If Jean Cocteau, Jean Paul Sartre and Jean Paul Belmondo were knocking about Paris now, what would they be wearing?
Delving into the Lanvin archives ahead of recent collections, artistic director Peter Copping realized that while the house’s women’s fashions were amply documented through a range of preserved pieces, the same could not be said for its menswear.
“For some reason, it didn’t get archived,” he told WWD during a preview appointment. “But we do have a client book, so we know who they were.”
Without a clear vision of how Lanvin’s menswear vocabulary started 100 years ago, the designer relied on what the aforementioned “pretty artistic, creative guy” of the era would wear. He broadened that cast to include Surrealists like André Breton but also the likes of Julian Schnabel, spotted circa 2016 in pictures at Friday’s presentation.
Copping’s lodestar to make this firmly about 2027 was embracing what R&D had brought in terms of fibers and fabrications, plus a dash of workwear and sportswear.
Today’s cultured flâneur will have their pick of drapey wool-viscose suiting in pale blue, parachute‑silk riffs on workers’ blue overalls, and silk striped pajamas worn mismatched during the day. Evening came with a loosened grip of its rules: a classic tuxedo jacket paired with straighter denim jeans while a lightweight jersey top with silk sleeves dusted in stripes of crystals replaced a starched shirt.
Elsewhere, the lineup tipped toward Old Hollywood seafaring glamour, by way of Cary Grant, with an ample pea coat, a blouson in textured linen and sailor‑stripe knits developed in a collaboration with British heritage brand John Smedley. Brittany was also a loose reference, nodding to this favored destination for Jeanne Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite.
Textiles is where this believable array of handsome clothes turned memorable, with Copping showing his eye for what makes you stand out in a crowd but also his ability to dose the drama. The fabrics ranged from a fine cotton canvas with a sheen to it to a golden textured crocodile jacquard with a substantial hand that was used on an overcoat.
A century from now, who knows where these silhouettes will be. But come their arrival on retail floors in a few months’ time, they’ll be worth remembering.
