‘TEEN KNIGHT POEM,’ Or Why Do Male Designers Reference Youth Culture So Frequently?
CELINE HOMME “TEEN KNIGHT POEM”
Celine released its new collection, entitled “Teen Knight Poem,” on Monday, and despite having one of the worst soundtracks I’ve ever heard in my life, it was actually pretty solid? The last Celine menswear show answered the age-old question “What if we made high fashion, but for e-boys?” Well, FW21 answered the natural follow up question to that, which is of course, “What if we sent these e-boys back to negotiate the Magna Carta?” Jokes aside, the setting for this show was incredible, and the pieces were up to Hedi’s usual high standards. His tailoring is unmatched, and I don’t think anyone has ever or will ever achieve the same optimization of pant-shoe interface as Hedi. I do find it odd that this is another collection about teenagers, considering that Slimane is 52 and has been doing this for my entire life. Why do male designers always center themselves around youth culture? Hedi and Raf in particular seem to refer to some element of their own youth in each collection, yet I can’t think of a prominent female designer who similarly draws from their own youth, and I can’t help but wonder if the way that we force girls to grow up at a much younger age has manifested itself in this way. I love Raf and Hedi, but would a female designer ever be allowed to waffle in the nostalgia of her youth as much as they’re allowed to?
In what feels simultaneously premature and a bit overdue, I think it’s time to admit that Matthew Williams has breathed new life into Givenchy. Now he may have bricked the layup in terms of the suiting for the Weeknd’s Super Bowl fit (It looked a bit oversized and ill-fitting, although that was likely just to help ensure he had the proper range of motion. Still, the suit looked off-the-rack, which is about the worst thing you can say for a couture suit.) but the fact that Givenchy even got the opportunity at all speaks volumes on the cultural capital he’s brought back to the house.
Palace Spring 2021
Elsewhere, Palace announced its new Spring 2021 collection, including a pair of Stan Smiths with a P punched into the side that I’m sure only coincidentally looks like the Raf Simons pair. Bootlegs are cool, but Stan Smiths? Here at Disco--theque, we only stan Heitor Da Silva.
Former has also announced a new video and collection for this Friday. I love Former, and I love Austyn Gillette, but I will never buy from them because Austyn Gillette looks like this:
And I will not look like that when I wear it. Know your limits.
Weekly Reading, courtesy of 032c: “Nest.” Or, How Prozac Spawned the Greatest Interiors Magazine, Ever.
I personally just readjusted my antidepressants, and while I would love if my new Lexapro prescription spawns the greatest menswear website/moodboard of all time, in an aim to be a bit more realistic, I would be quite satisfied with it spawning the 53rd best menswear website of all time, somewhere after Popeye magazine but before whatever the hell is going on at dieworkwear.
Song of the Week: The Cure — “Why Can’t I Be You?”
Sometimes when I rub my eyes too hard, it looks just like this music video.
With Love,
Daniel Moran