, Van Beirendonck didn’t hold back his taste for the more eccentric, art-over-function styles he’s become well known for.

Six models donned The Ring-esque hats that featured calf-length fringe, hiding the model’s faces while also letting the outfit do all of the talking (and staring back at people on the street).

One model even wore a black technical material ensemble that incorporated a trompe-l'oeil orange alien (with a matching face mask, too) over top that was paired with chunky orange combat boots with knobs sticking out, certainly making this look out of this world certified.

This pattern of making models into ‘creatures’ (whether with a full alien suit or finger extensions) is true to the house. In Van Beirendonck’s Fall 2017 collection, models were equipped with torso-length gloves, not to mention his use of facial prosthetics in his Fall 2020 collection.

Though the show was undeniably eclectic, a consistent palette of black, white, cobalt, orange, oxblood and olive green kept the visual dialogue tight.

Despite it being one of Van Beirendonck’s more approachable collections, the sense of boyhood wonder is not lost. The consistent alien motif and plays on suits conjure an image of schoolboys daydreaming of faraway planets and ways to bring light into the mundane.

While his work is ‘serious fashion,’ Van Beirendonck’s collections never override the importance of dress-up and costume in cultivating an aesthetic identity.

Fantastical silhouettes and “inverse Crocs”(what the rubber-nubbed shoes should be called) may deter certain viewers from engaging in this collection, the attention to detail and finding art in fashion is consistently at play through the 32 looks.

Each look featured a combination of spins on tried-and-true accessories (like the staggeringly skinny ties), a rich concoction of textures (neoprene and fur, anyone?), and mesmerizing redefinitions of shape in how our clothes sit and interact with the space around us.

The show concluded with models either standing up or sitting on human-shaped bean bag chairs, made of the same fabric as whichever the model was wearing, holding up peace signs. The combination of the extended fingers and back-lighting delivered an extraterrestrial message of peace and kindness to carry out in everyday life (hopefully while wearing the incredible “inverse Crocs”).